CompsWatch: 3 'break even' sales that aren't

By A. Ready | October 29, 2010 - 7:16AM

Find Your Next Place

Presented by

Psychologically speaking, it's not easy selling an apartment at a loss. That's why some sellers refuse to sell for less than they paid--holding out instead for a "break even" price that isn't really once you take into account brokers' fees and other transaction costs. It's a shrewd psych ops tactic for buyers. For sellers like the three below--each of whom sold this month for exactly what they paid in '05 or '06--it's an ibuprofen for their pride.

336 Central Park West, 8D: $515k 2005/2010, one bedroom, one and a half bath. This one bedroom, one-and-a-half bath initially hit the market in April of 2009, with an asking price of $725,000. After a year and a half, it sold in October for $515,000, the same amount it sold for in May of 2005.
370 East 76th Street, C1001, $655k 2006/2010, Less than 10 months transpired between the December 2009 initial listing of this junior-four at $735,000 and its recorded sale of $655,000 this month. It last sold for $655,000 in June of 2006.
235 East 54th Street, 3D, studio, $290k 2005/2010. This studio first came on the market for $385,000 during the center of the financial storm, September of 2008, and only remained active for two months. The listing reappeared this May at $320,000. After a relatively short three and a half months it entered contract in August, and closed for $290,000, matching the sales price fetched in September of 2005.

Brick Underground articles occasionally include the expertise of, or information about, advertising partners when relevant to the story. We will never promote an advertiser's product without making the relationship clear to our readers.