The Market

How many listings can one building handle?

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By Teri Karush Rogers  |
July 13, 2011 - 12:49PM
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Today broker-blogger Malcolm Carter tackles a perplexing topic for apartment buyers: How many apartments for sale in a single building spells trouble rather than opportunity?

It's a subject we've explored before, putting the question to our expert panel back in December. The general consensus seemed to be that turnover topping 5-10% in a single year could signal a problem--but not always.   Real estate broker Gordon Roberts noted, for example, that a high turnover may be par for the course in a building made of up of predominantly studio apartments, which tend to change hands more often.

Carter offers up a non-exhaustive list of less savory reasons for a bloated inventory of listings, ranging from a difficult co-op board to true (or false) rumors of bed bugs.  He also correctly notes that "virtually none of the foregoing applies to new developments."  Because mortgage banks demand minimum percentages of owner-occupied apartments, the buyer pool in under-owned buildings is limited to all cash buyers, resulting in an inventory surplus.

(MalcolmCarter; previously)

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Teri Rogers Headshot - Floral

Teri Karush Rogers

Founder & Publisher

Founder and publisher Teri Karush Rogers launched Brick Underground in 2009. As a freelance journalist, she had previously covered New York City real estate for The New York Times. Teri has been featured as an expert on New York City residential real estate by The New York Times, New York Daily News, amNew York, NBC Nightly News, The Real Deal, Business Insider, the Huffington Post, and NY1 News, among others. Teri earned a BA in journalism and a law degree from New York University.

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