A gripe (updated)

So we haven’t officially turned down the offer yet, but we did find out an interesting tidbit: that it is actually illegal for a condo to be sold for above asking price. So if you bid asking price, legally you’re supposed to get it, and someone technically can’t outbid you.

(While I don’t know if this is definitely true or not, we heard this from a broker who was not involved with us in this actual bid since they did not allow co-broking). I write this b/c we put in at listing price and were out-bid so I don’t know if what they did was technically illegal


But this is a game of charlatans and snake oil salesmen, so what can you do?

Down and out??

I know we keep making veiled references to boxing, but honestly, it seems like that is the best way to sum up the experience of bidding and counter bidding and what not.

It’s like a round comes up and you think you got your shots on and have the upper hand, and then BOOM, next round the opponent comes in with a quick shot to the mid-section and you’re pissing blood. (Ok, not necessarily the case)

Unfortunately, it looks like we may have been outbid on this property. We love it…it has everything we want, but the bastards seem to have put a bid in that matches what our cap was. And while we could afford to go higher, I think any higher and we would be paying more than the apt was worth.

The interesting thing we are considering is that there is the EXACT same apt just one flight up. Of course, we wouldn’t offer nearly as much as we are for this one, but it’s something we are considering, although I don’t know if we want to deal with going up the extra flight of stairs. I know what you’re saying, ‘poor me, one extra flight of stairs,’ but hell, when you’re carrying lots of goods and even a kid or two, it adds up.

That and I don’t know if I want to look in the eyes of the F**ker who outbid me.

This is how I feel:



(PS: We had two pictures planned for if we got the apartment…the one above is our ‘losing pic’ the one below would have been our ‘winning.’)

Round 3: blood sport

It's round 3. By now, a couple of good hits have been landed, a few body shots to the budget, an illegal kick to the groin, but we're still up and ahead of the game. Still in our price range although higher than we had hoped.

Tonight we put in our counter offer. As of now, we know there is at least one other player in the game. We knew from the moment we heard their bid we could counter it, but we waited...like sugar ray Leonard or Muhammad Ali (they call me cassius...watch me drop this beat...for all your LL fans), for the moment to strike, not to act too eager or too willing.

We will wait and see what tmw brings...

(PS..i used this photo not b/c of the gratuitous shot of a young woman's behind (although nice), but more b/c it was the best image I could find that said round 3. Honest. )

Round 2

Wow, this is fast.

So apparently there was another bid out there, and for more than us. (No we're not cheap bastards!). The paranoid side of me thinks the broker is making it up, but who knows...anyhow, now we have to think and counter punch and decide what to do next...

btw...we discovered that with a condo come all kinds of crazy taxes...which makes it a bit more expensive than a co-op...part of the cost of having much more freedom...

It's on

Ok,

quick news.

It's on. The Bid is in. The mental warfare begins.

We’re totally freaking. But in a good way. Yes, I’m freaking, but I’m also kind of calm about it. Just can’t believe it’s real and we did it. A and I are officially adults. Well, planning on being adults!

We’ll keep you guys posted on the next steps!

We have a winner??! (or Holy crap!)

Ok...

What a long day....great but long!
We started the day early, leaving Manhattan at 1030 for an 11am appointment. As stated earlier, we had spoken with the listing agent and although the open house wasn’t till 230, we got to go early. A’s parents came for the visit with us again which was great, as they ask the tough questions and make sure no shenanigans go on.

We got to Brooklyn a few minutes early (Broker was running late) so we made a pit stop to the Cocoa Bar, an awesome local coffee shop. Besides all kinds of crazy coffee drinks (Banana Cocoa Latte anyone?) They also have tons of chocolates and desserts (Peanut Butter Explosion…I would’ve but it was 11am people!)










The apartment is great. It’s a 1,019 square feet, 2 + bedroom. 2 bathroom (the + being an extra room that can be an office) on the second floor of a renovated brownstone. Every ting inside is new and beautiful…new bathrooms, new kitchen, re-stained floors.














I think this has everything we are looking for, from the location (6th ave b/w 5th and 6th street), to the school system (PS 39…yes we need to keep that in mind) to the fact that it is a condo. There’s only 4 units in the building, and the seller is on the first floor, which I hope means he put some care into making sure this place is in tip top shape as he will be leaving there as well!











We did of course visit 6 other proprieties, but at this point, none of them really held a candle to what we saw. Maybe they had no chance since from the first apartment of the day it was essentially over. We spent the rest of the day figuring out any other questions or concerns (believe it or not, having a storage place for a baby stroller was a big one).

After visiting more places in the slope we decided to entertain checking out Brooklyn Heights. In a nutshell, the heights are gorgeous but just way out of our price range. Plus, it lacks that Park Slope edge we really dig. It does have an amazing view as you can see her and it’s REALLY close to the city.

(THIS WAS A COOL APT BUILDING WE SAW, BUT NOT THE ONE WE LOVED...JUST THOUGHT IT WAS COOL HOW THEY SPELLED BROOKLYN IN GERMAN)


















We went home yesterday, really overwhelmed and in that “holy shit” mode. We’ve been talking about buying for a while, but now we’ve found a place we love and realize this could be it. So we decided to sleep on it and see how we feel, and then take it from there.

And today we decided we still love it, and are going to put a bid in.

Stay tuned for more…

Crooklyn Part 13.2 : The long ride home

Hey all,

So another weekend, another weekend of open houses (No, not a typo). This weekend we have 6 open houses to visit, with one potential closer. On paper seems great...condo, 1100 sq feet, second floor newly renovated brownstone. They are selling two identical properties, one on the 2nd floor, one on the third, for the same price...so of course we want the second floor if it is the place want. Mr. Mitt, using all his masculine wiles and charms, got us into a preview showing Sunday morning before the open house. Personally, i think the broker is just trying to undercut his own team-mate, but who knows.

We are also going to recheck out an old apt we saw last week that I wasn't crazy about b/c it was too close to the park, or for that matter, felt less like Brooklyn and more like Central Park West, but we will check.

I will be the first to admit that looking for apartments feels a lot like running a marathon. Or maybe a non-stop decathlon. There's all these events...doing the research, training and asking all the right questions, keeping track of things, getting the mortgage pre-approved, and then staying on top of things. This weekend A and I told ourselves that we were going to take it easy and not go down, but then an awesome place jumped out and we realized we can't stop b/c something great that we want could be taken out from under us, like the proverbial rug taken out below the feet of Aladdin as he flew thru the air to princess jasmine (don't ask...been a long week of nothingness and my brain somehow regressed to old Disney cartoons). But in all honesty, you just have to keep going, and then when you find it, and you have your home...well then you can rest. And truth be told, when you see a great apartment, and you think to yourself, 'wow, this might be my next home,' it's pretty exhilarating.

It's funny how A and I said after the wedding we were going to lay low and do a whole lot of nothing for a few months, but i realize it's just not in our nature.

An interesting question that has come up of late was how do condos get managed. With co-ops, there is a board and usually a management company, but for condos it can be different. I found this article on browns toner.

http://www.brownstoner.com/forum/archives/2007/10/who_manages_a_c.php

Stay tuned for our report on Sunday.