Bankruptcy auction set for a brownstone in limbo

14 Queens co-ops, houses also go on the block in March

The bankruptcy saga of the Upper West Side brownstone, right, finally seems to be coming to an end.

The 11-unit townhouse at 313 W. 77th St. went on the market in September of 2011 at an asking price of $3.995 million.  It has languished since then.

Still, the 5,898-sf brownstone between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive is bound to fetch more than that at a bankruptcy auction.

Bankruptcy trustee Albert Togut of the Togut, Segal & Segal law firm previously entered into a contract to sell the building for $3.75 million with a tenant who has agreed to move out if an offer of at least $4.5 million is made to purchase the place vacant.

Consequently, any successful bidder below $4.5 million would have a doozy of a time

Weekly Roundup: Reports reveal strong sales, weak supply in Manhattan despite increasingly tough standards for borrowers everywhere

Inventory plunges to seven-year low in Q3, sales strong, prices little changed

Streeteasy finds decline in price cuts, time on market compared with same quarter in 2011

Penthouse owner sues board president on claim she sabotaged $27.5 million co-op sale as revenge for rejected lowball offer

Managing agents say residential building in better shape than years ago, but watching pennies

Enduring family feud, Charles Rutenberg Realty has progressive business model making it Manhattan’s 6th largest brokerage

Life as a 20-percenter isn’t a bed of roses, resident of mixed-income building confesses

Landmarks subcommittee blesses expansion of Upper West Side historic district, clearing way for Council approval

Who will be able to claim credit for 95-story Park Avenue tower soon to be constructed?

Pundit frustrated by cable-TV news sells TriBeCa loft above $1.32 million asking price

Actor trades outer space for outside space in $2.5 million purchase of Park Slope duplex

Aerobic exercise fanatic

Do apartments sold fast mean changing market?

After period of stability, an upward trend in volume is inescapable. (Source: UrbanDigs)

Something seems to be happening.

I’ve visited dozens of open houses on the Upper West Side over the last month or so, and each of the apartments that had been recently listed enjoyed heavy traffic.

Not only are folks looking.  They are buying as well.

Although properties in the second quarter were taking more than five months to sell (and that’s from their last price), I’m finding

Condos still unsold after Solaria auction debacle

It was on Nov.22, 2009 that the developer of Riverdale’s 20-story Solaria sought to unload 54 of the new development’s unsold apartments  at an auction that drew hundreds of hopefuls and plenty of press.

The results were not pretty, and Joseph Korff of ARC Development subsequently tried and tried to get rid of orphaned units that failed to find buyers.  I recently got to wondering whether he has succeeded after so much time.

The answer years later is,

Out and About: Panache vs. pragmatism

Terrace of $4.150 million townhouse

A new development in Hell’s Kitch– er, Clinton has had a loooong history.  And therein lies a tale.

The long history, of course, has to do with the amount of time it is taking to sell out the building, where sales started two years ago and which has impressively designed and finished interiors. In fact, the development won a 2007 design award from the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Combined living room, kitchen

Loaded with amenities, including garage spaces that run $130,000, the building has 51 open flats, 22 duplexes and penthouses, plus nine townhouses.

With preternaturally clean lines, sharp angles and an accent on drama, the units have expensive features such as honed white quartz countertops, marble-tiled baths with radiant heating, Corian- encased soaking tubs, floor-to-ceiling windows and wide-plank solid oak floors. At the top of the windows are molding and electrical service to accommodate remote-controlled shades, which would be mandatory for any owner facing south.

Penthouse staircase

On the downside is

Weekly Roundup: Turning point possibility, record rates again, pet habitats that pamper, stocks vs. housing returns, bulls in retreat. More!

By dollars per square foot, Tribeca tops all other Manhattan neighborhoods in Q1

Average monthly rent in Manhattan attains record $3,429 or $4,250 in April, depending on source

When you move here from out of state, the taxman wants to get his hooks into you

Manhattan has had 169 percent spike in new building permits this year, 35 of them in contrast to 13

Water Board approves 7 percent increase starting July 1

Citywide Q1 sales

Out and About: Units occupying a nouveau niche

The Aldyn, 60 Riverside Blvd.

New developments possess an undeniable allure.

Those condos — invariably condos — seduce us with their gleam, their gloss, their glamor.

You can count on the windows being huge and the views from higher floors being incomparable.  In the more expensive ones, the style will be high; the amenities, impressive and comprehensive; and the service, white-glove.

To some folks, the idea that no one has lived in the new home of their choice is an attraction that can’t be beat.  A friend once confessed that she’d never buy a “used” house.  “Why,” she asked rhetorically, “would I want want to live in someone else’s place?”

If that’s the case, that pretty well rules out hotel rooms when traveling, no?

Although new developments lack

As Manhattan sales drop, prices don’t move much

Hymnal Leaf, Vienna 1742. From Psalterio Antiphonale Romanum De Tempore & Sanctis (flickr photo by WikiMechanics)

When the quarterly results of Manhattan’s housing market are released, you can count on a chorus of brokerage executives to sing from the same hymnal.

Yesterday’s Q4 reports were no exception, and I suppose you can’t really blame presumed experts for painting the statistics in the most vivid colors.

So consistently upbeat is their analysis that I take their comments as more prayerful than perceptive. That’s why I referred to “hymnal” in the first paragraph.

Unlike highly educated — though frequently inaccurate — economists, they seem to base their appraisals of the past and predictions of the future merely on

Why is ‘boring’ housing market’s Q3 catchword?

(Courtesy of Prudential Douglas Elliman via Curbed)

Executives of the largest brokerages and those who craft reports on Manhattan’s housing market kept using “stable” to describe the second quarter.

For the third quarter, a word I’m seeing — as you doubtless are as well — is “boring.”

The term arises from some, though not all of the statistics. I’ve also noticed an attempt at “normal.”

I’m not so sure.  Variable?  Confusing? Troubling?

New search tool may make brokers squirm

Whether it’s about an individual’s tennis game, cooking ability or professional achievements, who would want to be rated?

Certainly not brokers, who have the same legitimate concerns that others possess.  Yet the practice is becoming increasingly common.  As Inman columnist Bernice Ross puts it:

With multiple listing services, companies and third-party vendors such as Trulia, Yelp and Zillow all posting agent reviews, there’s no escaping the fact that agent reviews are here to stay. About 20 percent of sellers currently receive a post-closing follow-up, as do about 25 percent of buyers.

Now, Streeteasy has announced that it is dipping its bytes into the cyberspace of broker assessments.  As critical as I can be of other real estate brokers, I have my doubts