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uptowngirl
uptowngirl

Bid on the city

What's your take on the website bidonthecity.com? Just read in the metro's real estate section that their next auction is on the 1st of Feb and bidding starts at $1 for luxury residential and commercial properties in Manhattan. Is this for real???
Question asked via StreetAdvisor The opinions expressed here are those of the individual and not those of Douglas Elliman.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
I can't begin to thank you for this site. It is now my number one avid and obsessive site to watch...
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
$1? Are you sure. Since when are properties in NYC worth $1, at least as a starting figure. I wonder if there is a catch to that. I think a little research is in order here.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@hhusted yes I was amazed myself and checked the site myself. Some properties have a starting bid of $1 while others have more market appropriate reserve prices .Check it out you will know what I mean.
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
Is the Brooklyn Bridge for sale up there?
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@ajadedidealist don't think the city is that broke yet no matter what Bloomberg /Patterson may say
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
Ebay for real estate! This is amazing.... a perfect market for real estate.

The fact that bidding sometimes starts at $1 doesn't actually surprise me. It's something you see on Ebay all the time - right before prices shoot way up. Granted, we are dealing with apartments and buildings worth quite a bit more than that, but I'd be really surprised if any of them went for a price that wasn't much, much more than that.

Has anyone seemed a closing bid that seemed incredibly low?
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
I'm planning on watching the site for a while to see how it goes. Seems like such an excellent idea, though probably takes a lot of time to swing the bidding in a way that you end up with a good deal.
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
It seems like bidding wars would just drive the prices way up.If someone really wants a piece of property, I think they will pay a lot of money for it - especially if there is competition.

Are there still a lot of people buying property during this lovely recession? I guess now is the time to buy if you can do it.

I'd be interested to see how a lot of these sales play out...
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
@ BroadwayBK That's what's brilliant about creating the marketplace. There won't be too much competition in recession times, which means prices stay relatively even. I doubt anyone's going to pull of miracles like $1 for a building, but I bet the modest deals can definitely be had. On TV today they were hocking a book titled something like "How to take advantage of a downturn and make money in Real Estate" Guess somebody's buying this stuff and investing while the prices are dropping.
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
Actually, the recession is over. We are in what economicist are referring to as non-job recovery. There are people buying. According to stats, people spent well over 45 billion dollars online last year. So the majority of people went online to shop. As such, I would not be surprised if there were a lot of people to visit the site and bid on property.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@BroadwayBK, @Uraniumfish I too am going to keep a track of the auctions just to see what prices the properties will fetch.
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
We're going to have to keep this forum alive... I am dying to see the results of some of these.
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
Keeping an eye out - this might be another method for me to procrastinate...
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
Yeah, I think it would be great to keep up with what is happening at the auctions and with the economy in general. Perhaps when people start buying more goods, companies will make more money. This will help them profit enough where they can do hiring again.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
Okay, guys, so the first round of sales went through, and most of the sale prices were typically 25-50% less than the original asking/purchase prices! It's not miracles, but it looks like some good deals.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish just checked the results of the auction held yesterday (2/1/2010) some of the properties which had a $1 tag remained unsold while others like a one bedroom in Chelsea which I believe had a valuation of 900k went for 570k so I guess this site is kosher and if anyone is looking to buy perhaps there is a bargain to be had if you follow the sites auctions. I presume these are foreclosed properties??
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
I know Manhattan didnt have a whole stock of foreclosures as did many other US cities but an apartment in my building was auctioned by the city sometime last year. The apartment had been occupied by an aged woman for a number of years and when she passed away last year leaving huge debts and back taxes the apartment was taken over by the city ( I forget the name of the organization) and auctioned but they wanted a full cash payment and no mortgages. I think someone did manage to come up with the 700-800K amount in cash and it was supposedly sold. But then few months later it again came up for sale through a broker appointed by the city and it sold to former resident of the building for 649k.
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
It sounds like the site may be reasonable for those looking for real estate deals. it would be worth looking into if there is a need for real estate.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
What I find troubling about this auction, though, is the relative ease with which people from abroad can buy NYC real estate. Why is that particularly troubling? Because these kinds of individuals or companies are much more likely to look at the real estate they acquire as investment opportunities. Whereas, you, uptowngirl, and your husband obviously bought your apartment in order to call it home. which means you invest more care etc in being here, and have a vested interest in the quality of life in the building, etc.
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish I agree that it shouldn't be so easy for profiteers to sweep up a bunch of new apartments, but it seems a hard thing to stop in our cultural climate of crazed consumerism.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
Sigh, yeah. And as long as NYC is still NYC, a piece of real estate here will always be attractive to people all over the world...
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
alas, @uraniumfish. Even if the "two bedroom" is barely a kitchenette with room for a couch, and two rooms barely big enough for their beds, and the neighborhood is so loud you can hear bar noise past midnight in the flat, it will still go for $3000+ a month (as I just learned when visiting friends - how disheartening!)
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
@Ajadedidealist: The reason prices are so high is because the owners are greedy and think they can get away with it. Maybe if people refuse to pay those prices, the owners will be forced to lower their prices for monthly rents. Oh, how I wish they would. It would make living in the city much easier.
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