In last night's episode of Selling New York, CORE agent Maggie Kent schooled us in patience and professionalism as she took on an over-ambitious seller. Along with the dramz on screen, Maggie joined in on our live blog of the episode, to provide a little background on Alex, said seller, and his 4300-sq-ft Little Italy loft, priced initially at $6 million.
According to Maggie: Alex, a New York City photographer, was a lot more vocal than portrayed on the show about facing a $1million price reduction. He bemoaned putting a lot of "...blood, sweat and tears" into the place, which despite being endorsed by a snappy-looking architect, some find already outdated -- glossy floors, imposing industrial mesh wall, over-designed kitchen, etc.
In my opinion: this was a clear case of over-investment. There is a sweet spot between adding value and renovating over it, and Alex's place fits in with the latter. No matter how large the space or how stuffed with seemingly impressive upgrades, the low ceilings still gave it the impression of a bunker, and the location -- fun and bustling, but decidedly noisy and not residential -- is by far not for everyone.
Where is it now? Still on the market, apparently! Now priced at $4.39 million, with a different agency.
Re: Annie Leibovitz's 5th Avenue Loft: As 'Elliot J' and Maggie Kent noted in last night's live blog, Annie's lifestyle had caught up with her in the form of insurmountable debt, to deal with which she had to sell the rights to much of her work to a local gallery, as well as unload most of her prized New York real estate. Did anyone else feel weird about that? Watching someone feast, however unwittingly, on someone else's misfortunes? When a Gumley Haft Kleier agent showed Annie's old loft, priced at $2 million, the buyer, an 'eccentric' woman to whom I could devote an entire blog, smiled and said the property wasn't worth anything over $1.5... Poor Annie.
Thoughts? What did you think of the Mullberry Street Loft? Did you think Annie's loft was worth the $2 mil?
Join us next week as we live blog Episode 3: "Setting the Stage"!
Selling New York airs Wednesdays, 9pm ET
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