September 2013 – sold $5.8M+
October 2014 – listed $7.25M
Given that one cannot tune into any media nowadays without the acronym “ISIS” being thrown at them within seconds — which has caused a never ending loop in my brain of the first verse of Bob Dylan’s folk ballad of the same name, which admirably follows the enduring classic “Hurricane” on his acclaimed 1976 album, Desire — “I married Isis, on the fifth day of May…” — I figured that I would join in the bombardment with this week’s Digs Watch, which takes a look at unit 15AB in the unfortunately-named Upper East Side condominium, a 3,312sf 4br/4.5ba full floor spread with good views on the corner of 2nd Avenue and 77th Street.
Perhaps the sellers are attempting a flip on name-recognition alone, but in just over one year, they are looking to gross a 25% profit with a $1.45M gain. Yes, the Second Avenue Subway is making progress, but something tells me that someone shelling out $7.25M on a condo is not going to be braving the summer subway platform swelter (but I guess you never know — look at Mike Bloomberg, the 6 train-riding billionaire). Yes, the market has appreciated considerably in the past year, but a 25% increase is certainly a very bullish assessment of where the market is relative to last September. Yes, the original developer’s pictures used in its original listing were nice, and the listing was certainly descriptive, but in what is either the listing broker’s most egregious lack of creativity or laziness, especially given the handsome commission at stake here, or the most sincere form of flattery, the new listing was copied verbatim from the original 2011 listing, pictures, apartment description, and all. Is there really nothing new to show or a different way to describe it to even suggest that the attempted gain is due not just to a perceived incredibly fortuitous market timing? Did the seller buy it furnished or just never moved in?
