One thing I’ve experienced in 16 years of selling real estate in New York is that every deal has a story. Some of them good, some of them bad, and some of them downright strange. It’s usually the latter two so one tends to remember the good ones.
My most recent sale was one of the rare good ones. I recently had the pleasure of working with a lovely young couple who were moving to New York from San Francisco, with a temporary living situation in Virginia. Over the course of one Sunday afternoon we viewed a number of apartments on the Upper East Side. We were looking for a one bedroom with an alcove with the potential to convert to a home office or second bedroom. There was no shortage of apartments to see that day and we finally Came Upon a beautifully maintained pre-war building st 245 East 72nd Street. However, the buyers were only in town for one weekend and had to go home to Virginia. A few days later we came across an apartment in that building, but wasn’t exactly what they were looking for; it was a one bedroom with no dining alcove. There was a large eat-in kitchen but it could not be converted and the kitchen needed extensive renovation. But the impression the building made on them was so strong but they took a chance and opted it to submit an offer on the apartment sight unseen. I did a tour of the apartment with them through WhatsApp, and while I painted as accurate a picture as possible for them it’s hardly a substitute for seeing an apartment in person. Nevertheless, my buyers who are a lot braver than I made the bold decision to move forward on a home they had never set foot in.
The process after that was fairly easy. It was a quick negotiation and their application process went swiftly and smoothly. A few attempts were made to come to NYC to actually view the apartment in person were made, and then canceled. Finally, 3 months into the process, their closing day arrived. We were to meet that morning before the initial/final walk-through. I couldn’t wait to see if the apartment in person lived up to the apartment they fell in love with online or if they would instead be disappointed (not that they really had a choice at that point anyway. It was too late to back out now). They finally walked in but instead reacting like “what have we done?” they loved it! As we walked around their future home for the first time they reveled in the space, the light, and the possibilities for their kitchen renovation.
After that, they closed that afternoon and they moved in the following week. They are now newly-certified New Yorkers and are very happy to be here. It may not be the most exciting real estate story but it’s one worth remembering, because few people buy real estate based solely on faith, and beyond that, usually nothing is ever that easy.
