There’s a durable caricature of a real estate agent. Here’s the scene: you sit down and ask them if now is a good time to buy or sell, and you already can hear the answer: “Of course!” they say. All of the litany of plausible and less-plausible answers come pouring out. You’re not sure you buy it. And you feel you’re getting sold a bill of goods.

This is why real estate agents get a bad reputation. Because you know, and I know, that sometimes right now is NOT the best time to buy or sell. Our deal of the month explores a recent $3,600,000 sale that we closed, and how it WAITING was the right thing to do instead of listing.

Long Ago in Late 2022

We start on a park bench in late 2022. Mortgage rates were suddenly doubled. And the real estate market had become much more confusing, challenging, and SLOW than a year earlier. I was on the phone with clients who wanted to sell their gorgeous, renovated 3-bedroom apartment with views of the Hudson River. Was it the right time?

DEFINITELY NOT.

But why? Well first, there were already three units on the market in their small building that would have been competition. This included one high-floor property that was in very good shape that had already been sitting on the market for a couple of months with no takers at a price that seemed relatively reasonable. In addition to that, there were two low-floor properties that were in estate condition. And if that wasn’t enough to give anyone pause, they were each asking nearly $1.3 million dollars less than what my prospective seller wanted. Lastly, while the sellers had created a stunning home, it was done in a way that suited them—empty nesters who used the third bedroom as a guest room, and a second bedroom as an office.

And nothing was moving, especially those buyers who might have needed to sell larger apartments, or homes in the suburbs. This was true of almost everything on the market. It wasn’t that they would have trouble selling. Everyone was having trouble. It was a strong buyer’s market, but not everyone realized it (despite my yelling and talking about it nonstop). I just couldn’t foresee success as we headed into 2023.

So did I try to “sell” them on listing? Nope. I recommended we wait to see what happened. Don’t forget, doing nothing is doing something.

A Year Passes

Fast forward to different points of 2023. I was checking on the other listings in their building regularly to see what was happening, then staying in communication with these sellers every other month, or perhaps once a quarter. I knew that in a slow-to-nonexistent market, it would have been futile to list, or, really, counterproductive to our relationship. Only with actual closing data would I be confident that there was both a market, and data to back up my pricing recommendations—which were going to get pushback. You see, the sellers felt their property was worth more than I knew it was. I know, shocker. This is the standard challenge for a listing agent.

Things Looking Better

By the time we hit 2024, things were thawing out across the market, but these listings were still sitting in their building. One was the slightly-high monthly charges, which were approaching $6000 per month. The other was that renovation costs had doubled after COVID, which was keeping buyers away from the estate-condition units.

Then, around the end of Q1, the fish—aka buyers—started to bite. One by one, the units in the building started to sell. We needed to see where they would trade, meaning at what prices. But we would be armed with good information, and that was we had been waiting for.

First we learned that the lowest-floor property, in need of at least $1.2-1.5m of renovation, sold for just under $2.1mm. It had some tree views of Riverside Park, but the rear of the unit was very, very dark. Then, the mid-floor unit sold for $2.2mm. Better light, better views, but also needing a total gut renovation. Progress. Finally, a unit one floor up from my sellers’ home sold for $3.5mm. It was not in perfect condition, but the views were nearly identical, and had one less bathroom. Bingo.

The Test Case

Did we rush to market with all of that info in hand? No, because we still needed to ensure that our pricing recommendations would hold water. We didn’t want to come to market at too-high a price. In order to gather some feedback, we started quietly discussing the unit with our colleagues at Brown Harris Stevens. That turned into a tour with eight agents who offered their pricing thoughts, and three actual showings to prospective buyers. The combination of these two actions resulted in the most important data point: we knew that not every buyer in the market was going to keep their gorgeous renovation intact. It either didn’t suit their needs with the third bedroom set up as an office off the living room, or the renovation was too specific- not the “light and bright” style that so many people look for.

Finally Ready to Launch

Armed with closing prices and solid feedback. We made our case with the sellers to price the apartment at $3,750,000. We launched the listing in June of 2024, which was a little later than you might think sensible. But the market was picking up just as mortgage rates were dropping to their lowest level in more than two years. Three weeks later, we had a deal in hand with a hyper-qualified buyer. We had shown the apartment more than ten times, gotten all the live feedback we needed, and the sellers were confident we were getting the best price the market could sustain.

Waiting = A Great Outcome

Not only had waiting made the process less painful. We didn’t have to fight our way from a listing price of $4.5mm down to $3.75mm, during which time we would have been managing frustrated sellers. But the sellers also knew a good deal when they saw one.

We’re very proud of our recommendations in this case, and would always encourage a deep analysis before going to market. Every moment of the market cycle could uncover different information. Not every outcome is exactly the same, but we positioned things for the best outcome possible with these sellers. We’re glad they trusted us. You want an agent that you trust just as much. You deserve that! -Scott & the HRT