You want to move, but you own an apartment that could use a refresh, be it an outdated kitchen or bath. However, you don't have enough money saved for both a renovation and a down payment. You decide to sell the property “as is,” and let the next buyer worry about fixing things up.
But “as is” apartments can be difficult to unload, and the longer one stays on the market, the more you need to lower the asking price. And you don’t want to take a bath on the sale.
“It’s even more challenging than it has been in years past to sell an apartment in ‘as is’ condition as the market has softened,” says Rick Ashenfarb, an agent with Citi Habitats, adding that the potential loss in sales price on an apartment that needs work can range anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000 or more, depending on its size.
So what can you do to maximize the value in your NYC apartment without putting in too much money? We asked agents with experience selling “as is” properties for their advice.
Properly price the apartment
Multiple agents noted that one of the most important things when selling an “as is” apartment is to price the place correctly. Have an appraisal done and aim to get that amount once it’s on the market. Otherwise, if you over price a place even a little, it will sit.
To avoid that, determine the apartment’s best elements. Does it have a view? Is it sizable? Is it in a desirable location or building? If so, play those positives up so “people can step in and realize the value. If they have to spend a lot of money fixing something up, they want to feel like they’re getting some equity, so pricing is essential,” Ashenfarb says.
A fresh paint job for the best impression
Once an apartment is priced correctly, how it’s presented and marketed is the next most important factor. At a minimum, spring for a new paint job, agents say.
Carson Alexander, with Keller Williams NYC, prefers linen white walls.
“You want it to be a blank canvas for buyers to project their dream home onto. Plus, the smell of fresh paint is almost as intoxicating to buyers as fresh cookies,” he says.
Before starting, be sure to read Brick's best advice for painting your New York City apartment.
Try to make a few updates
You can’t hide defects, but you can try to lessen the problems in a place to make it look as good as possible.
In the kitchen, if the cabinets aren’t that nice, you can reface them, Ashenfarb says. You can also buy new appliances. For the bathroom, a cheap fix is a new vanity and new toilet. Or you can refinish the bathtub. “These are cosmetic fixes that could work to help sell an apartment, but you really have to weigh how much it will cost, and what it will take to sell it,” he says.
Declutter and organize
First impressions are key, and if you have too much clutter in your apartment, you’re not able to highlight the space’s best features.
“Declutter the space, and organize the closets,” recommends Barbara Ireland, an agent with DJK Residential. (Here are tips to help you get started.)
Ashenfarb agrees: “Especially in Manhattan, people want to see closet space. I tell people that anything you are going to throw out when you move, do it now.”
This will allow for a buyer to see the bones of the apartment, says Lisa Mathias, a Halstead agent.
Have the place professionally cleaned
Once you’ve removed as many belongings as possible, have the place professionally cleaned.
“Hire a cleaning service to conduct a deep clean prior to the first open house,” Ireland says. “And most importantly, keep the unit extremely clean for each showing.”
This includes removing any wallpaper as well as carpets in order to show off bare wood floors, says Mary Phelan-Kavanagh, an agent with Douglas Elliman.
Stage the apartment
Agents noted that for “as is” apartments, while decluttering helps, an empty apartment makes it even easier for proper staging. Staging isn't just for high-end properties, experts say it's still worth it even if your place is worth less than a million.
“Staging is a great way to sell an ‘as is’ apartment,” Mathias says. “Stagers have an eye and know how to neutralize the apartment and highlight the important features. It will allow for a buyer to visualize what can be done for the room. If staged properly, it also makes the apartment look like it needs less work than it does.”
If empty isn’t a possibility, “move around the existing furnishings to give the apartment a new flow, and remove old heavy curtains to let in natural light,” Ireland says, adding that bright pillow covers, a new light-colored bedding set, and white towels and shower curtain help, as do fresh flowers.
Consider virtual staging
If the apartment is in dire straits—it can’t be cleared, it can’t be decluttered, or the remaining furnishings are too unattractive to show in photos, virtual staging is the next best option. Just remember that all virtually staged images have to be clearly marked as such.
“Virtual staging has become a very useful tool for those who don’t want to spend money on actual staging. You could include virtually staged pictures in the online listing, and have them printed and in the apartment for showings,” Mathias says.
Partner with a contractor or architect
Own the fact that the apartment needs work, and make it as easy as possible for potential buyers to estimate what a renovation would cost them, and the possibilities for the space.
Provide potential buyers with the building’s alteration agreement and know the rules, Ireland says.
Get quotes from contractors, suggests Phelan-Kavanagh, or bring in an architect to draw up alternative floorplans, Mathias says.
“Have them price out, in general terms, what the most common upgrades will cost and have this on hand for buyers to look at as they walk around the property,” Alexander says. “If you have good traffic, have the contractor or architect there to talk buyers through a renovation.”
This historic Washington Heights townhouse looks move-ready
This 1890s Washington Heights townhouse has been lived in by the same family for 50 years. Listed for $2,999,000, 630 West 158th St. is just off Riverside Drive and borders the Audubon Park Historic District, an area that was once the farm of John James Audubon, the naturalist and painter. The house is one of 12 late 19th-century townhouses on West 158th that neighborhood preservationists are looking to landmark.
The listing describes it as needing no renovation, and it does look pretty turnkey.
A legal two-family, the 19-foot-wide townhouse has a renovated one-bedroom apartment on the garden level that opens onto the backyard.
The house has original wood mantels and decorative gas fireplaces in every room, decorative plaster ceilings, paneled doors, and wood floors.
The owner's apartment has a large eat-in kitchen with Silestone quartz counters, a farmhouse sink, and access to a rear deck that overlooks the garden. A renovated powder room is also on this level.
The second floor has two bedrooms (including the master, which features a walk-in closet) a bathroom with a new claw foot soaking tub and decorative tiles, and a stacked washer-dryer.
The third floor has two more bedrooms, each with an en-suite bathroom, and there's also an office.
The house has central air and a sprinkler system, and new windows.
It's two blocks from the 1 train at 157th Street. The C is two avenues over at 155th. Eating and shopping are close by on Broadway and Amsterdam, and the location is prime for students and employees of nearby institutions include Columbia University Medical Center, New York-Presbyterian, City College and Yeshiva University.
Do tenants have to abide by co-op and condo rules?
Question: A tenant in my co-op building is smoking a lot, which is against the building rules. In a co-op or condo, do renters have to abide by the same rules as owners?
Answer: A non-purchasing tenant—that is, someone who's renting from the owner of an individual apartment, often the original developer or "sponsor"—does not have a direct contractual relationship with the building's board. But if the tenant's bad behavior affects residents beyond his apartment walls, the board can get involved, says Steve Wagner, a co-op and condo attorney with the firm Wagner Berkow.
For example,Wagner says, if in a condo building "a non-purchasing tenant is smoking on the ground floor like a chimney, as he has always done, and it’s starting to really stink up the lobby entrance," , "the condo board could create a policy requiring that people don't bring any secondhand smoke into the common areas."
Indeed, as Wagner points out, soon all large residential buildings will have to have smoking policies, and the policies should get into this level of specificity. With such a rule in place, the board should then write to both the tenant and the unit owner, Wagner says.
Legally, the gripe is between the board and the owner, but there's nothing stopping the tenant's neighbors from politely reaching out as fellow members of the community trying to address a community issue. At the end of the day, the smoking tenant will be allowed to smoke in his apartment to his heart's content.
What he ought not to do is pollute the common areas without trying to take steps to address it.
"You shouldn’t be able to do something that’s dangerous to other people in the building," Wagner says.
And when it comes to smoking, there are a variety of road-tested methods for redirecting the smoke. In this situation, the board could ask the unit owner and tenant to allow an apartment inspection, so that professionals could find and seal off holes. Air filters and creating negative air pressure, to push the smoke in rather than out, are also options.
"There are ways of stopping this," Wagner says. "It’s worth a try."
Contacting the unit owner and the tenant is the board's first, least painful way of starting the conversation. If both the tenant and unit owner refuse to make a change, there may be room to bring legal action against the owner.
"If somebody is creating a dangerous situation and people are complaining about it, there are several causes of action that may be available against the unit owner," Wagner says. "Violating the rules would be one of them, provided the rights of the non-purchasing tenant are not protected by either the rent regulations or the Martin Act," which regulates condo conversions.
In a co-op building, a common type of legal action to give a disruptive unit owner the boot is known as a Pullman case, and this could be used to take the unit back from the owner. Then, subject to the terms of the lease, any applicable rent regulations, and landlord-tenant law, the board would become the landlord and could deal with the tenant accordingly.
Another example where this might come into play is if a co-op tenant is a hoarder who has repeatedly harbored bedbugs, with the unit owner and the tenant failing to take the standard steps to remediate the infestations. The Pullman case against the owner would focus not on the tenant bringing in bedbugs once, but on the tenant doing it repeatedly, and the owner not taking precautions against worsening and repeated bug problems.
Pullman cases are not an option available to condo boards, but there other kinds of legal actions that can be directed at rule-breaking condo owners.
Nor is the tenant necessarily off limits for litigation just because he's not specifically subject to the building's rules.
"The other thing is there is likely room to bring proceedings against a non-purchasing tenant if the conduct is so egregious that it is disturbing other people in the building or creating a dangerous or hazardous condition," Wagner says. "Somebody who’s a non-purchasing tenant doesn’t get a free pass at playing the stereo at top volume at 4 in the morning just because there’s no contractual relationship."
New York City real estate attorney Steven Wagner is a founding partner of Wagner | Berkow with more than 30 years of experience representing numerous co-ops, condos, and individual owners and shareholders. To submit a question for this column, click here. To ask about a legal consultation, send an email or call 646-791-2083.
DALE FIOR LENDS INSIGHT ON JERSEY CITY TO BRICK UNDERGROUND
Brick Underground recently interviewed Dale Fior, Halstead’s 2015 Top Agent of the Year in New Jersey, on Jersey City’s real estate and population booms. Why the appeal? Brick Underground brings up its waterfront location, proximity to downtown Manhattan and community-feel. Dale, who both lives and consistently sells in Jersey City, credits its diversity. “There’s no ethnicity that dominates downtown Jersey City, and I think that’s a part of the attraction.” Not to mention the transportation options. The PATH train not only runs 24/7, but also arrives in downtown Manhattan under 10 minutes. There is also the Hudson-Bergen light rail, buses that travel to Port Authority and the NY Waterway ferries. Such accessible transportation options appeal to newcomers, according to Dale:
“Transportation is one of the keys for why this is all happening..If you’re working in Midtown or the Financial District, it can be easier coming from Jersey City than it is from another locale within Manhattan.”
When it comes to real estate, the city is experiencing a surge in new development especially in its downtown area. Plus, more western neighborhoods like Bergen-Lafayette and Journal Square are seeing more development. Dale brings up an interesting connection to Jersey City’s housing stock and 1 World Trade Center just across the river. “Due to the Freedom Tower opening, there has been an attempt to provide affordable housing to a middle income management workforce,” he says. Thus proving that Jersey City is in fact New Yorkers’ newest frontier.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE
To connect with Dale follow him on Twitter or visit his agent website.
