With $49,853 past due on a $1,950,000 mortgage taken out in November 2006, the two units on the 14th floor of Gramercy Towers which were combined to create a 2,300 square foot three-bedroom with “top of the world views” were taken back by the bank a year ago.
First relisted by the bank for $1,100,000 a hundred days ago, they’re down to $999,999.
HOA dues of $2,220 per month?!
even scarier: “Buyer to investigate all permits”
I looked at this unit as a rental quite a few years ago… Looks like the owners were trying to get out even then. The stone floor is in EVERY room. It’s awful. Also, the floor plan is weird, which makes sense if it’s two combined units. I never even gave it a second thought as a rental. Uncomfortable to the extreme…
I’m assuming the dues are over $2K because that’s the cost for 2 units. I agree, the stone floors are terrible and make the unit look not only cold but like a bowling alley. I wonder how much longer it will sit. The bathrooms already look outdated with their brass fixtures.
I don’t worry too much about permitting in condos, not as many things can get screwed up as they can with single family homes. However, if there’s a lot of unpermitted work, that’s another story.
Both units say:
Sorry, no existing building permits were found for this address.
Sorry, no existing electrical permits were found for this address.
Sorry, no existing plumbing permits were found for this address.
Caveat emptor.
Floors could be rectified with some nice big Persian rugs.
With that unbelievable HOA fee …. this wouldn’t pencil out as an investment anywhere north of about $500k.
I am assuming you could get $5k/mo or more in rent for a 3/3 on Nob Hill with 2 parking.
Issues with permitting? It’s not like they added a deck and the neighbors complained 😉
Then again, having stone flooring must be awful on the neighbors.
High HOAs make it kinda white elephant-ish: You pay for the place, then you pay a half-rent even though you are an official “owner”. No wonder they walked away: there was little upside for them, though other factors could have been at play.
The stone floor is in EVERY room. It’s awful.
It’s weird. My sister in Milan has large-format marble “tiles” (3×3) throughout the house. It’s looks great. When I see it here in the U.S., I think it looks awful.
Maybe I’m weird…
That’s 3×3 feet, by the way.
Doesn’t anyone live in places anymore? If you can afford the HOAs and you like the location,views and building services, it’s a pretty significant price drop. Permitting is the only thing that would scare me.
hmmmm. bad news. if DBI records are correct and the unit # is 1423, then there are no building permits on record for that unit.
which means, no dwelling unit merger approved by Planning either….
if the merger was unapproved, could you unmerge the units pretty easily? 999k for a 2/2 and a 1/1 sounds pretty good!
w/o an approved merger, they are still legally two units. Dont need to be unmerged, But permits would be needed to: “re-install kitchen and dividing walls” (removed w/o permits)
agree with “brandno” that it would be better (financially) to take the place back to 2 separate apartments, HOE dues etc (if the place can be had for less then the 1M asking of course).
How lax would the HOA have to be if they allowed the owner to merge two units without obtaining proper permits; it would be quite a contrast to your typical HOA.
Seriously!! $2000+ HOA, I want to live there for a week to see what a $2000 HOA serve.
Is this the same building with no in-unit washer/dryers? I think I remember looking at a 1 BR rental in 2005 and being not only shocked at the asking price, but the fact that you had to go to a laundry room. Plus the machines were these kind of old, coin operated jobs. If that’s case for this unit, then I don’t care how big it is. For $1M, I want a washer/dryer in my unit.
^^^
For 3¢ I want a washer/dryer in my unit! I can’t conceive of owning a place that couldn’t or wouldn’t accommodate that.
Yikes, marble floor and baseboard heating. I wouldn’t want to walk on that in the morning. The marble floor is dangerous for Asians who take shoes off indoors. I know a woman who slipped after watering a plant and brain-died.
Asians don’t have a monopoly on shoe removal.
I commute on foot, and dont like tracking the feces from around Union Square and the loogies from Chinatown, into my living space.
And call me crazy, but even if I wasn’t a germophobe, I’m 10x more comfortable without shoes on at home.
But that tile floor would probably force a change…
Sold for less than half the mortgage: $960K
http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Francisco/1177-California-St-94108/unit-1423/home/1348091
[Editor’s Note: Two For The Price Of One Atop Nob Hill.]