Meet John Doe: Negotiating A New Dev
A: John Doe (requested to remain anonymous) is a reader of UrbanDigs and contacted me to help him buy a property a few months ago. Unfortunately, I was away in Europe for 4 weeks and then homeless for another 6 weeks making my work very difficult. But that didnt stop him from buying in a new development in Brooklyn and negotiating with the developer on the final purchase price. Lets see what can be learned from his experience!
Q. What was the New Development asking for the apartment you bid on?
A: It was orginally listed at $554,000 but I think it's been on the market for almost a year now so the current asking price was $463,000.
Q: What price did you submit to the developer to begin with?
A: We submitted $432,000 and with that price including the storage unit they were charging $7,500 for.
Q: What was the first counter-offer from the developer?
A: The first offer was $450,000 and they basically said that was the lowest they were willing to go and didn't want to waste time going back and forth and that was why they told us their bottom line number. They weren't including the storage unit in this.
Q: Did you accept that or was there more negotiations?
A: We said we were ok with the price but wanted the storage unit included. They eventually agreed to include the storage unit.
Q: Did the developer pass on any seller fees to you; i.e. transfer taxes, etc.?
A: Not that I'm aware of.
Q: Were there any incentives offered by the developer after negotiating that wasn't there before negotiating?
A: No, they were offering washer and dryers as an incentive but after negotiating the storage unit that wasn't really an option anymore.
Q: How big was the apt you bid on; how many square feet?
A: 1,034 total square feet
Q: What amenities or apartment features drew you to this specific building?
A: The fact that everything is brand new. Location is 2 miles from Prospect Park. Some amenities we liked included:
Q: When will the building be ready for occupancy? Is it ready now?
A: Ready now
Q: How long do you plan on holding/living in this property before reselling?
A: Good question, we plan to have a kid in maybe 4-5 years and would like to stay there for a little while after that. Given the 15 year tax abadement I would say 7-9 years.
A big THANKS to this buyer for his willingness to share with me and you the experience of buying a new development and how he negotiated for a better purchase price at a time that is perfect for buyers to get better deals! Good Luck with the purchase!
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