Once, I had a nosy neighbor. Now, there's a real estate key safe on the door.

I came home recently, and saw a real estate agent's key safe on the door of the apartment below me. My former nosy neighbor has been out of the apartment for the better part of two years, and the people who were expected to buy the apartment have been gone for almost as long.   Last year, the apartment was foreclosed upon by the bank holding the mortgage. This year, the apartment was sold at auction, and is now being marketed for sale to a new owner.

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Tonight, I tried to find out the price at which the apartment sold for on October 10th.  Although this information is of public record, I have no idea of how to find this information on-line, nor do I consider this information worth paying for. So I only wonder what Fannie Mae's official acquisition price was for the apartment.

In any auction, a lien holder may wish to establish a minimum bid.  This way, if Chase were to have a $80k lien on an apartment that could sell for $100k, the minimum bid prevents a bottom feeder from winning the auction with a $40k bid.  Unfortunately, I have no idea of whether a minimum bid was established, nor do I know what the winning bid was.

Let's say that the apartment is now officially for sale.  It'll take at least 1 or 2 months to show the apartment to prospective buyers and to get an offer accepted.  Then, depending on the time of month, it will take another 3-4 weeks before the Co-Op board can interview the prospective owner.  Unlike most co-op purchases, our proprietary lease gives lenders (in case of foreclosures) an unchecked ability to sell the apartment. (The bank has a right to get its money out of the loan, and we have little ability to prevent a bad shareholder from moving in. To make it worse, as I understand things, the new owner could sublet the place from day 1, causing us even more problems.)  At the time I'm writing this entry, I figure that it will take another 2-3 months before new people move in below me.

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As much as my apartment complex had become a naturally occurring retirement community, many baby boomers are either moving to warmer climes, moving to assisted living centers, or simply dying off.  In the case of the old lady and her disabled daughter who used to live in the next doorway, it appears that they have vacated their apartment, and it too is for sale.  (There is a real estate key safe on that door as well.)  So far, asking prices for apartments in my complex have been going up.  But that's a factor of a tolerably healthy economy and the New York City suburb real estate market.  I wonder how long this will last.