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.

Posted on a nearby Door

Sometime within the past couple of years, one of my neighbors vacated her apartment (supposedly) to live with her boyfriend.  Neighbor A had a contract to sell the apartment to Neighbor B, but things fell through, most likely due to Neighbor A's upcoming bankruptcy filing. Since bankruptcy is a matter of public record, I feel safe mentioning this issue, as long as I don't identify the former neighbors involved.

Around the time of the aborted sale, Neighbor B moved into Neighbor A's old apartment, and no one gave it any thought.  Several months later, we found out that the sale fell through, and told Neighbor B to move out - which they did.  (It's amazing that a family who could afford to buy an apartment here could fit all their belongings into a single pick up truck and move out in one day!)  The apartment sat empty for a while, and we recently found out that it was being put up for auction. (Again, another public record allows me to mention this event.)

The other day, I saw the above notice posted on Neighbor A's former door.  It appears that the mortgage company may have purchased the apartment at auction, and is preparing to sell it.  (Or, it may have already have been sold, and this notice is used to tell possible residents that they may have to leave soon.)  One way or another, it looks like we'll have new neighbors soon.  Let's hope that the new neighbors are better than the old ones....