What the People Think They Want

Real estate is a gamble and in every situation the chances are different. There's no equation, and that's what makes it exciting to me.

In this episode, I secured the exclusive to sell Apartment 4 at 54 Pine Street. The building is very small, which many people like, however, it's in a neighborhood where the clients go to find luxury high-rise buildings with amenities at lower prices per square foot. As a marketer, I needed to brand the property well enough so that people can see the value and character behind the kind of place they weren't originally looking for. Part of the marketing is the price.

The apartment in 54 Pine Street is beautiful. It's a completely private home with real character and personality. Plus it's sits on a whole floor which makes it even more exclusive. Now, the problem was that people have a certain perception that's created by the market and society which makes them defensive about how apartments should be priced and why. They all come with their comps in hand, ready to battle.

To most, the apartment at 54 Pine Street is not on the same level as the luxury apartments that people want (or think they want) to find in the Financial District. But that's not true, these comparisons are all very relative. This apartment is not better or worse, it's just different. In fact, one night I didn't want to stay in my apartment and I decided to spend the night in this apartment by myself with a bottle of wine, dancing to Marc Anthony and writing about all kinds of things. I have to admit I enjoyed it very much. I wanted the potential buyer to enjoy it as much as I did, but first I had to get them interested in coming in.

So, my idea was to lower the price to a number that makes it look like a bargain (which people love) so that I can get them through the door. Once they're in, they would realize that this space is so much more than what they originally expected it to be -- which will lead to them falling in love. If more people fall in love at the same time, the bidding wars will start and the price will get to where it needs to be. And that's what happened. By lowering the price to $1,299,000 I sold the apartment at $25,000 below the original asking price of $1,350,000, with the final sale being at $1,325,000 and in a less amount of time. It's almost the same psychology that takes place in auctions.

In the end, the sellers where very happy and so was I. Since then I have been referred to a lot of sellers and buyers from Puerto Rico, Boom!