Welcome to It Happened One Weekend, our weekly roundup of The New York Times real estate section...
1) Rich people. What are they spending millions of dollars on? What are they complaining about? This is What's Up With Rich People?
The biggest sale of the week was a corner duplex at 125 East 72nd Street, which set off a bidding war and eventually sold for $12.3 million. Also, ten blocks south, Emeril Lagasse finally sold his market-weary townhouse for $11.5 million, exactly what he paid four years ago. Cue the most half-hearted "bam" possible. ["Big Ticket | A Charming Corner for $12.3 Million"]
2) Every "The Hunt" column begins with the Hunters describing the apartment they want, and ends with them rationalizing whatever they came away with. This is The Hunt: Dreams vs. Reality]
The Hunter: a young woman looking to buy after renting for years
Price
Dream: $400,000
Reality: $631,000
Neighborhood
Dream: "Manhattan"
Reality: Upper East Side
Amenities
Dream: elevator, quiet, interesting layout
Reality: manned elevator, interesting layout, built-in bookshelves
Summary
This lady used to work as a brand promoter on cruise ships (which pretty much sounds like the worst job ever) and was looking to buy a one-bedroom in Manhattan, after renting in Astoria for a few years. Her budget adorably started at $400,000 and quickly rose when she remembered that she was trying to buy an apartment in Manhattan, not Indianapolis. She looked at a lot of places on the Upper East Side, settling on a one-bedroom in the 70s. It has an interesting floorplan, built-in bookshelves, and a "classic New York look" with exposed brick and a fire escape. It also gets terrible light and needs renovating, but the buyer remains (almost annoyingly) optimistic: "You take what you take. When you find the one you fall in love with, you also have to accept the things that don't quite make you happy. You accept those little aspects of people and of apartments." Okay. [The Hunt/"Dropping Anchor on the Upper East Side"]
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