Just what kind of bargains are out there?

Everyone is asking the same question: "how low is low?"

Perhaps Thanksgiving is a questionable time to examine the plight of the market, but one person's distress is another's opportunity. As interest rates came down further this week and the various bank bailouts have freed up some lending money, the focus stays on price. NY Magazine recently ran the following article demonstrating the types of bargains that are available. Of course these are only a sampling of what the various boroughs are witnessing, but they are not unique. 

I'd also like to use this forum to wish all  who read this, as well as your loved ones, a very Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving!

New York Magazine's:

Surf the First Wave of Panic-Selling

• Published Nov 2, 2008

147 Waverly Place, Apartment 1E Was: $1.995M. Now: 1.499M  Photographs courtesy of the brokers

Even in a good year, the fourth quarter often shows a decline in real-estate sales, and this is not looking like a good year. The properties here offer the heftiest markdowns in town by percentage, per the huge database at Streeteasy.com; check there or on Trulia.comfor more (try searching “price reduced” or “price reduction”).

---

Manhattan 
610 EAST 5TH STREET, APT. 4. 
Gut-renovated one-bedroom walk-up. 
Initial Price: $575,000 
Current Price: $359,000 
Savings: $216,000 (37.6 percent) 
Broker: Louis Rosado, Brown Harris Stevens. 
Why the Discount? “A quick sale,” says Rosado. “That’s the goal.”

205 EAST 16TH STREET, APT. 1E. 
Three-bedroom condo with 17-foot ceilings. 
Initial Price: $4.5 million 
Current Price: $3.395 million 
Savings: $1.105 million (24.6 percent) 
Broker: Christopher Rounick, Sotheby’s.

529 EAST 87TH STREET, APT. 4-5W. 
A 2,000-square-foot, four-bedroom, three-bath third-floor walk-up with rooftop rights. 
Initial Price: $2.4 million 
Current Price: $1.499 million 
Savings: $901,000 (37.5 percent) 
Broker: Richard Healy, Halstead. 
Why the Discount? Two offers have disintegrated. “I scratch my head with this one,” says Healy.

2056 FIFTH AVENUE, APT. 2A. 
A one-bedroom duplex in Harlem.
Initial Price: $1.1 million 
Current Price: $799,000 
Savings: $301,000 (27.4 percent) 
Broker: Jessica and Brian Armstead, the Corcoran Group. 
Why the Discount? The lower level’s “somewhat below grade,” says Jessica, so even if it’s likely to be configured with two bedrooms, it technically has only one.

801 RIVERSIDE DRIVE, APT. 4G. 
A classic five in a newly converted Washington Heights prewar. 
Initial Price: $825,000 
Current Price: $599,000 
Savings: $226,000 (27.4 percent) 
Broker: Sandy Edry and Russell Miller, Citi-Habitats. 
Why the Discount? Edry says a previous broker set the first price.

34 EAST 38TH STREET, APT. 1A/2A/3A. 
A 2,100-square-foot townhouse triplex co-op with fourteen-foot ceilings and three fireplaces. 
Initial Price: $1.999 million
Current Price: $1.499 million 
Savings: $500,000 (25 percent) 
Broker: Andrew Kramer, Corcoran. 
Why the Discount? The apartment was in contract after an initial price cut to $1.699 million, but the buyer didn’t pass the co-op board. So it’s back to the drawing board with an even friendlier price, says Kramer.

147 WAVERLY PLACE, APT. 1E. 
A 975-square-foot loft with a planted private terrace. 
Initial Price: $1.995 million 
Current Price: $1.499 million 
Savings: $496,000 (24.9 percent) 
Broker: Eric Fleming, Corcoran. 
Why the Discount? The owner bought the space as a bachelor; he’s fallen in love and is “anxious to sell” and move, says Fleming. Moreover, he bought at a great price during the condo conversion, so it’s all gravy anyway.

---

Brooklyn 
19 GRACE COURT, APT. 2D, BROOKLYN HEIGHTS. 
A fully renovated one-bedroom, one-bath co-op in a pet-friendly building. 
Initial Price: $799,000 
Current Price: $549,000 
Savings: $250,000 (31.3 percent) 
Broker: Dennis McCarthy and Patricia Neinast, Corcoran.

860 DEKALB AVENUE, APT. 5, BEDFORD-STUYVESANT. 
A two-bedroom, two-bath condo. 
Initial Price: $564,400 
Current Price: $399,999 
Savings: $164,401 (29.1 percent) 
Broker: Sharon Burroughs-Clarke, Corcoran. 
Why the Discount? It’s the developer’s first project, and she wants to goose sales in this uncertain market.

93 LEXINGTON AVENUE, APT. 3, CLINTON HILL.
A 2,500-square-foot loft. 
Initial Price: $1.3 million 
Current Price: $995,000 
Savings: $305,000 (23.5 percent) 
Broker: Angela Ferrante, Brown Harris Stevens. 
Why the Discount? The owners “need to move on,” says Ferrante.

---

Queens 
2116 45TH AVENUE, LONG ISLAND CITY. 
A 2,800-square-foot, four-story townhouse in the Hunters Point Historic District. 
Initial Price: $1.395 million 
Current Price: $1.195 million 
Savings: $200,000 (14.3 percent) 
Broker: Miles Chapin, Warburg Realty. 
Why the Discount? “A reaction to what’s going on,” says Chapin.

64-05 YELLOWSTONE BOULEVARD, APT. 513, FOREST HILLS. 
Three-bedroom, two-bath penthouse in the new Novo 64 condos. 
Initial Price: $1.35 million 
Current Price: $1.15 million 
Savings: $200,000 (14.8 percent) 
Broker: Novo 64 Sales Center.

---

The Bronx 
4919 GOODRIDGE AVENUE, RIVERDALE. 
Four-bedroom 1915 Dutch colonial near the Fieldston School. 
Initial Price: $3 million 
Current Price: $2.395 million 
Savings: $605,000 (20.2 percent) 
Broker: Anne Shahmoon, Halstead. 
Why the Discount? The seller wanted to try aiming high at first, says Shahmoon.

---

Staten Island
607 VAN DUZER, STAPLETON AREA. 
A two-bedroom, two-bath townhouse with attached garage. 
Initial Price: $269,000 
Current Price: $215,920 
Savings: $53,080 (19.7 percent) 
Broker: Joe Fruscione, Fillmore Real Estate. 
Why the Discount? The house is listed as “bank owned”—typically a foreclosure.

Total Savings: $394, 463
(Average discount on all fourteen properties)