Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 16th, 2013

Uma Thurman is buying an apartment at iconic Riverhouse. The gossip rags are aflutter over this purchase, but from a real estate perspective this is a VERY important sale that every co-op in Manhattan should look at closely. Several months ago I reported how this co-op’s board had made it very public that they were changing their nutty ways: their reputation for turning down buyers had become the joke of town……so much so that truly some of the most exquisite apartments lost half their value because of it. Brokers simply encouraged most buyers to stay away from looking at these apartments and many would sit on the market for months and years before selling at rather large discounts. The building, home to Henry Kissinger, was known to not like kids, celebrities, ‘certain types’, etc, etc. Their board application was a delusional monster: now it allows financing (horrors!) and even will allow you to bypass revealing your tax returns if you can prove financial wherewithal, a high-end-co-op first.

Message to all other co-ops:  stop whining about how your property sells for less than all those flashy condo’s: this is the perfect example of how a smart board and building has adjusted their old ways and the results speak for themselves.