We looked at this Manhattan co-op a year ago and it was 500K (it is 500+ sf) and now the price is down to 415K (the maintenance is 1K monthly which is not fun).
But that is a significant drop! It could be an isolated incident because the owner just wants to sell after holding out for a better price for a year.
It is a junior 1 (but was originally a n l-shaped stuio and it looks like owners just had a door installed).
But is charming, has a kitchen with at least some counter space (pretty big by NYC tiny apartment standards), in a pleasant area - not the most central, maybe over 10 minute walk from the subway, but tree-lined and near the park.
The main drawback is that the co-op rules only allow subletting for 2 years out of 5 and the board has to approve the tenant. That lacks flexibility. But I was thinking fondly of this apartment, and seeing it come down in price gives me hope and some evidence that the price drop everyone is talking about for the last year may actually have some basis in reality 
They are coming down! Finally, I see evidence.
May 14th, 2009 at 09:23 pm
May 14th, 2009 at 09:42 pm 1242337360
May 14th, 2009 at 11:32 pm 1242343966
May 15th, 2009 at 02:02 am 1242352953
And maintenance sucks. Across the river it takes on the shape of property taxes.
May 15th, 2009 at 04:11 am 1242360701
May 15th, 2009 at 07:33 am 1242372839
but i do understand about the city prices. if it's dropped to 415k, it's possible you could get it for 400k or less if they are willing to bargain. have you actually been inside though? fisheye lenses make things appear much bigger than they actually are
May 15th, 2009 at 03:59 pm 1242403174
May 15th, 2009 at 04:44 pm 1242405865
Anything more just makes me uncomfortable.
Now, since we have no kids, 1000sf condo in the city would be ideal, if money was no object.
As far as for living in the city... Ima, are there good paying jobs for young college grads with 3 years experience where you live? Jobs that would allow employee to support that kind of mortgage?
Baselle, I really doubt it would go to 250K ever. There are too many people like us on the fringes who can "almost" afford to buy something and just waiting to pick that something up as it falls. That is why it is tough - we have to compete with so many young couples in the same situation.
I have been looking, tracking, figuring out, running numbers, logging expences, reading real-estate related finance articles for 3 years now... I don't feel like I have much else to learn. Things that I need to know are those that one cannot know or predict - such as future of NYC and its real estate.
Whitestripe, yeah, it looks bigger on the picture. You know its size. I also found, very consistently that sf stated on the listing is greatly exaggerrated. So if they say 800, when you come and see it, and measure it thouroughly, it is 95% chance it will be 600sf.
This one says 600sf, but I think closer to 500sf.
May 16th, 2009 at 01:12 pm 1242479543
We looked at hundreds and hundreds of houses on and off for a year and a half. It was HARD work, sometimes very draining both physically and especially emotionally. But I think we succeeded in our goal of getting a great deal on a home we love at what we hope will turn out to be at or near the bottom of our local market. We signed off a month ago, and now things locally are starting to pick up.
When we bought our last house, the process was almost identical, and we ended up with a terrific deal on a home we adored.
This is a huge purchase. Some people will go out and look at a dozen homes and then buy. But personally I think those people often end up overpaying and/or end up with homes they don't really like.
Good luck.