600 W. 115th St., 61
Two-bedroom, one-bathroom
$679,000
Maintenance: $963.50
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS — House hunters touring this two-bedroom, one-bathroom co-op seemed downright giddy while checking out the area's housing market on Sunday, in a surprisingly stress-free touring experience.
Unlike the typical high-anxiety open house experiences for buyers and brokers, a pair of would-be owners potentially dueling for this 115th Street building seemed especially stress free.
Two different groups of nest-seekers broke into giggles during a peek into the basement of the pre-war building — built by Gaetano Ajello in 1911 — to check out its laundry facilities.
When asked why the basement was so integral to their hunt, the woman said: "It's where the gambling is done. It's where the cool kids go to smoke!"
Meanwhile, the other group lightheartedly grumbled that there were not many laundry washer or dryer units, and that it still relied on a change-based payment system.
"You've got to save your quarters!" one man said.
"It reminds me of when I was in college," his companion giggled, "and I had to go to the car wash to get change."
"That's why you have to get a decorative jar," the man replied.
Some shoppers, though smiling, did take a somewhat more serious approach to the pet-friendly find.
They liked that the apartment — listed by Metropolitan Equities' Jed Rubin — was located in the Luxor building and featured northern, southern, and western exposure windows and measured approximately 500 square feet. They also liked the refinished original floors and revamped kitchen, which included Caesarstone counter tops, Viking range, and Liebherr refrigerator.
"It's clean, I guess," said one visitor, an office administrator, "It was nice, but I might not be the right person to ask. I'm very picky."
"I'm looking for a lot of original details. I like a lot of old charm," the woman said of the apartment, which features 9-foot, 6-inch ceilings.
"The problem is they went in there and made it all shiny. They did a nice job of ripping everything out," she laughed. "It's nice — if you want a white box."
One hopeful homebuyer, a 61-year-old marketing exec, said that while no apartment is perfect, this unit had almost everything he was looking for, such as plentiful light and a logical floor plan.
"The thing about looking for apartments for the first time, you notice all the imperfections," he said. "But this unit not so much — it has a lot going for it."
