NorthJersey.com 11/02/09: Luxury Condos, East Rutherford, NJ

Hard-to-move condos go quickly at auction
BY CAROL FLETCHER
The Record

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Jill Consovoy placing a bid.

In one afternoon, the developer of an East Rutherford condo complex sold 26 units in his 32-unit complex.

Sales of the two-bedroom, two-bath homes in the new Courtland Arms building had suffered in the slumped housing market, so Rolando Cribeiro, president of CP Building Enterprises Corp., agreed to an auction.

On Sunday, suggested starting bids of $150,000 for condos that had originally listed for nearly $500,000 drew a standing-room-only crowd at the Hilton in Hasbrouck Heights.

Manhattan-based auctioneer Sheldon Good & Co. was enlisted to sell off 26 units, eight at the highest price, and the rest sold "on reserve," where the seller has three days to reject bids not high enough.

But Sunday the homes were selling so well — many fetching prices in the $280,000 range — that CP Building sold them all on the spot.

"The prices were there," said Cribeiro. "It would have taken 18 months, and to get it accomplished in four hours has been fascinating."

A first-time home buyer, Ho-Ho-Kus native Stacey Weinberg, 27, drew cheers from the crowd when she finally outbid others for a condo at $284,000 after being forced to pass on previous units that sold above her price range.

Stacey Weinberg smiling after becoming a first-time homeowner.

"It's stressful," said Weinberg, a Manhattan resident who bought one of the luxury units for herself and her husband, Morgan. "It's to get the best deal, so I guess, what are you going to do?"

Despite bidding that quickly drove up the $150,000 starting prices, the crowd also applauded when the auctioneer declared another persistent bidder, Jillian Consovoy of Paramus, a new homeowner with a $277,500 bid.

"I'm overwhelmed," said Consovoy. "I can't believe at 21 years old this is something I'm able to do." She said she chose the unit because of its closet space, quiet location and open floor plan.