The Sale of 129 20th Street, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn, NY

Fourth Broker In, First To Get It Sold: How We Closed 129 20th Street

We are pleased to announce the sale of 129 20th Street, a mixed-use building in Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn. The property consists of a 4,338 SF mixed-use building with vacant office over occupied retail in M1-2D zoning. The building was sold for $1,800,000, equating to $415 per SF.

This deal came with its fair share of challenges:

1. We were the fourth broker hired. Being the second broker on a deal and getting it done is common, but the fourth? That’s a different challenge. When a property has been on and off the market for some time, it’s tough to get buyers to reengage and even harder to reset the narrative for new buyers.
2. Over 50% of the building was vacant office space. In today’s market, leasing tertiary office space is difficult, and without strong lease comps, investors were hesitant to underwrite it with confidence. On top of that, most users don’t have a need for office.
3. Vacant buildings are hard to finance. With more than half the building vacant, traditional financing wasn’t an option. Buyers needed to come in with a lot of equity or explore alternative financing solutions.

Our Marketing Process

We immediately took action by removing old signage, hiring professional photography, and listing the property on third-party marketing websites—similar to what the previous brokers had done. But we knew that wouldn’t be enough.

Here’s what made the difference:

• Our proprietary list of 10,000 investors, which we’ve been fine-tuning since 2008, allowed us to find buyers who have not already seen the deal.
• Leveraging deep relationships with the most active investors in the area, ensuring they take our deal seriously.
• Cold calling and door knocking. In a world where inboxes are flooded, picking up the phone and getting in front of people is the best way to get superior results for sellers.

Result

Our efforts generated 8 tours and 7 offers—double the activity compared to the previous two brokers combined. We found the buyer three months into marketing after I cold-called him about the opportunity. His initial offer was competitive but below the seller’s expectations. However, through seller financing, he was able to improve his offer to be 13% higher than the rest of the market and significantly above any offer that was generated by the previous brokers.

Testimonial

“Bobby was the fourth broker I hired to sell my building, and he delivered. He generated more offers and tours than my last two brokers combined! I wish I had hired him from the start and would recommend anyone looking to sell to work with him.” – Mario T