The Bentley is Nuts: Part Dos (Or is it Part 7?)

BoogieDowner has diagnosed the Bentley, a newish building in Van Cortlandt Village at 3880 Orloff Avenue, as schizophrenic and more recently as outright nuts. BoogieDowner would just like to double down on its most recent diagnosis by pointing out that the price has changed again...

Here are the listed prices for a two bedroom in the Bentley

$1555/month - December
$1685/month - March
$1575/month -April 21st
$1475/month -(craigslist ad expired - no linkage) April 30th
$1700/month -(craigslist ad expired - no linkage) May 1st
$1595/month - July 6th
and back to $1700/month. July 25th

In addition to the crazy price fluctuation the listings have tried to lure renters in with an ever changing array of enticements: a free month's rent, no fee, $500 off first month's rent, a free month's rent already calculated into the advertised price, and now a choice between no broker's fee or a month's free rent.

This fluctuation is absolute insanity...I will relent on this consistent price stalking because I know it is probably pretty tiresome for the readers, but I am just stultified by the Bentley's moving target of a price point...

~ErLu

Bentley Pics

A BoogieDowner reader sent these photos of the Bentley and its surrounding area for your perusal. Thanks, Lora!

Listing of the Day: the Bentley is Nuts

3880 Orloff Avenue, 2 bedrooms, 1 Bath - $1595/month

BoogieDowner has been following this bizarre rental price fluctuation since December of last year. The price has been (in order) $1555/month, $1685/month, $1575/month, $1475/month, $1700/month and now $1595. In addition to the crazy price fluctuation the listings have tried to lure renters in with an ever changing array of enticements: a free month's rent, no fee, $500 off first month's rent, a free month's rent already calculated into the advertised price, and now a choice between no broker's fee or a month's free rent.

This very well might be a nice building ("on the outskirts of Riverdale" as the listing shouts), but there's something fishy about being unable to price the rental rates consistently. I'm no financial wizard, but if people aren't renting at a higher price, maybe you should try decreasing the price until people start renting.

Here's the Bentley's fancy ad material:
Does anybody live in or near the Bentley? Anybody have any info about how full it is? Please let us know...

FULL LISTING

~ErLu

The Rental Schizophrenia at the Bentley Continues

So the building at 3880 Orloff Avenue in Van Cortlandt Village (aka the Bentley) has a rental price for a two bedroom that is as stable as a Las Vegas condo with an adjustable rate mortgage.

BoogieDowner profiled the unit a few times now: once at $1555/month in December with an offer of $500 off the first month, then at $1685/month in March with a month's rent free, then $1575/month on April 21 with no reduction at all, then BoogieDowner saw it again (but didn't profile it) just yesterday at $1475/month with a promise of one month free (but the fine print revealed that the $1475 is net rent with the one month already factored in!), now the listing addict here at the BD is thoroughly stultified because a brand new listing has a 2 bedroom in the Bentley at $1700/month with a reduction of $100/month if you sign a lease before May 15th.

Instead of fine print, mercurial prices, and fake reductions, why doesn't the agent just list this at a lower baseline price and see if the thing rents? The rental price voodoo is getting tiresome Bentley - very tiresome.

~ErLu

Listing of the Day: Schizophrenic Pricing at the Bentley

3880 Orloff Avenue, 2 Bedrooms - $1575/month

This Van Cortlandt Village building is a rather curious case of of prices jumping up and down since December. When BoogieDowner first profiled a two bedroom in this building back in December it was listed at $1555/month with the offer of a $500 reduction on the first month's rent. Then BoogieDowner stumbled upon a new fancy pants listing that gave the building a name (the Bentley), linked to a foo-foo website (which is now a dead link), and boosted the price to $1685/month with the offer a full month free (The net-rate when BD ran the numbers at the higher rate with a month free, was $5 higher/month than the December rate. If you take into account the $500 reduction offered in December it would be $505 higher for the first month).

Now today, a two bedroom in this building is being listed at $1575 and being hailed as a $100 reduction in rent (it looks to BD that it's a $110 reduction in rent from $1685, but why quibble over $10). In BoogieDowner's view it's really just a $20 increase from the original December rent. No reduction in first month or mention of a free month remain. The listing mentions a gym membership fee being waived.

Not sure if the folks over at 3880 Orloff have read a newspaper, watched the news, or looked at their 401K statements lately, but the economy is a big poop burger. The rental price should be lower than it was in December and you should be piling on concessions and amenities.

Maybe if they would price the unit appropriately it would rent. Enough with amenity and concession voodoo. Don't give a reduction, but raise the rate in other ways to try to fool the renter into paying the same rate in the end. I'd say an even $1450-$1500 would be far for this unit, no?

All things being equal, the unit, building and hood are pretty nice. Maybe you can call and negotiate a better price. Who knows...just make sure that the Bentley has had its Thorazine.

FULL LISTING

~ErLu