Manhattan’s famed Sloane mansion going on the auction block

Look back into the history books of New York Society in the late 1800’s and read about Henry T. Sloane and the infamous Sloane mansion in Manhattan.

Henry T. Sloane was a wealthy carpet manufacturer who furnished the new mansions, hotels and clubs of the New York City. He was also known as a philanthropist who donated two physics laboratories to Yale University.

In 1898 a scandal flew through New York society circles in 1898 when Sloane deeded a mansion on the Upper East Side to his wife.

Soon after, life became less than idyllic when Sloane’s wife, Jessie, had an affair with the very handsome and wealthy Perry Belmont (son of August Belmont) and married him just five hours after divorcing Sloane. Henry Sloane set out to build himself a new mansion at 18 East 68th Street, off Fifth Avenue.

Sloane moved into the Beaux-Art mansion with his two young daughters, preventing his former wife from writing to them or even speaking to them on the street until they reached the age of 21, or she could prove she had led a moral life, whichever came first.

The Henry T. Sloane mansion was designed specifically for Sloane by architect Charles Pierrepont H. Gilbert the heir to a furniture empire, in 1905. It spans over18,500 square feet and stands over five stories high. Two of the stories have 17-foot ceilings. There are 15 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms, seven fireplaces, a ballroom and a rooftop garden.

Fast Forward to 2007 when investors paid $20 Million for the property, only to have grandiose plans of flipping it for a huge profit by listing it for $64 million. But it didn’t sell at the asking price and lingered on the market with an asking price of $64 million, to $54 million, to $39 million after the fall of Lehman Brothers … and now to the current price of $37.9 million. Due to the fact the owners are in default of more than $28 Million in loans the famed house is scheduled for auction on June 22nd Street, Room 130 at 50 Centre Street at 2PM.

Calin Onet, a marketing analyst said bidding would likely start 10 to 15 percent higher than the $28.2 Million currently owed on the property.

If the mansion had sold for $64 million in 2008, it would have become the most expensive single residence in city history.

How to rent a Manhattan apartment when your credit isn’t perfect

Renting in Manhattan can be arduous, not to mention stressful if you don’t meet Manhattan landlord requirements.

Many find it difficult to meet landlords' requirements as most require that a potential tenant’s annual income is 40 to 50 times the monthly rent, and that the applicant has good credit. And some landlords require 80 times the monthly rent with good credit.

Yet, there are some potential renters whose annual income or lack of U.S. based credit history does not meet these financial guidelines. And if one is self-employed financial solvency can be even more daunting.

As a Manhattan broker who specializes in sales but also does a fair amount of rentals, I faced an interesting problem. Prior to working with my customer I ran her credit report and it was good and she makes a very good salary so I had no doubts she wouldn’t pass the stringent Manhattan landlord requirements.

Knowing she could meet landlord guidelines, I showed her an amazing apartment on the East Side. However when the landlord ran her credit report, it came back as a “maybe.” Meaning maybe her credit was good and maybe it wasn’t. They had used a different credit reporting company. The landlord suggested a guarantor but at the time, none were available.

Although I had not used them before, I told my customer about Insurent who came to my office and made a presentation. Insurent Lease Guaranty offers easy solutions to quickly getting the apartment potential tenants want. Prospective renters needing the Insurent Guaranty include graduating college students and professional school students entering the workforce; creditworthy employed non-U.S. residents; self-employed persons; relocating persons; non-employed U.S. and non U.S. persons with significant cash liquid assets, retired creditworthy individuals, U.S. students with Responsible Parties, and international students with Responsible Parties.

My customer only needed to complete an application and soon she was approved by Insurent where the landlord received a guaranty on her one year lease. For a fee that represented a small percentage of her total annual rent, she satisfied the landlord's financial and credit requirements while eliminating the hassle of finding an acceptable co-signer or guarantor or putting up significant additional security – which this particular landlord would not accept.

Insurent was there for my customer who will be moving into her new apartment in just a few weeks.

If you fall into any of the above categories, there is hope.