Sabrina Banta

Appeared in The Hunt: Sept. 7, 2014

From a Starter Co-op to a Condo With “New Energy”

Both of Sabrina Banta’s parents were real estate agents in her native Hawaii, so she felt confident in 2014 when she bought her first place, an HDFC studio co-op in a 20-unit building in Chelsea, with her parents’ help. She was just 21, and the $294,000 purchase “set forth a path of investing in real estate and getting me to the place I am now,” Ms. Banta said.

Buying a co-op at such a young age was tough. She had to submit paperwork to the board — including references from employers. “I was just getting my first job, and here I was asking people to write letters,” she said. Her first task was gaining board approval to remove the sleeping loft.

Eight years later, selling the co-op was tough, too. It took 15 months, and the board rejected her first applicant. She lowered the price from $399,000, and it finally sold for $360,000. Qualified buyers had a lot of restrictions, as is common in HDFC co-ops: an income ceiling of $54,000 annually and a 50 percent down payment, among other things.

Meanwhile, the low cost of her housing helped make a reality of her dream — owning a boutique hotel. Six years ago, Ms. Banta and her then-boyfriend spent $195,000 to buy a remote hunting cabin in the Catskills. They renovated, redecorated and transformed it into an Airbnb that promoted unique experiences, like walking a local alpaca. They sold it two and a half years later for $500,000. “It was a labor of love and a proof of concept,” Ms. Banta said.