This weekend’s open houses span the neighborhoods Bedford Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Windsor Terrace, and Kensington. None is an architectural showstopper, none is teetering on its foundations — they occupy the ground in between, in varying conditions.

The pick in the best shape is also the most expensive, at $1,800,000. At 235 Brooklyn Avenue in Crown Heights, it’s been renovated from top to bottom, though the backyard is still something of a blank slate. A brick row house, it’s got upper and lower duplexes, with a finished basement connected to the latter and a roof deck atop the former.

Moving a step down in price, we have a two-story, single-family home on East 8th Street in Windsor Terrace, up for $1,595,000. It’s got four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a driveway that offers private parking, the object of many a Brooklynite’s dreams. (Though SUV drivers take note: It’s apparently only suitable for a “midsized car”). It looks to be in decent shape, though there are some kitchen and bathroom schemes that aren’t going to float the boat of every buyer.

The only brownstone of the lot is in Bed Stuy, at 460 Van Buren Street. It’s another new renovation, likely a flip job, offering an owner’s three-bedroom duplex with a garden rental. The price is $1,199,000.

Our least expensive pick is at 317 Webster Avenue in Kensington, listed for $1,155,000. It’s a three-story set up with one unit per floor. Photos are few and do not suggest grandeur within, though there’s a reasonably nice-looking parlor-floor living room with bay windows. It’s a fair bet there’s plenty of room for upgrading here.

235-brooklyn-avenue

235 Brooklyn Avenue in Crown Heights
Price: $1,800,000
Broker: Town Residential
Sunday 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Photo by Town Residential

38-east-8th-street

38 East 8th Street in Windsor Terrace
Price: $1,595,000
Broker: Warren Lewis Sothebys
Sunday 3 to 4 p.m.
Photo by Warren Lewis Sothebys

460-van-buren-street

460 Van Buren Street in Bedford Stuyvesant
Price: $1,199,000
Broker: Corcoran
Sunday 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Photo by Corcoran

317-webster-avenue

317 Webster Avenue in Kensington
Price: $1,155,000
Broker: Corcoran
Sunday 2 to 3 p.m.
Photo by Corcoran


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. How in god’s name are you going to make that habitable for 100k? The electrical and plumbing alone could be almost that much, never mind the structural issues that surely exist with that much water damage. That property is almost surely being sold for the lot only.

  2. It is covered in mold. It’s also got a giant holes in the walls and questionable utilities.

    It’s also been listed on and off for nearly a year, at it’s lowest priced at 349k. I would bet you could still go in and get that price or better. I think they are motivated to sell and in no position to negotiate with a serious buyer.

    Who cares if it’s an all cash purchase? You’re advertising a 1.8m dollar house up top. Conventional financing would mean a downpayment of (drum roll)…. 360,000 + closing costs! Which is the entire price for this house.

    If you were an investor it would make far more sense to pay cash for this house, withdraw the equity after the purchase, finance the house while renovating it. Then have it relisted in 6-12 months. You could gross more $ out of this house in 12 months than anything listed above in 12 months.

  3. To be honest Bill, there is absolutely zero chance you’ll find a deal on a website like this one. It’s nice for window shopping and following general trends of neighborhoods, but never in 1000 years will they actually post houses that are investment properties. Those houses just don’t look pretty.

    Here’s one:
    http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/2104396352_zpid/200000-500000_price/736-1840_mp/24m_days/40.679661,-73.921091,40.667667,-73.942119_rect/15_zm/0_mmm/?view=map

    Here’s the address if the link doesn’t work: 85 Scenectady Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11213

    House has been listed for months, it’s a dump. But it’s 389k near a good train and in Crown hts SFH 1500sq ft you put 100k into renovating that house and you could flip it for probably just shy of 700k in under a year. That’s 200k in under a year and yeah it’s a full gut job, but get a good crew and make some moves right?

    Those houses don’t look pretty enough to drive website traffic, brownstoner is in the website traffic business, not the housing business. Houses are just the means to drive the traffic.

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