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July 12, 2005

House of the Day: Clinton Hill Brick

clinton hill house Here's a lovely 1870's brick 2-family that Aguayo & Huebener currently has on the market for $1,060,000. We don't recognize it off hand and, as is their habit, A&H do not give an address, so we can't confirm whether this is Clinton Hill proper or "Clinton Hill East". It also looks like this is really a 3-story house (not 4 as advertised), as the basement apartment is about 75% below grade. Regardless, the place appears to have retained much of its original charm and this is certainly on the low end of the price spectrum for Clinton Hill these days. We don't know the square footage, but in general houses in Clinton Hill are selling for between $300,000 and $350,000 per floor. By those metrics, this is right in line even as a 3-story house. We expect whether this is a good deal or not hinges on the exact location.
Enchanting Gem [Aguayo & Huebener]

Comments

Cute indeed. I bet it's not very deep, though.

Posted by: Megan at July 12, 2005 11:31 AM

I think it might be on Waverly between Lafayette and Greene.

Posted by: Lesterhead at July 12, 2005 11:41 AM

I think the last poster might be right. Nice row of smaller looking houses, but look out at the highrise coop apartments.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 12, 2005 12:08 PM

I think this house was for sale last year through warburg realty.

VERY small and dark as I remember it.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 12, 2005 12:13 PM

We went to an open house here about a year ago that was hosted by a small brokerage which name escapes me at the moment. The asking price then was maybe $900 or 950K. The brokerage primarily focused on Harlem properties but occasionalyl had listings in the FG/CH/BS corridor.

I believe it had been used for a long time as cheap student housing for Pratt students, and has a quasi-SRO feel to it (large locks on the doors to the bedrooms upstairs, e.g.).

The other poster is correct that it felt small.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 12, 2005 12:27 PM

Hello,
My name is Elisabeth and I am the listing agent for this property. The house is in prime Clinton Hill, not Clinton Hill East as speculated. For more details on the house or the exact location, simply call our offices, Aguayo & Huebener, at 718-788-8200 or 718-622-9300 and indicate that you are interested in H343; our sales staff would be more than happy to answer your questions or to schedule a viewing. Our web site is www.ahrlty.com if you would like to preview this property as well as our other wonderful listings. The house is a legal two-family that has most recently been configured as a double duplex (there are indeed four floors), with a lower 2BR 1.5BA duplex and an upper 3BR 2BA duplex. However, it is being delivered vacant and thus there is much flexibility on the configuration (enjoy it as a spacious single family, or rent out the garden level and enjoy an upper triplex.)The property also has a bright and airy garden. Thank you for your interest.

Posted by: Elisabeth Preis at July 12, 2005 1:09 PM

elisabeth, you give great customer service. can't the rest of your office do the same wrt the washington condos?

Posted by: ltjbukem at July 12, 2005 1:19 PM

Elisabeth: Aren't you ashamed to be working for Aguayo & Huebener?

Posted by: Jimmy at July 12, 2005 1:34 PM

I think Elisabeth sounds nice and did a solid posting here. Jimmy sounds like a moron.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 12, 2005 1:43 PM

Now, now, everyone. We think it's great Elizabeth weighed in. We wish more brokers would take the time to.

Posted by: Brownstoner at July 12, 2005 1:43 PM

I think it's great Elisabeth posted here. But if she's still reading, I still think A&H should post more specific location info. Keeping it hush-hush just breeds mistrust. When I was looking to buy, I came to assume that any broker that didn't give a fairly specific location was stretching the truth at best. And if you're not, then why lump yourself in with all the sleazeballs and bait-and-switchers out there who call 25th Street "Park Slope," etc.?

Posted by: linusvanpelt at July 12, 2005 2:31 PM

I went to see this building a few weeks ago; the house is the middle one of three small buildings in a row. They are on Waverly and Lafayette, facing the Clinton Coops. It is approximately 20'wide by 30'deep, with a front and back room on each floor. It is, however, only a two story building, the lower level is a cellar, in which you're not allowed to have habitable rooms (therefore the recent conversion is legally very shaky) and the attic should be considered a 'bonus' space, not the equivalent o a full story. It also has no underground cellar, so the mechanical area takes valuable space from the lower level. It needs a lot of work to bring it back to its prime, no less than $100K-$200K (but provably more depending on your taste). So I think it's overpriced. But if you have the cash, it would be a great project and a lot of fun to polish this gem. The back yard is about 35' deep with a beautiful, huge tree. We talked to one of the neighbors, a very nice lady who, with her husband, bought the building next door several years ago, and were almost done fixing their home and they love everything about it.

Posted by: Sebastian at July 12, 2005 2:33 PM

I asked an Aguayo agent once why they didn't post an address and she told me that other firms would "poach" their listings - i.e. they don't ever want to split the commission.

Posted by: puppypure at July 12, 2005 2:42 PM

I think everyone's being a little unfair to AH Realty. I'm not associated with them in any way, but I've lived in BK since '92 and they're one of the small local firms that have been around and selling these neighborhoods before they were "hot". I can attest from personal experience that the realtors there are knowledgeable and forthright about the neighborhoods, the market, and actually know something about the ins and outs of housing and real estate law because they've actually made a career of this; they work their asses off for both buyer and seller, which is more than I can say for the larger coporate firms whose employees are shockingly inexperienced on a multitude of levels. Cut them some slack.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 12, 2005 3:41 PM

I've used A&H on both sides of transactions in the past. Overall I thought they were ok. I agree that their website could use some work, and I don't like the way they're pictures are alway of the floor of rooms trying to emphasize the size of the space (oftent means that bedroom shots are of the bed alone...).

I believe I met Elizabeth, and if it is the same person I met, she was really great. Very up to date on everything, responsive and approachable, so I commend her for being on top of this blog. Like the other poster said, cut her some slack. She's clearly on top of it which is more than can be said for most, and she's out there working hard for this particular seller. Just doing her job.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 12, 2005 3:51 PM

Please excuse the typos and grammatical errors in my last post, typing too fast...

Posted by: Anonymous at July 12, 2005 3:52 PM

I sold a co-op with A&H and while they were very knowledgable, I found them surprisingly lacking in attentiveness -- they seemed to treat the sale as a low priority. The first open house we held, they sent one agent, who refused to show our roof deck and brought her lunch, which she proceeded to sit at the kitchen table and eat as the first visitors made their way through the apartment. I could go on, but won't.

On the other hand, we bought that co-op through Brooklyn Properties with Roslyn Huebener as the agent, back when she worked there. She provided great service, far more than I would have expected her to give to a couple who were spending a relative pittance and weren't even paying her commission.

So, good experience, not-so-good experience. Anyway, my point was not to bash AH generally. I just think it's not helpful to buyers or sellers to withhold any information like the location. It may helpful to AH, but as a seller (or buyer), I would not want their first consideration to be preserving their full commission. As for poaching, Corcoran gives out addresses and they don't exactly seem to be going out of business.

Anyway, I give props to Elisabeth for posting regardless.

Posted by: linusvanpelt at July 12, 2005 4:16 PM

I agree that Elizabeth's posting was quite appropriate. However, callng this a four-story is misleading, period.

Posted by: Park Sloper at July 12, 2005 4:25 PM

As for "poaching," I doubt that it is an actual issue of true theft of sellers but rather trying to fend off attempts by other brokers to come in with potential buyers and co-broke. Corcoran posts a lot of info about its listings because its business model encourages co-broking, and tries to make up the difference in commissions through volume.

There was an article in the NYTimes about 6 months ago that mentioned this in part of a focus on the changing nature of the Brooklyn real estate broker industry.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 12, 2005 4:48 PM

I used to know people who rented this house. It's tiny! Very surprised to see it on the market over a mil. The location is only ok (on a commercial part of Waverly near the Associated supermarket, dwarfed by the Clinton Hill co-ops across the street). Has a nice yard, but no upgrades to speak of and did I mention it's really small...

Posted by: clintonhillbilly at July 12, 2005 5:02 PM

Every time I see one of these real estate blogs, and Brownstoner I think does a really nice job. Compared to other ones like that moronic Ltpuk-whatever. People are always bashing or criticizing agents and firms, instead of saying thing like that idiot who said "aren't you ashamed" say something constructive. Its alot easier to throw stones at glass houses.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 12, 2005 10:45 PM

So this teeny tiny house is ok for over a million, but a gorgeous 5700 sq. ft. mansion on the Bed Stuy/Clinton Hill border for 1.5 is a stretch?

Posted by: clintonhillbilly at July 13, 2005 9:24 AM

Re "poaching" - what I meant was that AH doesn't want to share the commission. We just sold recently in Manhattan and had the situation where buyers would come with a friend who was also a broker - we would end up paying 3% to their friend (costing the buyer nothing) and in return these buyers would list with their friend and get a break on that commission. I find this practice very widespread. A lot of new developments are being sold by brokers who are relatives of the developers and just happen (!) to work for Corcoran/Elliman. This way, even more of the $ stays in the family.

Posted by: puppypure at July 13, 2005 9:41 AM

Could some categorize house sizes by sq. ft
range?
Teeny-tiny - from 0 - to 1800?
Tiny 1800 to 2400?
Small 2400-2999?
Med. 3000-3600?
Large 3600- 4200?
very large 4200-5000?
huge over 5000?

Posted by: Anonymous at July 13, 2005 9:54 AM

Personally, I don't care whether a broker tries to keep money "in the family" -- as long as it doesn't get in the way of their getting me, the seller, the best deal. If I'm going to sell through a broker, I want to know that that's their top priority. To me, a policy of discouraging co-brokes -- as AH apparently seems to have -- is in AH's interest but not the seller's, since it means fewer people seeing the place I'm selling.

If anyone wants to persuade me that this practice benefits the seller as well as the broker, I'm glad to listen.

Posted by: linusvanpelt at July 13, 2005 10:41 AM

Hillbilly,
We didn't know how big this house was when we made the initial post. Given what's been said, we'd say this ain't such a great deal.

Posted by: Brownstoner at July 13, 2005 2:39 PM

A&H does not discourage co-brokes whatsover they sold a house of mine in Cobble Hill and co-broked it immediatley they even set up a brokers party, If they don't give the address maybe its because other brokers typically try to steal the listing even when they are presented with the a co-broke. I actually had brokers from a corporate firm find out that my house was on the market through A&H and tried to convince me to get out of my contract!! Nonetheless A&H sold it themselves but my house was out there with everybody. You should really educate yourselves before making comments on situations you have no idea about...Jesus!

Posted by: Anonymous at July 13, 2005 7:59 PM

I am familiar with the block and although it is not the best location within Clinton Hill it is decently located. Unless you have the cash to fix the house to your taste I would suggest staying away from the property due to its size. Now I am a firm believer of “If you do not have anything positive to say then don’t say nothing at all.” but this time I am going to make an exception. As for A&H I have dealt with them on the buy side. Unfortunately, my experiences with A&H have been sub par at best. I would never sell a property through A&H based on my experience with the firm. Each time I have contacted A&H to determine the LOCATION of a property (which is only one of the most important factors in real-estate) that I am interested in I am directed to a specific broker. Not the listing broker of the property but the selling agent (who knows nothing about the property) that I happened to buy a property from some time ago that provided poor service to me. I communicated my frustration to another selling agent of A&H and was still forced to work with the same piss poor agent even though I requested someone else. After several requests I was finally given another selling agent to work with that was great. But now that person has recently left A&H and I refuse to contact the firm and go through the same crap all over again. Basically, if you have a bad experience with an agent at A&H you are locked in with that person no matter what your interest is. In my experience the selling agent was very unresponsive. When I originally submitted a bid for the property I purchased I basically ended up working with another selling agent to get status updates on my bid (the original agent submitted my bid and basically went on vacation and did not appoint anyone from the firm to follow-up with me during their absence). More recently, I scheduled an appointment to view a new property I was interested in buying (against my will with the same absentee agent) and the agent never showed up or even called. Bottom line is now when I see properties advertised on A&H that I am interested in buying I dread calling them because of my fear of forcefully getting routed to the same agent that I have no respect for.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 14, 2005 11:59 AM

Corcoran does the same thing... I had quite the same experience with them, and actually sold throug A&H...I got my money.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 15, 2005 4:28 PM

Also saw this house last fall when it was listed in the low 900s. Now, a year later, with interest rates higher, they think it's going to sell for more money. We'll see. It is small, and it gets no afternoon sunlight since the Clinton Hill coops next door block the sun. Not ragging on the coops, I lived there, just a fact.

I also had a terrible experience with AH selling my coop. I think RE agents simply take buyers for granted today. With the market as it is, they unfortunately seem to get away with it - which I think masks some real incompetence on behalf of many realtors out there.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 15, 2005 10:40 PM

I also don't like dealing with A&H. We went to an open house for an apartment on Eastern Parkway. Any question we had the agent there said that we would have to talk to the agent that we had been working with. We thought fine but strange, why would you have someone working an open house that didn't know anything about the place. Then we later found out that she was the listing agent and knew everything and just didn't want to tell us information because we had alredy been assigned to another agent.
Then on another instance we were sitting in the A&H office looking over plans for the Washington Ave. apartments and this other agent was sitting at her desk and talking loudly on the phone. She had an attitude that she didn't want to answer a customers questions because she wasn't working for them. After she got off the phone she was complaining that she was doing someone else's job. It seems to me that there is not a good "culture" at A&H and that people are very territorial and not into teamwork. I think this makes the company appear unprofessional. Although I'm not crazy about Corcoran, at least their agents are helpful, a little bit more sophisticated, and give an appearance that they are working for the team. (Even if that is not really what happens behind the scenes.)

Posted by: mf at July 16, 2005 6:21 PM

I had a great experience with AH my condo was with Bk properties Corcoran and AH. AH was the only firm consistant and professional when obtaining mutiple bids, Corcoran did present themselves well, but made me feel like they were doing me a favor and they would work harder if they got the exclusive, Brooklyn Properties was dispicable, and not even worth mentioning. I for one think they do a phenominal job. I just wish they re-did the web-site.

Posted by: Dana at July 18, 2005 2:25 AM

http://articles.ivtcscs.org distanceswungwhat

Posted by: anonymous at August 11, 2005 10:52 AM

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July 12, 2005

House of the Day: Clinton Hill Brick

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