HOTD: Century 21 Cheapo Doubleshot

house hallway
Given the surfeit of brownstones in the $2 million-plus category, we decided to look more closely at the other end of the spectrum. If you're looking for something for less than, say, $600,000, one good approach is to avoid the usual broker suspects and look a little more down market to firms that have a bigger presence in the outer neighborhoods. Century 21, for example, has these two places listed in the mid-$500k's. The trade-off is that the firm is particularly sparing in its sharing of useful information and photos. In both cases, all we get is a shot of the facade and a broad neighborhood classification. The house on the left is a 2-family in Bedford Stuyvesant listed for $565,000 while the house on the right is on Willoughby off Stuyvesant Avenue (the listing calls it Williamsburg but seems more like Bed Stuy to us) for $550,000. With no interior shots its pretty pointless to try to parse the value, though we assume some of the same arguments made about this house will apply in these cases as well.
Web# M06-1702 [Century21]
Web# M06-1786 [Century21] GMAP

Comments

Has anyone seen this house that was recently listed in the nytimes.
http://www.elliman.com/Listing.aspx?ListingID=756375
It looks like a real gem from the outside.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2006 12:28 PM

These houses seem really great price-wise, but just try to get one of the jokers at Century 21 to show them to you. Good luck.

Posted by: clinton hillbilly at February 8, 2006 12:39 PM

i've seen the bed-stuy unit. it's on lexington. hasn't anyone noticed that this property has about six ads in the ny times r.e. section from six different agents? what does this tell you (since six weeks later it is still not in contract)? this property is a "flipped" unit, and the flipper paid too much for it, so can't sell it for much less. the renovation must have taken them a total of one week. the entire interior is painted a cheap lime green. it is a zoned two-family that the flipper turned into a three- by putting partitions and bathrooms everywhere. the floors are cheap home depot tiles. the plumbing is all exterior the ceiling because i think the previous owner was using this as an sro and needed a sprinkler system. over all, this and about 90% of remaining bed-stuy brownstones are a complete mess. the best part about the situation? the flippers and thief-agents and greedy sellers are witnessing their own demise. sales are way down. potential buyers are standing up for what's right.

the agencies are playing nasty games with sellers and potential buyers, pitting one against the other, accepting offers and then baiting other buyers, trying to hold one "accepted" offer to get a higher one (and stalling going into contract, while pressing the accepted offer to move fast).

there's r.e. desperation afoot and panic-pricing. with a little patience and wisdom, things will be straightening out sooner rather than later.

Posted by: anonymous at February 8, 2006 1:08 PM

The fact that six different agents have this listing indicates that it's an "open" listing, meaning that the owner has not signed an exclusive with any one agency. Many reputable firms will not advertise open listings on their websites. Additionally, if one were able to approach the owner directly, he/she would probably be very happy to sell it for at least 6% below this asking price.

Posted by: babs at February 8, 2006 1:22 PM

Try 3%...that's what brokers are getting nowadays. It's so bad out there that brokers will take anything for a listing...offer them .001 and they'll take it. Idiots and deadbeats. Brokers and sellers. All of them.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2006 2:24 PM

Wow, why are some of you so bitter? Lighten up, will ya?!

Posted by: anon at February 8, 2006 2:50 PM

I looked at that Lexington house almost 2 years ago. Strangely I think it was the same price then. What a dog! It was an SRO with a bathroom in nearly every room and rather than remove the excess plumbing, the flipper just tiled over everything. You open what you think is going to be a closet and it's a shower or toilet. Quite bizarre.

The block is also pretty bad despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that the 79thPrecinct is on the corner. I remember the Sunday morning I went to the Open House, there were several teenagers openly smoking pot on the stoop next door as the realtor led us all in. That did not bode well.

Not at all surprised it hasn't sold.

Posted by: clinton hillbilly at February 8, 2006 4:46 PM

I wonder if we were required to use our real names if our posts would be a little less arrogant/rude/obnoxious. Its getting so I don't want to read the posts any more.

Posted by: Kelly at February 8, 2006 5:35 PM

Don't know what brokers you've been talking to Anon 2:24 -- everyone I know is doing just fine w. 6% thank you. Yes, if you do a co-broke (as most sales are) your firm winds up w. 3%, ad does the buyer's broker's firm.

Posted by: babs at February 8, 2006 6:03 PM

You'd think they would at least pick up the trash off the stoop before taking the picture. I think that says it all.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 9, 2006 9:45 AM

lived in paulus hook area from 2000 - 2003 before moving to park slope. it has a very brooklyn heights feeling with lots of historic brownstones, on the water. but it is certainly not 'undiscovered'. since late 90s, the waterfront has been developed with tall corporate skyscrapers. and many residential real estate developers have discovered it then. we looked in 2002, two bedroom condos (new construction within historic brownstones) started at $700,000 then. the price was not worth it to us for the lack of strong community feel, amenities, resturants, etc. without the infrastructure of a deep rooted community (like many brooklyn neighborhoods), we thought the market in jersey city would plateau sooner come a general market slowdown. so we moved to park slope, which we love. commute is shorter to downtown from jersey city (but we worked midtown, which about the same amount of time from park slope), but the PATH is awful (crowded and depressing). the ferries are more pleasant mode of transportation but also more expensive. also after midnight, it is so hard to get to jersey city (have to go through hoboken first on the PATH). and the taxis will not take you there for less then $60. so we felt like we were further out from the city because we hardly went out since it didn't seem worth the hassle of trying to get home late (although this turned out to be a huge money saver).

Posted by: su at February 9, 2006 1:11 PM

The C21 brokers ARE jokers, and I'm not saying that to be rude or obnoxious. I made an appt. to see something in Bed-Stuy and they made me jump through hoops to get in to see it. The realtor wouldn't just meet me at the house to show it (or just hold an open house, hello?). They required that I drive 45 minutes out to their office in Flatbush (would have been an hour on the train), and come in to fill out an application to work with them before seeing it. The house was a great place on a great block in the 500k's so I thought it was worth it. After waiting to see someone for 30-45 minutes while they finished a phone call -- even though we had an appointment -- they told me the house was no longer beinng shown, had been withdrawn from the market. Of course they knew that before I got there and they were just trying to trick me into 'showing me something else'.

Have also tried to see a house through the Donna Davis C21 office. Left plenty of messages, and I was quite a serious buyer, downpayment, paperwork ready to go.

C21 Block & Lot in Boerum Hill is the only one who seemed to have it together.

I agree with clintonhillbilly. Yes, try to see a house through them. It will be a totally infuriating waste of your time.

Posted by: renogirl at February 9, 2006 1:14 PM

what do people out there feel is a far price for a 2 fam, partially renovated, in lefferts gardens?

Posted by: redbone at February 10, 2006 12:14 AM

« Across Other River from Manhattan: Paulus Hook Wednesday Photo of the Day »

February 8, 2006

HOTD: Century 21 Cheapo Doubleshot

Comments

Post a comment

Latest Restaurant Additions