House of the Day: Victorian in East Ditmas

It's Midwood Park.

I think some of the brokers just lump all of victorian flatbush into "Ditmas park area" for those outside the nabe.

This house is well within the borders of Victorian Flatbush. It's a rather large area, as those who were new to the tour this year can attest.

Is the price reasonable? I don't know. These craftsman style cottages (which are found in Midwood Park and on East 16th Street in Ditmas Park proper) are smaller (read easier to maintain) than many of their neighborhors. The larger Victorians in Midwood Park are asking/have asked in excess of 1.2 million. I don't know how much work this house needs...

Is this area also landmarked? I was sort of depressed to pass a beautiful and well-maintained old house on Ditmas this weekend, with some horrific oversize box being built next door. I love the funny little neighborhoods in Brooklyn and fear they are being developed out of existence.

The enclosed front porch detracts from the houses curb appeal (check out it's immediate neighbor in the pic), but having said that since these houses are smaller it would make a decent office or a playroom for a family with kids.

I know it says six bedrooms but the third floor rooms are going to be pretty small (I live in a smaller house in the area with a pitched roof as well), just single bed width I would guess.

Midwood Park is currently in the process of applying for landmark status, as are many of the other unlandmarked sections of Victorian Flatbush. Only PPS and DP proper are currently landmarked. One street, I believe in DP is not landmarked.

A corner property out here almost always means a miniscule back yard to speak of. They don't show a picture of the back yard here, so don't know what's up with that.

This is on the corner of East 18th and Foster. The block of East 18th between Foster and Glenwood is really nice. BUT this is a pretty busy corner. There was a house on the corner of East 19th and Foster that Brownstoner featured a few months back which was listed (I think) with Corcoran. I think that one may have sold at around this price- thus the comparable. Still, for me (and I live in Midwood Park) this is asking a bit much for a less than pristine example of what is available in terms of housing stock in this area, as well as a house that is on a pretty busy (relatively) corner.That being said, there's not all that much available in any of the greater Victorian Flatbush area for less than this.

This house is on the corner of Foster Avenue - a high traffic commercial avenue. Not an ideal location.

PS - According to Property Shark, this house was bought in Jan for $775K.

Not sure what you mean by 'random' but I think the fireplace is great and fitting to style of the house which looks more arts and crafts than victorian.
Propshark show this address as sold for $750 back in January

I live in the area and while this corner is busier than some and not the very tranquil feel you get in most of Midwood park, which is exceptionally peaceful, I would not refer to it as "commercial". that's a real stretch, and similar to what was mentioned about the previous corner house for sale on this block. It was hyperbole then, and still is.

I agree re: fireplace. Also think house may not get ask, but is not unreasonably priced.

looks so darling from the outside. and some really nice rooms + details inside. but the fireplace--would have to go. a floor plan would really help the sale of this place. hard to figure it out based on the pictures.

If this house was built in 1920 (per P*Shark) then that puts it into Art & Crafts era
http://houseofantiquehardware.com/s.nl/it.I/id.15/.f?sc=15&category=-115
http://houseofantiquehardware.com/site/timeline/tl_artsandcrafts.html

Victorian style of building was on the wain by nineteen-teen's
http://houseofantiquehardware.com/site/timeline/tl_victorian.html

Even thought the actual reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901)ended sooner; the building style took a while to change over.

Unless a house is falling down or next to a gas station, under 900K is unheard of these days.

Doubtful house is 1920s. My house is listed as 1920s on Property Shark, and it was built in 1903. House is more likely 1910-1914.

Whatever your feelings about the fireplace, it's most likely original (I've seen others like this in houses like this in the nabe), so I wouldn't scrap it unless you're absolutely sure it's later.

This looks like a particularly difficult porch enclosure to remove: concrete? Wood frame enclosures are much easier to take down.

I'll tell you. I don't know who sold it (what realtor, private sale etc...), but you can go through old MaryKay, Corcoran, Kestyn, and Brooklyn Properties records for the last few year and you will not find a house that sold for under 900k unless it was practically falling down. That $750K price was either a one-off great deal, or the house needed tons of work, which has been done now. Most of what these houses need you can't see - new plumbing, electricity. Plus the market here has exploded in the past few years. And yes, if you are not willing to pay over 1.1 million these days, you are buying a money-pit. You will need to spend the difference to bring the property up to market scratch, i.e. the $1.1. million mark (this is for the less grandiose houses, I might add). I'm sick of people whinging about how much houses cost in Flatbush nowdays. The neighborhood has become much more desirable in recent years, and house prices reflect that. Owners with more disposable income are moving in and spending it on their homes, making the neighborhood even more so. Is that what makes it middle class? And if it is, what precisely is wrong with that? And how exactly do you define middle class? Are you speaking strictly in terms of income? Or political, social, creative values? Ethnic diversity? Because I'll tell you this, Victorian Flatbush is a vibrant, diverse community with a lot of creative types and intellectuals. You can keep City Island. I wouldn't take it for half the price your offering. And I wouldn't mind if you stayed there as well. Your posts have had a nasty, uninformed, odious tone. But if you're really hot for Brooklyn, I'm sure someone can find you a brand new McMansion in Seagate.

Not a true statement for "last few years(s)" regarding Victorian Flatbush houses under 900k . If you had said last 6 months, I would maybe agree, but in the past year is was possible to buy for under 900k and have a house that you could slap a coat of paint on the walls and move on in.

I looked at quite a few houses in the VF area. Did these houses have gourmet kitchens and spa bathrooms? No, but do you really need these things for basic subsistence? No, they are luxuries. While the electric and plumbing might eventually need upgrades, there were no sparks coming from the sockets or dangling wires. And no mold due to leaks from the plumbing. Nothing that was going to require immediate repair/reno before you could step foot over the threshold.

Your buying a 100 year old house, it will need to be maintained. People need to get over the idea that old houses should be in exact same shape both cosmetically and mechanically as a house built 2 months ago.

Where are these houses? I bought three years ago and got one of the last true bargains (under $700K - needed work) in the neighborhood. I have followed the real estate scene daily here ever since. The only houses I have seen in the past two years listed for under 900k needed much more than a fresh coat of paint. Did you have inspections of these houses? Alot of expensive issues are concealed by old walls. Seriously, go back and look at Mary Kay, Corcoran, and Brooklyn Properties listings. Show me a house not needing at least $100K in improvements for under $900. Even $900 will not put you sitting comfortably in the lap of luxury. Which is what everyone seems to be screaming for at these prices. Personally, if I did it again, I'd pay the $200K more for a house that was already completely renovated.

Yes, they were inspected by an engineer and found to have list of fix it later items, and a few fix it sooner items (but nothing structural).
I noticed that one house, that I looked at, still 1 yr later has not been resided by it's new owner, and it really could stand to be done. All houses were a bit outside the historic Ditams Park boarders, so yes some were vinyl sided. (oh the horror!)

And again, I'm stressing these houses are perfectly habitable, but not classed as luxury houses. They have some period detail, and are really nice, but not mansions.

And the fresh coat of paint was so that you could move in, and do repairs as need and on your own time table and as budget allows.

I'm not a "it's got to be gut reno-ed and marble kitchen & bath" person. If it got four walls, no leaks, no dangling wires, and a roof that's intact, I can move in. And the majority of the places looked at were well above this basic standard. Did see one house did really need full kitchen/bath redo of 2nd floor, it was really trashed by an ex-tenant. But all house, houses already had people living in them, they were not boarded up and abandon, or falling down.

And there is a huge difference between declaring a house "practically falling down" and saying it could use $100K in "improvements".

Although I would like my marble baths and new kitchen sooner rather than later, I did not need to have my house, which still needed $100k worth of work (plumbing, electricity, plastering, sidewalks, etc...) gut reno'd to move in. Still I didn't see a single house in the under 900k price range that didn't need this sort of stuff done. To be fair, I was not interested in properties that were not in prime locations, so did not look on the borders (south Midwood, anything near Avenue H, etc...) I'm just wondering what brokers you were using - because I just didn't see the properties you must have visited advertised anywhere. Also, it's important to realize that house inspectors can't find a lot of electrical and plumbing problems, environmental hazards, that do exist, as they can't take down the walls. There can be lots of issues when you actually buy the house that come to light after you've bought the house, no matter what the inspection says. I know this first hand.

Actually the one house I had seen (and mentioned had not yet been resided) was in a Brownstoner recent sales post:
http://brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2006/02/residential_sal_26.html

Legal 3-family, 3-story prewar Victorian-style house, it was listed for $849,000 and apparently went for $900K. As far as I can tell, the owner's have done nothing to the exterior, it's same as when it was on the market. And never saw a dumpster or sign of work crew, (pass that way all the time) so they didn't do anything major before they moved in.

So the house was $900K, didn't fall down, and didn't need hundreds of thousands of work done before new owner's could move in.

No, but the house DID sell for 900K, and the new owners most likely did spend some more cash renovating, even just minor cosmetics can add up quickly. Maybe the new owners were asking too much (but if they get it, then I guess not - that's the market). But I'm not sure I see your point. Houses that sell below 900K are still extremely rare in Victorian Flatbush. Even though this one was asking less, it sold for 900K. Again, that seems to be the bottom end of the market here now.

It was LISTED for $849K and apparently went for $900K. So if it went for $899K that would make some huge difference ?

I'm growing weary of this. Just because your a bit bitter that you had to drop $100K to get your house up to snuff, doesn't mean there were NOT other houses in the area that needed less work and were on the marked last year.

This year, your SOL, cuz all the home owners saw what houses were going for and upped their asking price.

It was listed for $849,000 and apparently went for $900K. So, if it went for $899K, that would make a difference?