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September 13, 2006

Price Jacker: Going For The 40% Flip In The Slope

apartment
Back in the April, a reader made a comment in reference to a 3-bedroom co-op on Prospect Park West that was on the market for $845,000 through Brooklyn Properties. The commenter noted that the 1,400-square-foot 3-bedroom sparked a bidding war that most likely resulted in a price above ask. The apartment was #1L at 170 Prospect Park West and, according to Property Shark, it closed for $885,000 in June. Now the owners have put it back on the market for, hold on to your hats, $1.25 million. Talk about going fishing! A 40% hike in less than six months in a declining market. It's a lovely (really lovely) apartment to be sure but our tipster (who, for all we know is a jealous neighbor) points out that it is on the ground floor right next to a bus stop. If they can get close to this asking price it'll certainly be a vote of confidence in the market!
FSBO: 170 PPW #1L [NY Times] GMAP P*Shark
Open House Picks: Comment 4/7/06, 09:15 pm [Brownstoner]




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:01 AM | Comments (43)
Categories: Co-ops

Comments

It certainly is beautiful, but that owner has one set of cojones. If they find a buyer anywhere near that price, they will have found the world's stupidest individual.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 11:17 AM

those new floors are a little too "new jersey elegant" for my taste

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 11:30 AM

I suspect the kitchen doesn't look too great in person. And I'm not crazy about how the dishwasher goes right up against the window.

And the price is nuts.

Posted by: tinarina at September 13, 2006 11:32 AM

As the anon tipster a few comments:

- They definitely gave the apt a (neutral) facelift - seemms like new/remodelled floor, some bathromm and kitchen upgrades
- The floorplan was kind of funny - one bathroom was of the kitchen.
- Two of the three bedrooms where on the smaller side (but not tiny).

PS: I am not a neighbor - we are living a few blocks south - I was just amazed by the chuzpe shown by the flipper, who btw (according to ACRIS) lives in Santa Monica, CA.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 11:40 AM

THey're not going to get this price. We just bought a similar but bigger (1600 sf) 3 BR apt on PPW in Center Slope PS 321 in May for less. We redid the floors, painted, and still come in under that price, for a bigger apt, better location, better school. So, buena suerte, Satan Monicans!

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 11:52 AM

sheez, how's a guy or gal to maintain their easy, breezy, santa monica lifestyle.
Anyway, i much prefer the apts over by eastern parkway across from the museum.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 11:52 AM

I love the way saying a property is in the district for PS 321 is like saying an apartment has 20 ft ceilings or upgraded electrical fixtures. its even in apartment descriptions. lovely.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 12:25 PM


For that price you could buy an entire brownstone in Bed Stuy or Prospect Lefferts AND renovate it!

For that price you could buy a similar sized apartment in PRIME MANHATTAN!

Somebody apparently watched the show HOUSE FLIPPERS a few times and thought he could do the same thing in Brooklyn.

Unfortunately, you need to buy SUPER CHEAP to make money on a quick flip, not just get a reasonable deal.

Also, considering the stagnated sales market since he bought the place in April, I'd say this "flipper" will be lucky to even get his money back.

Posted by: Alexander at September 13, 2006 12:47 PM

school is a big deal. otherwise it's 20k a year to go private. but I don't think this school is all that great

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 12:49 PM

321 is very good, better than a lot of private schools in Brooklyn, with a great faculty. It's a big plus. In our part of Prospect Park South, we're zoned for some elementary school on Caton and Marlborough where, I believe, the reading scores rank among the lowest in the city.

Posted by: PPSer at September 13, 2006 1:04 PM

being in 321 can easily add $50-$100k to an asking price.

Posted by: Wendy at September 13, 2006 1:34 PM

I agree with other posters that the school zone is a HUGE issue for any family-sized apartment and whenever it's in a good zone it is always included in the listing. For buyers who aren't private school-bound, checking a zone before buying is quite important. PS 107 (zone for HOD, according to the listing) is also an extremely good school now, I hear, and in many ways might be better than 321 (for example, less crowded). But PS 321 and PS 29, long established as the most "desirable" schools (meaning those that some parents "lie" about addresses to get into) are still the ones most people not familiar with NYC public school system still value.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 1:40 PM

Not to mention that it is on the 1st floor.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 2:06 PM

Anon 12:49, you clearly have no clue about the schools in the Slope.

Posted by: South Sloper at September 13, 2006 2:06 PM

I saw this place when it was originally listed w/ BP. It has the strangest layout that I have ever seen. One had to walk pass the bedrooms to get to the living areas. The masterbedroom was actually the old dining room, it was crazy. I am shocked that it went in a bidding war and will be equally shocked if the seller gets more than he or she paid for it.

Posted by: Donna at September 13, 2006 2:09 PM

someone took a hit to the head too hard or watch too much "flip this house" while smoking crack.

Posted by: Armchair_warrior at September 13, 2006 2:14 PM

South Sloper 2:06, you think this school is really that great? it is NOT 321

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 2:17 PM

where are you all seeing the floorplan? I can never click thru on those 'visit our website' urls

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 2:19 PM

We passed on a great 3br on PPW right by the movie theater that was ground floor for that very reason -- noise, foot traffic, real traffic, safety and dirt. That said, it ended up selling through A&H for $50K over what the owners wanted to sell it to us for, so once again it wasn't the best choice, though I have no regrets. Also, the one we saw had had tremendous flooding issues in the past. My guess is that might be a problem with any prewar ground floors on PPW.

Posted by: ParkSlopeRenter at September 13, 2006 2:50 PM

Good luck to the idiot who also posted this FSBO on Park slope parents. bet wishes for a mangled sale and appraisal! ha!

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 2:57 PM

The flipper has flipped!

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 2:57 PM

everyone go to the open house and talk about it at the open house.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 3:00 PM

I saw this apartment when Brooklyn Properties was selling it. The floors were lovely! The new floors look gauche in the pictures!

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 3:03 PM

Park Slope public schools are fine and getting better. Yes, 321 is crowded but so what? It has a great principal and by and large very dedicated teachers. PS 107 is strong. PS 39 is pretty good, as is the school over in Windsor Terrace. And the school on Cortelyou Road (I'm forgetting number) is also quite good. We almost purchased a place there a few years ago and I visited school, talked to teachers and parents, etc.

As well, let me put in a pitch for MS 51, which my son now attends. The faculty has been better than I expected, and the drama program (and the chorus for those with voices) is superb. The arts teachers in particular are dedicated, stay late, get there early, and work weekends.
Notwithstanding the private school or die mentality slowly taking hold in Park Slope, there is no reason to spend $25,000 a year to get a good education for your child.

Posted by: Michael at September 13, 2006 3:32 PM

i agree
although i am not yet a parent, it seems rather odd for one to spend more than what some good colleges charge, on an elitist private school.

I attended Catholic school as I child in NYC (I have no religious attachments to any group) and although it wasn't free...it wasn't as expensive as these schools today.

I've heard stories of kids at St Anne's in the heights finishing maybe third in their graduating class, only to be rejected by Harvard! (supposedly they "reserve" 2 seats a year for St Anne's).

Although I'm not a parent, I don't think I would want my kids to grow up without a mix of students in their schools (diverse in every aspect), so that they won't flip out when they become adults in my melting pot nabe, city i love, and the world in general.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 4:42 PM

they don't rank kids at st anns. just FYI

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 5:13 PM

For the record, below is the college acceptance list for St. Anne's:

Members of the Class of 2006 have been
invited to attend the following colleges:


Alfred University
1 Maryland Institute College of Art
3
Allegheny
1 Middlebury
4
American University
2 Mills College
1
Amherst College
3 Mount Holyoke
2
Arizona State University
1 Muhlenberg
1
Art Institute of Chicago
1 New York University
4
Bard
18 Northeastern University
2
Barnard
3 Northwestern
4
Bates
3 Oberlin
13
Bennington
2 Occidental
2
Boston College
2 Pitzer
1
Boston University
9 Pomona
2
Bowdoin
2 Princeton
4
Brandeis
5 Quinnipiac University
1
Brown
9 Randolph-Macon Woman's College
1
Bryn Mawr
1 Reed
1
Bucknell
1 Rice
1
CUNY-John Jay College
1 SUNY - Albany
2
California College of the Arts
2 SUNY - Binghamton
1
Carleton
2 SUNY - Purchase
4
Carnegie Mellon
2 SUNY - Stonybrook
1
Clark
2 San Francisco Art Institute
1
Colby
1 Sarah Lawrence
5
Colgate
7 School of Visual Arts
1
College of Santa Fe
1 Skidmore
9
Columbia
2 Smith
2
Connecticut College
4 Spelman
1
Cooper Union
2 Stanford
2
Cornell
5 Syracuse
3
Dartmouth
8 Trinity College
2
Drew
1 Tufts
3
Duke
2 Univ. of Arizona
2
Elon University
1 Univ. of Chicago
6
Emerson
1 Univ. of Delaware
2
Emory
1 Univ. of Massachusetts-Amherst
3
Eugene Lang/New School
1 Univ. of Miami
1
Evergreen
1 Univ. of Michigan
4
Franklin & Marshall
2 Univ. of Minnesota
1
Franklin Pierce
1 Univ. of New Hampshire
1
George Washington Univ.
2 Univ. of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
1
Georgetown
2 Univ. of Pennsylvania
2
Goucher College
3 Univ. of Rhode Island
1
Hamilton
4 Univ. of Rochester
2
Hampshire
3 Univ. of Southern California
2
Hartwick
2 Univ. of Texas - Austin
1
Harvard
1 Univ. of Vermont
8
Haverford
1 Univ. of Virginia
1
Hofstra
2 Univ. of Wisconsin
8
Hollins
1 Utica College
1
Indiana University
3 Vanderbilt
2
Ithaca College
4 Vassar
6
Johns Hopkins
6 Wesleyan
10
Juniata College
1 Wheaton College
6
Kenyon
9 Whittier
4
Lawrence
1 William & Mary
1
Lewis & Clark
2 Williams
1
Macalaster College
2 Yale
5
Manhattanville
1

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 5:31 PM

There are certainly good private schools out there. (And for the price, they better be good).

But two points: Take with a grain of salt the college admissions. These same private school carefully cull unwanted students. Children are not admitted without high scores, and quite a few private schools will "encourage" families to withdraw children who are not performing up to snuff, lest those students hurt the college admittance stats. And the private schools that buck this Darwinian system--Brooklyn Friends is a fine school that comes to mind--often take criticism from prospective parents for the (relative) lack of Ivy League admissions.

I'd argue that if you focused on kids from the same socio-economic background in public schools public, you'd see a not dissimilar and impressive list of admittances.

Posted by: Michael at September 13, 2006 5:57 PM

Dude get real this market is dead over over over. unit is worth less than what you bought it for.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 6:31 PM

I'm impressed by the young ruling class. Not a single Medgar Evers, Kingsborough Community or Brooklyn College, not a single city college. I wonder how many neighborhood kids hang out on the stoop with the private school kids after the play dates.

Posted by: Nicolo Macchiavelli at September 13, 2006 7:52 PM

I think the public grade school is very good in brooklyn heights

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 9:34 PM

is anyone else underwhelmed by the list of colleges that accepted st. anne's students? certainly not like stuyvesant high school. those were their safety schools.

Posted by: ltjbukem at September 13, 2006 10:08 PM

The flippers of this apartment are not interested by the graduates of St Anne's matriculation.

They are lost in their own delusions and it is unlikely their children would be admitted to St Anne's.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 10:41 PM

9 to brown? 5 to yale? 6 to U of Chi? Not bad.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2006 11:19 PM

Is it supposed to be difficult to get into Brown? You've got to be kidding.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 14, 2006 4:35 AM

For the record: Saint Ann's does not have class rank. There are no grades given, so class ranking is not possible. Harvard does not "reserve" any places for Saint Ann's students. Saint Ann's, as of 2004, had the highest percentage of its senior class admitted to Ivy League of any private school in the US, according to a study by the WALL STREET JOURNAL. It is also less expensive than the other "elite" private schools in NYC, including Packer and Poly Prep (but it is still expensive, over $20K).

Posted by: heights artguy at September 14, 2006 8:07 AM

Man there are a lot of elitists here who are concerned about OPM. If this unit sells near the asking or even a bit below,isn't that a good thing for Brooklyn RE values? The market may have slowed a bit, but to be rooting for it to slip further is deranged.

And, complaining/comparing about public vs private and the colleges these kids attend is ridiculously puerile. I'll bet most of these posts are made by people who grew up in someplace like Wichita, KS. What do you know about street life in NYC?

Posted by: Bill at September 14, 2006 11:20 AM

hey bill, don't knock wichita, ks. some of my best friends are from there.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 14, 2006 4:57 PM

Whats the matte with Kansas?

Posted by: Nicolo Macchiavelli at September 14, 2006 8:09 PM

I wasn't knocking it. I just find it amazing that people are ready to judge without knowledge. I am sure Wichita is a really nice place. I am equally sure that many who are now Brooklyn denizens are from other parts where life is much more homogeneous than the place they now find themselves.

Posted by: Bill at September 14, 2006 11:10 PM

The heck with the building on PPW; I am much more interested in the St. Ann's tangent. Let's have some variety.

I am in no way underwhelmed by the list of college destinations for the St. Ann's class of 2006. These are only "safety" schools for snobs who can only name ten "good" colleges in America. Some of these are the finest liberal arts colleges in the country. I think it is possible to infer a lot of positive things about the curriculum/staff at St. Ann's from this list.

No college or university "reserves" two (or however many) places for a specific high school. But many do limit how many students it will take from the kind of high schools where 10-15% of the graduating class meet the qualifications. At my small, highly competitive public high school, 1-3 students each year went to Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Brown, etc. My brother graduated second in his class, but without a lot of extra-curricular activities, and was not accepted at any of these. Had to settle for an Ivy as a "legacy," the child of an alum'. It's not what school you go to, it's what you do with the opportunity once you are there.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 17, 2006 6:36 PM

I saw that place when it was on the market for 845k. It's really a 2br apt (small br's at that) with a dining room that is used as a 3rd br. What constitutes a bedroom these days? Any room that could possibly fit a bed? Oh the days when 4 walls and closets were to be expected. Anyway, the kithen needed to be fixed up and one of the bathrooms (the one off the kitchen) was really weird. $1.25 million is just crazy!

Posted by: Anonymous at September 19, 2006 11:14 PM

i saw the place. the bedroom is fine as a bedroom, the place has great features, and it has plenty of light. Everyone talking about st ann's and how the layout is weird, go to hell

Posted by: Anonymous at February 21, 2007 4:41 PM

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