« John Petit's Vision for Prospect Park South Residential Sales in Brooklyn »
October 23, 2006
Details on the Stuy Heights House Auction?
Did anyone attend the auction yesterday for the limestone house at 404 Stuyvesant Avenue? We're dying to know what happened.
Limestone Mansion [Absolute Auctions & Realty] GMAP P*Shark
Paddle Time at 404 Stuyvesant Avenue [Brownstoner]
Comments
I didn't attend the auction, but I did view the house on Saturday on my way to other open houses in B-Stuy. All I can say the house is absolutely fantastic. The house is huge and the second level is insane. Way out of my pocket book range at this time, but who ever purchased it is one lucky son of a B!!!
Posted by: QBorBK at October 23, 2006 10:45 AM
I didn't make it on Sunday, but there seemed to a crowd outside the door and in front of the house around 2:30-ish
Posted by: Anonymous at October 23, 2006 10:47 AM
After a statement by the auction house that real estate auctions are the best way to buy and sell property, the auction proceeded. The high bid was $1.2 million, and then the bidders were informed that the bid wasn't high enough and no sale would occur.
Misleading advertising? I can't recall seeing that there was a reserve or upset price. . . "No minimum starting bid" the sign out front said. I'm sure the person with the highest bid was upset.
It is a beautiful house.
Posted by: HC at October 23, 2006 10:51 AM
An auctioneer website says that "All auctions are presumed to be with reserve unless they are explicitly absolute or without reserve." So I guess it was legal - just misleading.
I'm curious to see what price the house goes for, now that the owner's basically turned down a $1.32M offer (with the premium).
Posted by: HC at October 23, 2006 11:00 AM
According to an earlier Brownstoner report, the seller already had an offer for $1.5 milion. For whatever reason, the seller thought they could do better at auction. WRONG!!!!! If i was the previous bidder at $1.5 million, i'd wait until the seller called me.(They will) Then knock 15% off your previous offer.
Posted by: ItsAWrap at October 23, 2006 11:01 AM
If I read correctly, the seller never had a $1.5MM bid. He was looking to sell at that price.
Posted by: Anonymous at October 23, 2006 11:13 AM
The Brownstoner Pump and Dump operation was in full effect, touting the rumor that the seller already had an offer for $1.5MM in the bag. Even with this speculative innuendo, the auction came up short.
Posted by: Anonymous at October 23, 2006 11:18 AM
"The Brownstoner Pump and Dump operation..."?!
I guess somebody has an axe to grind. This individual should write your press releases Mr. B.
Posted by: crouchback at October 23, 2006 11:27 AM
How was the house tour?
Posted by: Anonymous at October 23, 2006 11:44 AM
The Brownstoner Pump and Dump Shop
--An unhealthy obsession with historic Brooklyn brownstones and the neighborhoods and lifestyles they define.
We pump'em you dump'em....
Posted by: Anonymous at October 23, 2006 11:58 AM
Do you mean the house tour on Saturday?
Posted by: HC at October 23, 2006 12:06 PM
I was at the auction. I Spoke with the family in detail about the house. The property has been in the family for over 70 yr's. All members have since moved out of NYC. They received an offer prior to acution for 1.4, that's why the 1.2 bidder didnt get the house.
Posted by: Anonymous at October 23, 2006 12:21 PM
This whole thing strikes me as GREEDY. The seller has an offer on table for $1.4MM or $1.32MM after commission. NOT GOOD ENOUGH. The seller now gets offered $1.2MM(10% less than previous offer). NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
Did it ever occur to the seller that we are in a declining market and they need to moderate their expectations?
Posted by: ItsAWrap at October 23, 2006 12:34 PM
But anyway, did anyone one here tour the house? Condition? Details? Anything as spectacular as the exterior?
Thanks.
Posted by: Reno at October 23, 2006 12:52 PM
Rejecting 1.2 seems like sheer lunacy. How much more do they expect to get?
Posted by: Anonymous at October 23, 2006 1:00 PM
if i'm the one who offered 1.4, i come down to 1.21 when the seller comes back to me.
Posted by: csk at October 23, 2006 1:20 PM
I was shocked when you said it needed a gut rehab!
The house had some beautiful details. Gorgeous stained glass windows in a number of rooms. Nice floors and walls - high ceilings with moldings. A pretty bathroom with an original tub and a shower stall with one of those old "ribcage" systems. Very large, handsome house with a beautiful central staircase.
The reasons I think it wouldn't get the very top dollar that the current owners seem to expect is that it doesn't have many additional features beyond the beautiful bones. No upscale kitchen or baths. Pergo-like floor in the kitchen and a couple other rooms. Not many closets. Dark and scary basement that was a finished once upon a time, but now falling apart.
I think it would need work to get very top dollar in the neighborhood - I believe $1.32 would have been a record anyway.
Posted by: HC at October 23, 2006 1:49 PM
You must be thinking of another house. 404 Stuyvesant is stunning! Your comments seem to describe the place next door, which was on the market 5 mos ago. That house had been used as a rooming house and was in bad need of just about everything.
I'm sure 404 needs some work in terms of kitchen and bathroom upgrades but this house is far from a gut rehab. There is an old tub but not a clawfoot. The floors and walls are in great shape. And, this house is like only 2 or 3 homes in Bedford-Stuyvesant and maybe 20 in Brooklyn. You could move in after the closing and enjoy the first of many fantastic holiday gatherings.
That said, what the auction clearly indicated is that $1.2 mil is the top of the market for something even this special. However, the person who knows the neighborhood's shortcomings and is willing & able to be $300K above that price could be out there. The auction method certainly wasn't the way to attract that buyer. Whoever gets this gem will never look back. The house is just that special.
Posted by: Anonymous at October 23, 2006 1:57 PM
CHP meant to post on Jefferson HOTD.
Posted by: Anonymous at October 23, 2006 2:58 PM
1:57 - methinks you have a stake in the building. . .
Posted by: HC at October 23, 2006 4:15 PM
Nope. Just my positive, unbiased opinion. Rare, huh?
Posted by: Anonymous at October 23, 2006 5:32 PM
Post a comment
Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.