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October 18, 2006

House of the Day: $1.2 Mil in Boerum Hill?

house
This place jumped out at us from the Craigslist morass because we're not used to seeing "$1.2 million" and "Boerum Hill" in the same sentence. So what's up with this place? First of all, it's only three stories, so that explains a good deal of the seemingly low price. Other than that, we can't figure out why the price tag's not a couple hundred grand higher. It's got the original architectural details and the location, too. Enlighten us, please.
Lovely Two Family Townhouse [Craigslist] GMAP




Posted by Brownstoner at 12:14 PM | Comments (27)
Categories: Properties

Comments

I am obsessing over whether or not to paint the front hallway gold with white trim, and can't decide (bad lighting) if I like their gold or not...rich and buttery, or borderline Gulden's? I'm a disaster with paint choices--somebody Benjamin-Moore me.

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at October 18, 2006 12:27 PM

I'm guessing that maybe it's sandwiched in between the projects there?

Posted by: fern jackson at October 18, 2006 12:33 PM

isn't it obvious, B? that yellow is soooo last year Cobble Hill...

Posted by: justiNYC at October 18, 2006 12:35 PM

The location of the map says Warren and Nevins. that would place it right next to the Wyckoff Garden Houses. That may be why the price is lower than you would expect.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 18, 2006 12:38 PM

The Wyckoff Projects(NYC Housing) is across the street.

Drop your price 50% and you end up at $1.2MM.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 18, 2006 12:39 PM

Regarding paint, golds and yellows are very tough colors--they can be warm and lovely or too bright/harsh. I've made this mistake before!

Get a quart or one of those sample pots of paint and try out some colors. It's the only sane way to make a decision.

Posted by: tinarina at October 18, 2006 12:42 PM

why is contact person a realtor? bizarre

Posted by: Anonymous at October 18, 2006 12:57 PM

Realtors list on craigslist all the time - in fact most of the real estate listing are by realtors - it is cheaper that using the NYTimes.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 18, 2006 1:04 PM

How bizarre -- a realtor selling real estate? What will they think of next?

Posted by: Anonymous at October 18, 2006 1:10 PM

It's on Craigslist but NOT on the Berman Realty site. What's up with that?

Posted by: Anonymous at October 18, 2006 1:15 PM

I had a wonderful house in Kansas City and I painted the inside various different warm browns, yellows, greens and it was absolutely beautiful. When I experimented here with those colors in my brownstone (painted boards and placed them all around at different times of the day) I think they looked awful. I think that it is a combination of the light itself in NY (versus midwest) and also the low natural light in brownstones. Those yellows don't look good in a low light room and I also think that the city's light itself is quite different. I used a Marble white in the parlor (Benjamin Moore) which is a white which has a slightly cool yellowish cast (more cool and greenish than Benjamin Moore's linen white). Well, so much for colors. I also hate dark period anything so that is my personal taste too.

Posted by: anon at October 18, 2006 1:30 PM

Is that house on the same block that was on the market forever at 1,345,000 finally sell? Does anyone know at what price?

Posted by: Anonymous at October 18, 2006 1:40 PM

This is definitely the block of Warren St. where one side is houses and the other side, the entire block (and many more) is the public housing complex.

It may not be right, but this is just not the kind of block people think of as Boerum Hill, despite the lovely homes. the problem is that if you have over a million dollars to spend (and anyone who does is pretty rich), you probably don't want to live across the street from a housing project. Even if it is a completely safe block.

It will be interesting to see if anyone even buys the house at 1.2 million, or even 1 million.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 18, 2006 1:46 PM

wrong about facing the public housing but previous was right about 'sandwiched' between Gowanus and Wyckoff Gardens. There have been previous discussion here about other houses on that block for sale not so long ago. BTW - some new construction is going up on that block close to Bond.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 18, 2006 2:00 PM

I think that Warren Street dead ends at Nevins. I think the block on Warren between Bond + Nevins has townhouses on both sides, so it's not technically correct that it's across the street from the projects. It is adjacent to the Wykoff Gardens project though. I have been interested to see that a new apartment/condo building is under construction on Warren closey to Bond. Don't know what the plan is for marketing those units. I remember seeing a townhouse for sale right next to that development 2-3 years ago. The asking price was about $1.0 million.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 18, 2006 2:07 PM

"BTW - some new construction is going up on that block close to Bond."

That would be 435-37 Warren Street. The permits list Scarano as the Architect.

Regarding the price of the house, its probably a tad high if it is on the north side of the street. The houses on that side tend to mirror those on Wyckoff between Bond and Nevins in terms of size/square footage and the highest those have achieved in recent memory is somewhere between 1.1 and 1.2 but not 1.2. It is also a much better block aesthetically. Also, I believe a 4-story 20 footer on the south side of Warren only managed to fetch between 1.2 and 1.3 after languishing on the market for many months in the crazy days of 2005.

Posted by: crouchback at October 18, 2006 2:21 PM

#494 - a 20' by 40' 4 story sold this year for $1.24 on this block. There were a couple others for sale also but don't know what happened.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 18, 2006 3:10 PM

Brenda, get a sample of Chestertown Buff from Benjamin Moore in a flat finish, you will love it! I have it the front parlor of my brownstone and it is lovely.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 18, 2006 3:18 PM

totally unrelated but, Brenda, my old house is pictured on your blog. I just did a little inner squeal.

Posted by: pasc at October 18, 2006 4:00 PM

Thanx to all who weighed in on my paint dilemma...now I can feed 'Chestertown Buff' into that cool little Ben Moore paint-by-videogame! (I was actually up at 4 am doing this...talk about obsessed.)Pasc, you should leave a comment telling me which house I've got up there...if a lurker squeals in the cyberforest, has a tree really fallen? (or something like that...)

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at October 18, 2006 4:45 PM

I rented on this block from 2002 to 2005. I loved the neighborhood, but would never have bought on that street. I did feel relatively safe, but twice my husband came home late and heard gun shots, then saw teenagers dropping to the ground a few feet away. In fact, we heard gun shots frequently. Also, there were a lot of unstable, angry looking people, usually high, who walked up and down the street using loud, terrible language. My evening meals were often interrupted by a loud conversation of F*** this, F*** that . .. We once saw two women shoot up on the sidewalk in front of our apartment. Trash littered the street constantly. The corner at Bond and Warren reeks of urine and there is constant drug activity in that spot. Maybe it will change? But I doubt it. Nevertheless, I do miss Boerum Hill very much and wish we could have afforded to buy in that nabe (just a different block).

Posted by: Anonymous at October 18, 2006 8:00 PM

My favorite color for low-light interiors now is a "greige", a medium grey that's brownish. It feels modern. Goes well with both mod pieces and antiques. I've had it on the walls for over a year now and love as much now as the day I painted it. Nice color I don't get sick of. I had a yellow room once in CA but it was a lemony yellow. No golds, yuck, sorry if offends anyone but I really hate golds and mustards on walls no matter what kind of light you have.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 18, 2006 9:05 PM

brenda : comment submitted under the "something spiritual happens" post.

Posted by: pasc at October 19, 2006 12:10 AM

A friend who lived on Wyckoff said that the smell from the canal would sometimes waft over, which may depress housing prices. Can't confirm b/c never went over there when she lived there, but it makes sense given the (relative) proximity.

Posted by: bboy at October 19, 2006 11:01 AM

BRENDA: Another Benjamin Moore recommendation is CREAM YELLOW (2155-60). Very reliable in a range of light conditions -- it's soft but bright too. We used it in a north-facing room where it really helps warm up the atmosphere, also in our hallway that is sometimes quite bright and sunny, sometimes not. It's available in one of those little sample pots.

Posted by: NeoGrec at October 19, 2006 6:53 PM

I lived in this neighborhood on this same block back in 1997. Now grant it that was 10 years ago but that block although primarily brownstones, is sandwhiched between 2 housing projects. Warren street breaks off on it's own for that block and you basically can't get to houses on that section of the street without passing either of the two projects. I would never buy anything on this block no matter how relatively inepensive. In the 5 months I lived in that neighborhood I was jumped by kids, mugged at gunpoint, and sexually harassed by the men that used to hang out on the corner. It didn't matter what time of day or night it was it was always a problem.

I also heard gunshots, fights and there were numerous incidents where people were yelling and fighting on the street. If you think Boerum Hill is a nice place to buy and start a family look somewhere else than this block because it is just a matter of time before some incident will happen to your family. I'm not trying to scare anyone off but those projects are not going to change despite the people that live in those projects that don't want trouble there is still violence. It only takes one bad incident to impact your life.

This section of Warren street is dangerous. Don't let a broker tell you otherwise. I remember when I looked at the apt in this neighborhood the broker actually had the nerve to walk me through the project gardens in the afternoon and say they were "safe" projects. Being young and naive to New York I believed him and had bad experiences. Now you might be thinking I was just some "green" caucasian woman that stuck out like a sore thumb in this neighborhood and you know better but that is not the case. Live here at your own risk!

Posted by: guest at September 15, 2007 4:34 PM

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