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November 2, 2006

Condo of the Day: Price Cut at 38 7th Avenue

condo
Corcoran just whacked about 14 percent off the asking price on one of the units in the brownstone condo at 38 7th Avenue. Some readers may remember that this development got some nice press from the New York Post back in May of this year. And from where we sit, they didn't a decent job on the reno. Looks like the apartments haven't exactly flown off the shelf though. In addition to the 841-square-foot place that Corc just marked down from $729,000 to $629,000, Aguayo & Huebener has a 1,733-square-foot duplex with roofdeck on the market for $1,199,000 (at which there's an open house on Sunday). Since Aguayo started out as the exclusive broker, we wonder whether the developer has brought in Corcoran or whether the unit it is selling is a flip. Update: Turns out Corcoran and Aguayo have been the co-exclusive agents from the get-go and that the price cut was building-wide and driven by the owner.
7th Avenue Condos [Corcoran] GMAP
Co-ops and Condos [Natefind]
38 7th Avenue [Aguayo & Huebener]
Sales Start at 38th Seventh Avenue [Brownstoner]




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:58 AM | Comments (34)
Categories: Condos

Comments

The "4 bedroom" duplex is a joke. Two of the bedrooms are in the "attic". I couldn't stand up in them and I am not tall. It is a really a two bedroom apartment and only greed, pure and simple, induced them to try to make a four bedroom out of it. The price for the unit started at 1.5m BTW.

Posted by: west at November 2, 2006 12:12 PM

I don't think A&H ever had an exclusive - we saw the property in the summer and A&H had the duplex and one of the floorthrus, while Corcoran had the garden-level duplex and the other floorthru. I posted extensive comments back in the summer about this place. Buyers beware - there was also a (settled?) lawsuit filed by the owner of the building next door, who alleged that the new digout for the garden level caused cave-ins in her yard and flooding in her basement, wasn't done to code and might have undermined the structural integrity of her property and of 38 7th, etc. etc. I put 'settled' in parentheses because we had only the broker's word for it - after heavy pressure from my lawyer husband, we did see the original filing and the architect's response but never a response from the corporation that actually owns the building, or any sort of settlement agreement. Just make sure to check with A&H/Corcoran if you're looking seriously at these units and get insistent about seeing all the legal paperwork.

Posted by: Zeebee at November 2, 2006 12:45 PM

Is it me, or does there appear to be a lot of price reducing being done by realtors recently? What are people experiencing?

Posted by: Just Asking at November 2, 2006 12:46 PM

Just asking,

You are right. There is a lot of price reducing going on lately. Either the market is really turning into a buyer's market or the prices that the realtors are charging are overinflated from the get-go.

For 629K I think this place is a deal. I would have thought it might get some interest at 729K. It is a prime location on 7th Ave.

Out of curiosity do similar houses/condos sell for more in Park Slope if they are on a side street rather than an Ave. (7th or 8th)? If so by how much?

Posted by: Curious at November 2, 2006 12:51 PM

My husband and I saw the garden apartment that was listed by Corcoran over the summer- we looked at the place right after a rainstorm, and the garden was an impassable puddle, and there was flooding in the basement. Also, the renovation was the worst kind of tacky- we would have had to spend a lot of money undoing all the "fancy" details put in by the renovator.

Posted by: northsloper at November 2, 2006 1:31 PM

I think you have to factor in that there is a lot of new product on the market (and a lot more scheduled to come on-line in 2007). That, plus the marketing of existing apartments, leads me to wonder if there isn't a bit of a glut.

Posted by: crouchback at November 2, 2006 1:35 PM

Parts of the reno are well done (floors, woodwork) but others are tacky (sinks, countertops, etc...). The Corcoran broker kept telling me how "classy" everything was. She also misled me about why it was taken off the market over the summer - turns out it was the lawsuit, not 'construction' as she said.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 2, 2006 1:37 PM

um... it's a one-bedroom. uh, and they think $629,000 is fair? Ha!

Corcoran's marketing just-as-nice 2-beds in the slope for under $600k.

for that price, you can get a larger, brand new 2bd-2ba condo at Boerum Heights.

Posted by: chuck at November 2, 2006 2:16 PM

Where is Boerum Heights? I have heard of Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill, and Brooklyn Heights, and Prospect Heights, but not Boerum Heights. Is this some area on the boundaries of Boerum Hill that a realtor is now calling Boerum Heights?

Posted by: Confused at November 2, 2006 2:39 PM

A&H and Corcoran both have all the units. I think it's interesting how careful you don't have to be with information when your running a blog. Check your facts first man. Jeez!

Posted by: Anonymous at November 2, 2006 2:57 PM

Confused. Beorum Heights is the name of a new condo development on Atlantic Avenue (near 3rd or Nevins?).

Posted by: crouchback at November 2, 2006 3:04 PM

Boerum Heights isn't the one at Atlantic and Smith, right?

Posted by: cobblestoner at November 2, 2006 3:32 PM

'Boerum Heights' is the one on State near Flatbush - I found a link to the glossy flash site at www.boerumheights.com. I don't think it's comparable to say "for the same price you could get X" when comparing the North Slope with State/Flatbush, in terms of neighborhood ambience and amenities. Though if you go by the Boerum Heights site, they imply that Prospect Park, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and the Promenade are all nearby!

Posted by: Zeebee at November 2, 2006 3:44 PM

a second bedroom and second bath and endless auto exhaust and noise at Boerum Heights. not sure that is the location I would have used for comparing value.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 2, 2006 4:10 PM

Thanks for the help.

Posted by: No longer Confused at November 2, 2006 4:24 PM

"Corcoran just whacked about 14 percent off the asking price on one of the units in the brownstone condo at 38 7th Avenue"

GOOD, now KEEP WHACKING because there's still a LONG way to go before prices get REALISTIC.

I simply cannot understand the fools who pay these exorbitant prices knowing we're in a bear market with prices DROPPING every single day. Must be the same a-holes who helped drive the prices to these insane levels by assuming mortgages WAY outta there income range.

Two words for anyone buying nowadays:

SUCKERS RALLY !!!!

Posted by: Ben Dover at November 2, 2006 4:44 PM

Well I can't understand the fools who pay rent. But that's just me, and then again, I have always made a lot of money buying and selling real estate. But whatev dude, to each his own. Good luck with that big plan for your life.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 2, 2006 5:06 PM

I would say the side streets of Park Slope definitely command a premium over locations on 7th Avenue which, while convenient for shopping and dining, involve less attractive features like heavy foot traffic (with the noise and litter that go along with that) and of course much more vehicular traffic including a bus route.

Posted by: NeoGrec at November 2, 2006 6:27 PM

Yup, if you rent you're flushing money down the toilet but if you buy it's free to live there plus you can sell later for a gazillion dollars. Simple as that.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 2, 2006 7:38 PM

"GOOD, now KEEP WHACKING because there's still a LONG way to go before prices get REALISTIC."
So now who decides what is realistic?? I guess its realistic when you can afford them right? HATER

Posted by: Anonymous at November 2, 2006 8:14 PM

I saw these apartments at a recent open house that Corcoran was having and they are beautiful. If you are in the market grab one while they are still around.

Posted by: Franky K. at November 2, 2006 8:18 PM

buy them or don't. why go on line and b*tch?? not working for this agency, but really folks, this type of forum makes no sense. as with all listings, most people don't want to buy them and then one person/couple/family will step up and do the transaction at the price the seller is happy with. this is just the way it is. are you all waiting for pricing to encourage bidding wars? that's not a very nice way to treat buyers, but some agencies do it i suppose.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 2, 2006 9:34 PM

I have never personally understood the notion of "throwing money away" renting. It does not seem to be a sound economic arguement.

You need to pay for housing. Whether that is through rent or interest expense on a mortgage + property taxes. Mortgages + prop taxes are tax deductible, but you often have to spend more for equivalent properties, which economically eliminates the benefit of the taxes deduction.

So you're spending money either way. If you are renting you can build equity in other assets (such as bonds or stocks), so the building equity arguement doesn't make much sense.

Finally, paper gains on houses rarely enrich people. This is because owners often sell a house, only to roll the gains right into another house. If housing prices all rise, then gains really just serve to increase the cost of living and enrich realtors.

Owning property allows you to customize it without answering to anyone (unless you own a co-op), which is an intangible benefit. And if you pay down the mortgage you can effectively reduce your cost of living, while rent is subject to annual increases. However, this seems to me to be the extent of the benefits.

I'll be interest what to read truly thoughtful responses to this...

Posted by: Brennan at November 3, 2006 10:11 AM

Well can you take out an equity loan on a rental, to send your child to college? Didn't think so.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 3, 2006 11:28 AM

On the other hand, if you invest wisely the resources that would be needed to buy rather than rent, you'd be able to send the kid to college without burying yourself in home equity debt. It's all about which market(s) you think are most likely to pay good returns, and for my money, housing ain't it.

Posted by: emh at November 3, 2006 11:42 AM

Are you kidding me? Every time the stock market crashes, suddenly you same people are saying "buy real estate". You have short memories. Anyway, you can't look at the situation for "flippers" and apply it to regular normal families buying a home to live in all their lives. If you own a home long term in NYC, you do well. Think of all the Brooklyn natives who live all their lives in a house, then sell it and are able to retire and move to a condo in Florida. My parents are retired in Florida and trust me the place is crawling with aging former New Yorkers and not just the rich ones. They're people of all income levels who owned a home in NYC and could sell it to fund their retirement. As for having a huge mortgage, it's called being reponsible and not buying what you can't afford. That rule applies to everything, not just buying houses. There is a property for everyone at every income level - if you can't afford prime Park Slope then buy elsewhere and stop whining real estate is a bad investment.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 3, 2006 11:45 AM

Okay do this - what do all the stock brokers and bankers do, buy or rent? They buy. Nuff said.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 3, 2006 11:52 AM

"Throwing money away renting" is an uninformed statement. There is always a trade-off between buying vs renting. In essence the interest + taxes + expenses (net after tax deductions) is equivalent to a rental payment. When that number is higher than what it would cost to rent an equivalent hous/apt then you should rent.

For the last couple of years (since short term rates have risen at the same time housing prices have risen)it probably makes more sense to rent, if you can find a suitable place. My guess is that this relationship comes back into line, either by home prices falling or by rates dropping.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 3, 2006 12:02 PM

Well then that means rental market goes up up up. (Most new development being condos not rentals). Which means people start buying again.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 3, 2006 12:15 PM

To Anon 10:11, every heard of college savings plans or student loans - which in some cases have lower interest rates that home equity lines. If you are planning a house just so you can borrow money to pay fro your kid's education then you need to engage in better financial planning.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 3, 2006 12:24 PM

Unfortunately, rents are constrained by current income, so they don't rise in "bubble fashion" as do houses.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 3, 2006 12:51 PM

to 12:51PM....they do in NY.

Posted by: ck at November 3, 2006 3:47 PM

12:24, what I meant is it's at least an option for those who own and not rent, the equity loan. It could be anything, an expense that wasn't planned for. Catastrophic illness. You name it. This is literally the first time in my entire life I've ever heard that it's better to rent than to own your home. So like the bubble bursts and all normal rules go out the window? I'll tell you who the suckers are - all those who change everything they've ever believed simply because of a normal correction and a drop is housing sales (which was predicted years ago btw, no biggie). A few years from now after all this is over, there will be people who listened to all the silly gossip and speculation who will STILL not own a home and be at a point where it is more difficult for them to do so. I have a friend older than me who is nearing 50 years old (not in NYC) never married, is on his own, used to make more money but no longer does, and he is the only person in his entire circle of friends who does not own his home. Wanna know how anxious that makes him? Go ahead and live that way if you want. I choose not to. Difference is I'm actually trying to help people by my statements in this discussion, whereas you all are trying to justify not-buying simply to protect your egos. Real nice of you.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 4, 2006 12:56 PM

Sellers reduce prices not agents.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 6, 2006 11:22 AM

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