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February 1, 2007
House of the Day: 392 Waverly Avenue
Across the street from the property PACC is selling in a lottery for $600,000 sits this three story brick house at 392 Waverly Avenue. The house has all of its original details intact and the owner has spent a bunch of dough on fancy kitchen and bathroom appliances. As nice as it looks to us, though, there is really only 2,400 square feet of above-ground space so the asking price of $1,675,000 seems aggressive to us (as much as we'd like to see $700 a foot comps in the nabe!). Do people think being across the street from an elementary school is a positive or negative?
392 Waverly Avenue [NY Times] GMAP P*Shark
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Comments
being across from an elementary school would probably be a slight negative to neutral. you couldn't pay me to live across from a HS however.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 1, 2007 12:02 PM
Being across from an elementary school is fine. I think it is very cheerful and the recess screaming is fun, if you are around. I think this is a pretty house - nice door and finishes that I can see. I am not sure about this price - it seems high considering the square footage. I'd be curious to see how this one sells.
Posted by: donatella at February 1, 2007 12:08 PM
if you work a normal 9-5 job, then across from the school isn't too bad, especially since people are usually making sure the street is safe, but if you work at home, then its deadly - loud screaming kids all day long.
Posted by: dahl at February 1, 2007 1:10 PM
I agree with 12:02 and 12:08: Elementary school is cute. High school is not.
Posted by: anon at February 1, 2007 1:19 PM
I agree -- having lived next to PS 8 and PS 29 (as well as an elementary school in Chelsea) -- if you're home at recess it's a nightmare -- kids are LOUD! Otherwise it's fine.
Posted by: babs at February 1, 2007 1:19 PM
Having lived across the street from a public elementary school for 20 years, let me count the ways I love it: School buses idling and blocking our driveways endlessly. Parents double-parked in SUVs picking up and dropping off kids. Litter, pound after pound of it. Teachers taking ciggie breaks on our front lawns and tossing butts all over. Parents taking kids up our driveways to take a leak while school is still open (along, presumably, with school restrooms). Parents cheerfully ignoring kids as they tear up armloads of our flowers and throw rocks at our windows. Kids (very young ones) trying to drag off our potted plants and, once, our yard furniture. Kids prank-ringing our doorbell. Parents screaming obscenities at kids and one another during occasional sidewalk altercations. All-night-long roar of some weird rooftop air conditioner or compressor. Street lit at night by roof-mounted "jailyard" sodium-vapor lamps. Empty half-block used after school hours for pissing, drugging, fighting (despite ghastly glare of above-mentioned lamps). Not quite the joyful patter of little feet, I'm afraid. (This is all just PS 249, by the way--can't testify to other schools--and all are chronic longstanding issues we have addressed in futility with the administration, who always insist there is absolutely nothing they can do about anything or anyone because everything and everyone is UNIONIZED and mandated by mysterious regulations...)
Posted by: Brenda fromFlatbush at February 1, 2007 1:24 PM
Hmmmm. Since you put it that way, Brenda, the grade school thing is looking less cute to me. Thanks for the point of view.
Posted by: anon at February 1, 2007 1:46 PM
I live across from a HS (a small one though under 1000 students) and even days I'm home is pretty quiet. When school lets out in afternoon short period of noisey. School security is very active kids are not loitering around area during school hours.
And it is attractive building to look at out the front window.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 1, 2007 1:54 PM
I live across from an elementary school on Clermont (btwn DeKalb/Willoughby) -- I work at home sometimes and never find it too bad. It's loud in the AM (like at 8:15) and then again at lunchtime but it's really OK from a noise standpoint. The negative is that the school isn't the most visually appealling and that trash is left out on the sidewalk each night -- i regularly have to call 311 to have it picked up.
Posted by: anon at February 1, 2007 1:56 PM
I don't know...I've lived across P.S. 3 in Bed Stuy for 6 years now and I haven't had half the problems that Brenda has. I have experienced the schoolbuses and doubleparked SUVs in the morning (I'm at work when this happens at the end of the school day) but I haven't seen any of the vandalism and quality of life issues. As a matter of fact, I and my visitors appreciate all the extra parking available at nights, weekends and during holidays, etc. I also appreciate the crossing guards, police and other watchful eyes. It also works wonders to call the police and complain about something you see and indicating that the problem is "within X feet of an elementary school."
Posted by: brooklynbwoi at February 1, 2007 1:59 PM
Positive. Criteria for protecting kids automatically benefits you, in theory. Drugs, kidnapping, stray bullets, etc. - schools are, or are supposed to be, watched for these kinds of things. But the noise.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 1, 2007 2:05 PM
I'm not sure were Jon Bstoner is getting the price per sqare foot. It says it is a 20 foot wide building. It would most likely be 45 (or at a minimum 40) feet deep. It is a four story building, if you include the garden floor. 20*45=900*4=3600 sq. ft. approx. which comes to $465 sq. foot.,
Or am I wrong about 4 stories since it looks like the garden apartment is not your standard and is below grade (the stoop is not the common high stoop etc.).
Posted by: lp at February 1, 2007 2:22 PM
If you go by property shark's sq. footage, I see how you could surmise a high psf price. However, I know for a fact from my place that property shark can be way off (in my place their off by a good 1000 sq. ft.).
Posted by: lp at February 1, 2007 2:25 PM
oops, I meant "they're off" not "their off" - typing too fast
Posted by: lp at February 1, 2007 2:26 PM
Since bldg is listed as 20'x40'
and advertised as triplex plus garden rental -
gives u 2400 sq ft triplex and 800 garden rental (if there is cellar beneath garden level which usually is)
then house is really 3200 sq ft.
Which brings us down to about $525 sq ft.
Sometimes propshark includes garden floor in sq ft total/# of floors - sometimes not - even if garden level is legal bedroom/living spaces not just 'rec space'.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 1, 2007 3:28 PM
We generally give square footage credit for below-grade "garden level" apartments but this bottom floor is positively subterranean. That's why we used 2,400 sf in the denominator and not 3,200.
Posted by: brownstoner at February 1, 2007 3:32 PM
I agree with Brenda about the school on some things but not all. We've been across from PS 261 for years. I have no problem with the kids or the school but we have trouble with litter, school trash every night, late night construction replacing roof and windows, and the summertime parties on the sidewalk with car windows rolled down, pissing on the walls and breaking bottles against the wall. I don't recall if she mentioned that parking on one side of the street is unavailable from 7am to 4 and they tow. Overall, it's definitely a negative.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 1, 2007 4:52 PM
Overpriced: no cellar which is crucial for mechanicals and storage (and also why sqft comes up so low); and 75' lot. Very small.
Posted by: Mr. Minerva at February 1, 2007 5:29 PM
I have walked our dog by this property for the past three years. During the summer months there is constant loitering by teens and young adults in the playground that is kept open after hours. Litter in the form of Chinese food remnants and containers from the store across Greene is another constant. At times, loud music from idling vehicles is another. I wouldn't care to live on this end of Waverly.
Posted by: anon at February 1, 2007 5:31 PM
what the hell is a "lemon p*rn" story? lol
Posted by: lp at February 1, 2007 6:57 PM
wow, talk about "square footage"!!
Posted by: west at February 1, 2007 7:45 PM
We are across from an IS. Never a problem. But then it's a highly selective school and they don't let the kids wander around at lunchtime like the schools in the Slope do. Also they enter on the other street, around the corner. But truly the kids are nice. I can only imagine that an elementary school would be similar in this nabe.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 1, 2007 8:41 PM
No matter you think the garden level is too substreet level. It is still a revenue generating rental - so can't lower the total sq ftage if getting the income from the space....no matter how much you would like to see space selling for $700 sq ft.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 1, 2007 9:27 PM
So, what's the conclusion price-wise?
Posted by: Anonymous at February 1, 2007 9:58 PM
I live around the corner from this house and have watched its transformation with interest. If I recall correctly it sold for under a million not long ago; could it really have increased in value that much with the renovations? The 'garden' is well below grade; it's a very small building. And it's true that the end of the block is, in summer, a late night partyrama. But that might change now that the corner bodega's changed hands. Rumor on the block is that the new owner hopes to open a wine bar. Good or bad, that might alter the vibe.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 1, 2007 10:22 PM
I live on this block. I love living on this block, the life that the cute kids make sqealing on their way to school, how could anyone have a problem with that? There are lots of sounds of kids going to school in the morning, but what's a better sound than that?
It's fantastic that people actually use the basketball court/playground. Would you have it be deserted and silent? If this is what you are looking for, there is possibly the bottom of a rock that is longing for you.
Also, I once had a problem and called 911 here. Since we were on a school block, they were here within 60 seconds.
Posted by: anon at February 2, 2007 12:01 AM
I'm curious what type of jobs the buyers have that they can afford these very expensive homes.
Are there really that many rich folks in NYC or overextended fools?
Posted by: curious man at February 3, 2007 11:18 AM
curious man- you are a fool.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 5, 2007 5:15 PM
I lived on Clinton Ave. and this building was one of the buildings I would see from my window at the rear of my builing. It was a scary view back then. In 1981 you did not want to be out there at night, believe me.
This is funny. You kids aren't living in Brooklyn. You are living in a Disney version of Brooklyn.
Posted by: guest at April 3, 2008 1:34 PM
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