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February 20, 2007
House of the Day: 855 Jefferson Avenue
The reader who flagged today's HOTD for us thought that it was significantly overpriced at $1,150,000. While we doubt the seller (who also happens to be a Fillmore broker) will get his ask, we bet he'll get within 10 percent of it — not too bad of a return considering he paid $499,000 back in the summer of 2005. The brownstone house (we're guessing 1890's) is stunning both inside and out, though the jury's still out on the new kitchen. And while we're not familiar with the block off the top of our head, the neighboring houses appear to be of equal architectural pedigree. Any recent comps or insider info on this place?
Listing #706047 [Fillmore] GMAP P*Shark
855 Jefferson Avenue [Craigslist]
Photo by Gregg Snodgrass for Property Shark
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Comments
This looks beautiful but is way overpriced for this end of Bed Stuy. Most prices in the area are $650k. I could see $725k tops.
Posted by: Dave BS at February 20, 2007 12:19 PM
(1)
From the Craig's list ad:
"Recently feature in Brownstoner.com "
--say it ain't so, Mr. B? Straight pimped?!
(2) I think he is reaching for house that is near Ralph. If it were b/t Tompkins and Marcus Garvey - maaaaaybe. If it were b/t Lewis and Stuy - better chance...but Raplh - puh-leeeeese
Posted by: C. Wallace at February 20, 2007 12:23 PM
Holy Cow! That was a quick update...he didn't know it was coming either.
Posted by: brownstoner at February 20, 2007 12:33 PM
Let's see how quickly he removes the shoutout to your blog after people slaughter his price.
Posted by: C. Wallace at February 20, 2007 12:40 PM
I seriously dig the exterior of this house. Location and price, though, I don't know. Seems pretty high. About the kitchen, I don't like it but it seems fixable.
Posted by: donatella at February 20, 2007 12:49 PM
let's be real...this is essentially bushwick (another block and a half and it is). i will smoke whatever the buyer smokes if they pay anything over $700K for this...and that's a reach.
Posted by: what bubble? at February 20, 2007 1:16 PM
i also like that he says it was featured on "it takes a thief"...who was the thief...him?
Posted by: what bubble? at February 20, 2007 1:20 PM
A little too close to "The Strip" on Broadway if you ask me.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 1:37 PM
The house has a panic room? Is that where you go and lie down if you have an anxiety attack?
Posted by: Dave BS at February 20, 2007 1:37 PM
I live a block over from this place. That house is part of a group of brownstones near the corner of Ralph with little front yards and very cool stonework, all of which appear to be in good shape (at least on the outside). It's a quick walk to the J (past the fire and police stations) from there. And frankly, Broadway out here is a step up from Fulton. The price is definitely high--I burst out laughing when I saw it. But the other houses that sell for $650 in this part of Bed Stuy usually need $100k worth of work and most of those have been badly stripped of their details. If it’s truly in move in condition, maybe he’ll wrangle $850k out of someone? Good luck.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 2:03 PM
This broker is delusional in thinking he can get near asking. For some reason he also seems to think it's in Bed-stuy, but in my opinion it's in Bushwick. Anyone buying this property will have to pray that appreciation will help them out 10 years from now, 'cause as of right now you will be -400K.
Posted by: SHPDE at February 20, 2007 2:04 PM
If people are willing to stay in these houses 5 to 10 years and not just 2 years, they can see this kind of profit. But the 2-year flipper thing isn't going to bring huge profit in the borderline neighborhoods. Making $100K to $200K profit after two years is closer to reality. The progress in these places is simply not as rapid as what happened in Fort Greene or parts of Park Slope/South Slope. And I'm not being snarkey; we ourselves own a house in not-great neighborhood that's still on the rise. Slowly.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 2:04 PM
@ anon 2:04pm
Are you saying that you think this property will appreciate 100-200K in two years?
Posted by: SHPDE at February 20, 2007 2:36 PM
If the house is west/south of Broadway, it's in Bed-Stuy. Broadway is quite a marked interruption to the street grid -- and to building styles. It's also more or less quite a noticeable ethnic border.
As an aside, the Bushwick hate on this Downtown-South Brooklyn brownstone cultural bubble site is palpable -- however Bushwick is where everyone who isn't brownstone obsessed is moving, especially renters.
Posted by: Jeremy at February 20, 2007 2:56 PM
2:56....and by everyone you claim to be moving to bushwick, you mean whom exactly? i don't know a soul who lives in bushwick. i don't argue that some people are moving to bushwick, but to imply it's the hottest area for people to be moving, it simply is not true.
if you mean, 22 year-old college graduated hipsters who can't afford williamsburg, then yes, everyone is moving to bushwick.
Posted by: anonymous at February 20, 2007 3:32 PM
I live near Ralph on Macon and my neighbor just sold a 3 story 2 family nowhere near as nice as this place for 710k. Go figure. This area has some great houses, just b/c it isn't the Heights doesn't mean the houses don't have value. I do agree though that the price of this place is a bit of a stretch.
The area is very slowly getting better and if the increased hipster sightings is any indication of imminent improved services then the house values can only benefit.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 3:50 PM
The House is Nice and maybe some fool that reads Mr. Stoners daily posting might go and drive the market crazy in this Area, but the prize is just plain Crazy. I think 850,000$ in this block is even a stretch. Good luck to the buyer and becareful with the stickup kids that hangout on the corner of Ralf Ave.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 4:52 PM
Why does the buyer have to be a fool? Maybe he or she only wants that house.
Posted by: Stoneface at February 20, 2007 5:05 PM
hey, people shoot people in park slope too you know. they shoot cops even.
anyway, the price seems high, yes, I'd guess mid-7's. That being said, there is a pretty rich pocket of housing stock out here on the eastern seaboard of bed stuy. between patchen and ralph, or malcolm x and ralph, and stretching up from bainbridge or so that could be it's own second stuy heights in a way.
Posted by: well then at February 20, 2007 5:06 PM
3:50 - - The 3-story brownstones in your area ARE selling for $700-$725. Maybe you should 'go figure' what your home is worth, then!!
Posted by: pg at February 20, 2007 6:03 PM
why is the buyer a fool?
Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 6:04 PM
What I find truly amazing is the house next door (853 Jefferson Avenue, the red house.) According to the records it is a "city residence." Upon further research (propertyshark..lol) I found a picture that has about 8 kids hanging in front of 853 Jefferson. Could this be a group home right next door to a million dollar home. WOWZERS.. Now you tell me...
I have a strong disliking for RE agents that overprice a house because of greed. They're certainly not doing the owner a favor since anyone interested might just stay away simply because the asking price is just plain crazy. I look at the asking price and laugh, and for some reason I'm inclined to think of the owner as a lunatic since he has allowed the broker to do this.
Posted by: SHPDE at February 20, 2007 6:45 PM
SHPDE
What is even funnier is that the owner is the broker. I visited the house a while back, and it is a truly remarkable restoration job. However, like everyone says, 1.1 million doll hairs for a home this far out is a stretch. Nonetheless, as a supporter of capitalism, I hope he gets his asking price. I am not sure that a homeowner on this board would turn down a seller who wanted him to pay 200K+ more than the market value for his/her home.
That being said, the true problem in this case is matching the potential buyer with the seller...the stick up kids are right on the corner...
Posted by: Prospect or Crown Heights? at February 20, 2007 7:09 PM
"Kids in front of 853 Jefferson? Oh my goodness!! How dare friends congregate and fellowship on their own block! The outrage!!" Where else should they be? On 42nd Street? LOL!
Would kids hanging out on a brownstone stoop be pause for alarm in Park Slope? I grew up in brownstone Brooklyn and that is exactly what kids did on thier block. The guys would play skelly, stick ball, and football in the streets and little girls would jump double dutch on the sidewalks. The older kids more often then not would spend their summer days playing spades and bidwiz on brownstone stoops all the while chit chatting with passing neighbors. Outside of firm evidence that this property is located next to a group home, I don't see the problem here unless you suffer from some acute phobia of living in a nabe with black children.
Posted by: SuperAnon at February 20, 2007 7:51 PM
People I know who live in Bushwick
50 year old sculptor
28 year old yuppie
37 year old gallery owner
26 year old bartender
23 year old painter
33 year old high end furniture designer
This only 22 year old hipsters moving to Bushwick is OLD. I love how all of you yuppies think that everyone has a lifestyle like yours or would want one. Simply not true.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 7:52 PM
You guys pulling the race card are so comical. I certainly have no problem with other blacks, especially since I'm black myself. Moreover, I don't have a problem with any race, as I make it my business to embrace people of ALL races, not just my own. You don't have to remind me because I grew up playing the same things you did. My reference to the kinds in front of 853 was just further proof that it may be a group home, and that was all to it. Propertyshark indicated that it was a city residence. I personally don't know anyone white, black, or purple that will spend anywhere near asking for that house.
My issue is that the broker doesn't have a clue when it comes to pricing, and if he isn't also the owner he's doing a disservice TO the owner. I live about 5 minutes away from this house and can say first hand that it ain't worth it. Like I said before, good luck to the seller, for the stick up kids are out to tax. 1
Posted by: SHPDE at February 20, 2007 10:19 PM
home is beautiful but 1.1mill in this side of the stuy might be a stretch. Especially if homes next door are crappy I dont see how this purchase makes any sense.
Posted by: anon at February 20, 2007 11:37 PM
Thank you, SuperAnon, you beat me to it. Well said.
Let's talk house here. This is a beautiful building with amazingly intact stonework trim, roofing tile, and gargoyles. Wow. Over 100 years old, and looks great. Can we agree that they certainly do not make them like that anymore? This house also looks like it's been well cared for over the years. Nice restoration, too, even though kitchen is not my style, but that has no bearing on anything. I love the light fixture in the Craiglist ad. Good stuff, all.
Well then is correct about that pocket of Bed Stuy. Nice houses, quiet, tree lined blocks. But pretty far out there. I must agree that the house is vastly overpriced. A larger four story house, also brimming with period details on Hancock, a block over and maybe 5 blocks closer to downtown, stayed on the market for almost a year, and finally went for $950K or so. It was a house of the day twice. The Hancock house is three subway stops closer to Manhattan, and the house is much closer to banking, grocery shopping, etc, as well as closer to other parts of brownstone Bklyn, and is in arguably a better part of BS. If it took that long to sell, how could anyone doing comps try to get a million-five?
I really think that this kind of inflated pricing is dangerous to a neighborhood. First of all, it's not realistic, and it's destabilizing. Most of Bed Stuy is not ready for that kind of pricing. It makes people focus way too much on what is not there yet, rather on what is. It's hard enough trying to sell to people, when the sight of a black teenager sends them into cardiac arrest, and people are more than ready to accept as fact that "stick up kids" hang out on the corner, even when only mention of such comes from a poster who can't even spell Ralph ("Ralf"???????) Avenue.
Posted by: Crown Heights Proud at February 21, 2007 12:02 AM
Longish comment was me, which is probably now out of order, and will appear after this one. I have a lot of trouble with Typekey holding onto my sign ins. Always seems to lose my first post, even though screen says that I am signed in. After that, it's fine. Any suggestions?
Posted by: Crown Heights Proud at February 21, 2007 12:06 AM
home is beautiful but 1.1mill in this side of the stuy might be a stretch. Especially if homes next door are crappy I dont see how this purchase makes any sense.
Posted by: anon at February 21, 2007 12:00 PM
Shoutout to 3:50 pm...I live on Macon a couple blocks over from you.
This house is lovely but I would agree it's very optimistically priced. At the same time there's a 3-story at 462 Macon bet Stuy & Lewis up on Corcoran going for $899K. While the block is in Stuy Heights, this price seems outrageous to me as well. What's going on with Bed-Stuy pricing?
Anyway, I'd say $850k for the Jefferson place if they find a buyer who absolutely falls in love with it. It is a beauty.
Also, I have a contribution for the people-moving-to-Bushwick list...I was in Venus Body Piercing a while back chatting with one of the piercers (or whatever you call them), and she said she was in the process of moving from the E. Vill to Bushwick. I was surprised, as she seemed like an E. Vill "lifer" to me. Said she couldn't afford the rents in Manhattan any longer. I would guess she was in her mid-30's...
Posted by: Anonymous at February 21, 2007 1:43 PM
There is an article in the Washington Post today (about WilliamsB)that cites Bushwick as the new hippest neighborhood in BK. So, being close to Bushwick, being on the border of Bushwick and Bed-Stuy, will some day be seen as a great place to live. It make take many years but it is inevitable. The price for this house seems immoral however.
Posted by: june at February 21, 2007 2:44 PM
Now... which of the pricing strategies laid out in the NY Times article did this realtor/owner follow in this case, exactly?
Posted by: Mateo at February 21, 2007 4:17 PM
There's more stuff going on in Bushwick then most people realize. Of course, by the time they realize it, it's too late.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 21, 2007 4:36 PM
3:32: Of course "everyone" is an exaggeration to illustrate my point. Many who can't afford the rising rents of Williamsburg, or who are not in the market for a 3000 sqft brownstone, and yet enjoy the 12-17 minute ride to Union Square, are moving to Bushwick. Who gentrifies a block faster -- 20 millionaires or 400 hipsters? Bed-Stuy will be scary and boring long after Bushwick is packed with interesting, fun, and tasty stuff, even though the former had a head start.
Posted by: Jeremy at February 22, 2007 1:35 AM
Would you believe a house very similar to this on this block and larger than this was a HUD auction in 1997 and went for what was considered alot for Bed Stuy at the time, $230K? This street is close the the subway and the block is quiet. The rooms are a nice size albeit railroad in fashion originally updated in the 1920's into rooms for rooming house tenants. I purchased a brownstone in Mt. Vernon for $95K in 1997. They are money pits. The only saving grace is the velocity of the value.
Posted by: Christal at February 22, 2007 11:44 AM
Stop Hating. The house is beautiful inside out. You don't have the money ... then you cannot buy it buy it! All neighborhoods have kids that stick up, kill their parents, or bomb a school. Scoff!
Posted by: Player at February 26, 2007 10:40 AM
yes this house may seem overpriced but honestly as an agent you just dont know how hard a time we have when trying to convince a seller that they should price their homes at a certain price the sellers are usually greedy because they 'heard' their neighbor sold for x amt of dollars
please dont blame all agents some of us are hard working professionals that prepare comps all day for sellers that just have high prices stuck in their heads
Posted by: lomo at March 8, 2007 6:47 PM
What is a good bid price to start with here? 750?
Posted by: Swap at May 4, 2007 12:58 PM
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