Open House Picks

Nice gold-plated fireplace in Stuy Heights. That's some serious grill.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 12:15 PM

We saw the CH/ Prosepct Place house a month or so ago. It is AWESOME. The furniture is horrible but the house could be so amazing with some cosmetic changes and there is so much land. The owner rents our parking spaces... Have no idea if the price is right but it's a great block and true mansion.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 12:21 PM

I went to an open house at the 13th st place a month or so ago. It is a stone's throw from 4th ave. The backyard is wee - literally about a third the size of the kitchen. Nothing has been redone in quite sometime. It has good bones, I think and a few intact details, but definately needs work.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 1:31 PM

Why do agents insist on "Clinton Hills" in their listings? I mean, you're selling something for over a mil, why not try to get at least the name of the community right? And while they seem to insist on adding an "s" to Clinton Hill, it makes no sense. Some places they seem to get right, but an added "s" would be even more accurate. Take for example Park Slope. They could easily refer to it as Park Slopes. But they never ever do. I mean, it's true isn't it? Park Slope slopes. Seems to me Clinton is just on one hill, but it doesn't "hills." Park Slope definately slopes though.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 1:41 PM

Maybe the realtors want to goose the value of properties in neighborhing areas, so they make us think there is more than one Clinton Hill, as in "Bushwick, yeah, that's one of the Clinton Hills; Bed-Stuy is a Clinton Hill; Ocean Hill, that's a Clinton Hill, too, etc." Rome was supposedly built on seven hills, why not Clinton Hill?

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 1:58 PM

chubb rock rapped about that clinton hill block in an early 90s billboard charting jam. the clinton hill w/ an s thing is an old issue. i remember hearing this in the 70s from people born and raised there.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 2:04 PM

They're trying to make it sound more upscale, like Beverly Hill.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 2:23 PM

Crown Heights price: WTF?

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 2:34 PM

So they packed it all up and moved to Clintonee . . .

Hills, that is, movie stars, etc.

Gee, maybe we've got something here. A sitcom in which one of the old Greenpoint families (same rowhouse for 50 years) finds oil under their backyard, sells the property to the oil companies and uses the cash to buy a beautiful Clinton Hill brownstone. Hi-jinks ensue as they interact with their rich and famous neighbors.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 2:38 PM

Crown Heights house is priced as a development site even though they are marketing it as an owner/occupant project. I guess if they find someone who wants to preserve the existing building and add on it could work.

I don't think any developer who wants to tear down will buy it due to what happened on Lefferts. With the nearby landmarking and some pretty strong community organizations I think any demo permit application will be squashed with a calendering by landmarks.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 2:56 PM

How does the Park Slopes listing compare to it's neighbor up the street- which is much narrower, and next to the heavy metal bar?
http://realestate.nytimes.com/+comshare/vulisting.asp?Lid=332-000102

We've been looking at both...

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 3:05 PM

I'd take narrower but with a yard -- that's what I own -- but I can't speak to the heavy-metal bar. If you don't care about the yard, 213 is about exactly the same square footage, but wider, which makes for a better layout usually.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 3:11 PM

I went to one of the 213 13th Street open houses. The deal killer is that the neighbor in the rear is building the ugliest extension imaginable -- we're talking cheap Spanish grotesque garbage strewn disgusting beyond thunderdome nasty.

The house itself once gutted and renovated could be fine, there is unused FAR, and the area is coming along, but no matter how nice you make this house, you can't tear down the rear neighbor's extension.

Every time you look out one of your rear windows you'll be blinded by sheer cheap ass ugliness about twenty feet away. The rest of his yard is covered in garbage.

I imagine most of you folks are thinking that I'm over reacting, and are thinking, how ugly can it be? Well, once you see for yourselves, you'll believe me.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 3:22 PM

Why do you people complain about realtor spelling? Isn't real estate one job where education is not needed? It's not like anyone studies in school to be a realtor.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 3:28 PM

You'd have to build a thirty foot high fence to hide this thing. The patio is about ten feet deep and the neighbors extension is immediately behind it.

I don't think it's possible to block the view... It's truely heinous....

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 3:32 PM

one million plus 300k renovation to look out on a pile of garbage IS make or break in my book, especially when the area is borderline -- house needs to be a sanctuary.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 3:34 PM

3:28 PM illustrates why we have bad schools and an entire new generation who can barely put two words together in a sentence much less spell anything.

They just don't get it. You know, the goal to be intelligent simply in order to be intelligent. Not because it's required for a test or for a job.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 3:36 PM

Uh people who become realtors are not people who have a goal to be intelligent. Realtors are people who have a goal to make a living without any sort of professional education whatsoever. The fact that they can't spell is to be expected. These people didn't even ever plan on getting a professional job in the first place.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 5:08 PM

Where are you FROM, 5:08? Speak for yourself as the uneducated realtor you obviously are. Everything you say is completely totally subjective and applies only to yourself. Our own realtor is very educated, and formerly worked in a corporate environment.

People get to hire the realtor they want, based on whatever criteria they determine to be important. YOU don't get to tell them what the criteria is. "Uh" yourself, silly.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 5:26 PM

3:22, I'm trying to picture the Spanish grotesque extension. Spanish as in Gaudi?
Most of the realtors I know are on their second careers. They either retired or got burnt out from their more respectable careers.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 20, 2007 5:57 PM

"Our realtor had a Phd from Brown!"

I ate a donut for breakfast. Great argument!

????

The world would be a much better place without war, crime, poverty, disease, and REAL ESTATE AGENTS!

One day a real MLS will emerge in NYC and commissions will shrink to .05% for paperwork handling fees and showings. I can't wait.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 21, 2007 11:42 AM

I saw the CrownHeights house. it is beautiful, if you try and picture it with white walls and none of the furnishings - every nook is filled with crazy stuff and walls are painted purple. there is a kitchen on almost every floor, one of which is terrifying in its sheer dark green-ness. the bathrooms would all need to be done over. the backyard is huge, but would need to be completely landscaped as it is currently covered in concrete and has cars parked in it. the other downer is that you would have tenants of a large apartment building looking out their windows into your yard. you could fix that by having a fairly shady backyard maybe.
all of that said, the price is waaaaay too much to pay for that house in that neighborhood. people who complain that Clinton Hill doesn't have enough amenities would feel lucky if they ventured here.
if they dropped the price to 900k or even 1.2 mil, then it's worth considering. and you'd have to be willing to live in the neighborhood. otherwise, forget it.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 21, 2007 5:13 PM

none of these houses are as good as the houses in Allentown.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 21, 2007 6:47 PM

Ej, I don't think you get the point.

Allentown condos are much better rental investments than Brooklyn condos.

You're a genious to point out there's more demand to live in Brooklyn than in Allentown. Thanks for enlightening me!

Posted by: Anonymous at April 22, 2007 6:51 PM

Not to spark a huge debate here, but I have been contemplating leaving the city (B'lyn/Manhattan) for Westchester for the reasons mentioned above - much cheaper housing; not a bad commute; etc... Please tell me why I should stay in Brookyln when a 3600 SF brownstone will cost over $1.7 million (and then will require $500K in renovations) when I could buy a huge, gorgeous house in Westchester in mint condition for under $1.6M. Plus, the commute is not really that much longer. I love living in B'lyn, but I finding it harder and harder to justify staying here... Please tell me why I should....

Posted by: Anonymous at April 23, 2007 10:09 AM

10:09am,

You're making a great point. The only reason you might choose Brooklyn is if the extra fifteen minutes commuting time matters or if you prefer the subway to driving.

The main draw is Brooklyn's stores, restaurants, and street life which you'd be able to access by walking a few blocks. There's also the "energy of city living" which I'm sure is lacking in Westchester.

I'd say, if you can afford it, Brooklyn would be a more fun place to live. If you've already got kids and your budget tops out at 1.5million, I'd probably choose Westchester.

You should post your question in the forum. You'd get lots of interesting answers.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 23, 2007 10:23 AM

Westchester is vast and diverse also. From very urban to quasi-rural. So just saying going to Westchester isn't too informative.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 23, 2007 2:21 PM

2:44: Have you been to Yonkers? I'd say it's pretty urban.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 23, 2007 7:08 PM

Yes, Yonkers is rundown, but I mentioned it in response to your comment about Westchester county not being urban. Anyway, I grew up in Brooklyn. Sometimes as we get older, we opt for clean air and open space.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 24, 2007 8:52 AM