Co-op of the Day: 431 7th Street

There is already an accepted offer with 2 back up's in place. It is a beautiful apartment and very unsusal.

Wow. At asking price?

It's lovely. After recovering from sticker shock I can believe it sold for asking price, simply because the new luxury 3BR condos coming on the market at this price in Park Slope offer less space and no roof. This is the benefit of having a family-size co-op or condo to sell. They are so rare people pay a premium for them.

I went to the Vermeil open house a couple weekends ago and there was active busy construction work going on in there and this was on a Sunday. So I don't know what you mean there's been no work done lately. The kitchen was small, located in an open corner of the living room. The bedrooms were small. Layout had a nice flow though, and there were nice big windows throughout. The features and fixtures in the bathrooms were really trendy but two years ago trendy (small glass bowl sinks in both bathrooms, shimmery glass mosaic tiles). When I asked if they could change the fixtures of the bathrooms for a buyer, the realtor said no.

This place looks to be approx. 1,750 SF - it might be bigger than that though.

but if it is 1750, that translates to $1,028.00 per SF..

I'd take the house on 20th - 3,000 SF single fam house for 1.3mil plus the lot.

$1000/sq ft is silly for the slope. You could rent it or something elsewhere just as good for $4000 a month, but 1.8m is going to cost $9000 a month at 6%. Take into account all the other costs of owning the duplex vs renting, and the 10% transaction cost to sell/buy, subtract some interest deduction, and the new owner needs massive appreciation to make money over a renter, yet massive appreciation just drives this already crazy gap even higher.

I lived in that building as a tenant quite a few years ago. There was something wrong with the heat in that building -- we froze on the second floor as did the tenants in that duplex. It was toasty warm on the 1st floor but the heat did not make it upstairs. The only owner-occupied unit was the first floor and the owners were major, major jerks -- after living in that building, I would never buy into a small co-op. The block is very nice but the church can be quite noisy.

Hey you who paid 1.8, come over to my house you can have it for 1.7 and You will have rental income. and no church choir ---Then I can finally buy that ranch in North dakota I have wanted and my house in the desert and a small apt in miami beach and a new car.

For all the nagging on the location people, it doesn't matter what you can get in Queens or Nebraska - the issue is can you get something nicer in PARK SLOPE for this price? Seems the answer is YES. So that would mean this place is overpriced and not worth asking. Who cares what the previous owner paid? Maybe they overpaid too. I'm about to go into contract on a place where the owner who bought in '05 is losing money on the deal. Not my problem though.

This "conversation" makes me wonder if perhaps the only people posting negative stuff about listings like this one are people hoping they can get it for a lower number. Makes sense, try to psych out the competition and get it for a reduced price. Pretty sleazy though if that's what's happening.

It's worth it over cheaper nabes because of the better on--the-street vibe. People that will cover your back. That is what creates the value, in my opinion.

As someone who actually lives on the block, let me correct some inaccuracies:

Nobody rents in this building - its an owner-only building.
The church noise comments are somewhat dated. The church installed aircon a couple of years ago so the windows are now closed during service and there is no noticeable noise as a result.
Everyone on the block closest to the church has lived there for over 15 years. Everyone. That's four houses - the noise can't be that bad if everyone's staying that long. And the owners are selling to move into a house - I know they looked for a house on the block, but apparently couldn't wait for one to come up so they're moving round the corner.
To me, the apartment looks more like 2100 sq ft from the plans - I make that nearer $750 a sq ft. Not cheap, but not the $1000 noted here. You'll notice the house across the street is for sale at the same price (owners are relocating out of NYC) and that's slightly less square footage. So its not "off market"
Finally, I can assure you that this is one of the friendliest, safest blocks in Park Slope, bar none. I'm not sure of the facts of the mugging, but these events happen EVERYWHERE (a shook-up pizza delivery boy arived at my place a few days ago having just been held up and robbed on Carroll at 8th ave).

As for price, if its worth that much it will sell. Period. Whether you'd pay it or not is relevant only if you're the only bidder. So feel free to throw your comments around but they're really nothing more than your opinion and unconnected to whether or not this (or any place) is "worth" the money.

The building may be all owner-occupied now but I can assure you that that has not always been the case. I lived there in the '90s as a tenant of one of the co-op owners, who had moved to California and had no interest in the apartment except as a source of income. He certainly didn't care that the apartment was icy cold all winter. The tenants in the duplex above were freezing as well but wouldn't complain because their rent was very low and they didn't want to rock the boat. We had Verrazano come in to try to figure out what was wrong with the heat, but they had no answers.

I agree that the block is very nice and I always felt safe there.

We had Verrazano come in to try to figure out what was wrong with the heat, but they had no answers.

Um, I meant Vigilante. The plumbing company. All they could suggest was that the 1st-floor people turn up the thermostat (which they controlled) and turn down their radiators, but the 1st-floor people were like "sucks to be you."

That's not the seller, ParkSlopeRenter. This place is sold already so why does the seller need to come on here?

I read the tone and intent of the post totally differently. It's obviously someone else in the building or on the street defending all the typical brownstoner bashing here, in order to protect the value of their own property. Perhaps they are planning on selling soon too. As for whether the price is suitable or not, the buyers spoke and the place got offers. 'nuff said.

6:56,

Check your math please - because even if the place is 2100 Square feet (highly unlikely, and please don't be including outdoor space here - it doesn't count towards the total) a buyer would still be paying $857.00 per square foot. Not $750. That's a big difference.

Even if the place is 1,950 square feet (a VERY generous figure) that still puts the pricing at $923.00 per SF. I personally think that is excessive for a walk-up in brooklyn, no matter where it is.

I don't think they're lying about the heating problem. I live in a similiar building, on the top floor, and we get no heat unless the 1st floor people turn their thermostat all the way up. With that said, I think the apartment is lovely and whoever wants to pay 1.8 for it, so be it. But they're going to need some space heaters!

We had the opposite problem in our brownstone co-op with heat. The top floor had to turn its thermostate all the way up in order for the 1st and 2nd floor apartments to not use additional space heaters.

Insulation is key in these drafty old buildings, no matter how nicely renovated they are. Make sure windows don't have drafts, and hang heavy curtains on windows in Winter to pull close at night, which makes an apartment surprisingly warmer.

When I lived on the block over ten years ago (in my cold apt) the people on the block (that I knew) were teachers and government employees and Legal Aid lawyers. Middle class but not wealthy. The kind of people who can't afford to buy in Park Slope anymore. But I don't know what counts as "regular folks."