House of the Day: 181 St. Marks Avenue

We're not sure what these folks are smoking but it must be some good stuff! Granted this brownstone at 181 St, Marks Avenue in Prospect Heights is five stories high and on a lot that's 131 feet deep, but $2.45 million? Maybe, just maybe, if the interior were perfect. But this one's far from it. It's fine, but in the process of chopping up the house into four units, much of the original detail has been lost. Sure, there are a few fireplaces and some molding left around the window, but unless two-bedroom apartments in this nabe are renting for about twice what we thought they were, this is a major stretch.
181 St. Marks Avenue [Craigslist] GMAP P*Shark

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your pshark link is wrong.

Posted by: armchair_warrior at May 7, 2007 1:57 PM

Unrelated to this post, but perhaps of general interest is this share available in one of the big yellow houses in Fort Greene. Just curious - has anyone been to check it out? I´d go myself but I´m out of the country for the next month. I´ve wondered what the inside of this ´beaut looks like...
Thanks!
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/roo/325681935.html

Posted by: whyamicraigslistingduringvacation at May 7, 2007 2:07 PM

Too close to Atlantic Yards.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 7, 2007 2:11 PM

"too close to Atlantic Yards"?

you'll wish you had bought this in 3 years. Atlantic Yards isn't going to bring down PH. It's going to bring up the seedier FG and BS areas. People are going to make big bucks when this area becomes desirable.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 7, 2007 3:20 PM

cmon mr b, you know better...can you say condos?

Posted by: anon at May 7, 2007 3:22 PM

P Shark reports 4800 sq. feet, or $510/foot. For prime P. Heights with a full backyard, this sounds pretty reasonable, even if it costs 100-125/foot to reno.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 7, 2007 3:31 PM

Why is this price so surprising? I saw a few houses this weekend that are in line with this, and in fact, this is relatively cheap by the foot, i.e. 550. For example, how about the Washington open house at roughly the same price. Although it had a better renovation, it is much farther from the subway and is far smaller. Also, how about the 4 story house on s. oxford that corcoran showed this weekend at 1.9, which was also smaller and needed at least 400k of work.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 7, 2007 3:44 PM

Well, it's not dripping with details, but it's in good enough condition that you can rent out the top floors without investing in renovations. And the location really can't be beat (won't really be affected by AYE). It would be nice to see floor plans to see whether the "2-bedroom" units have two real bedrooms, or whether they're counting the 6x10 alcove over the stoop. The 48' depth could maybe afford two real bedrooms, so figure you could rent the top three floors for about $6,000/mo. total. The bottom duplex is probably worth $3,500/mo. So adding in taxes & upkeep you could maybe figure a value of ~$10,500/mo. You could cover that with a mortgage of $1.8M. So with a reasonable (?) down payment of $300K I'd say it's worth $2.1M. At about $2M this is purchasable by and a great investment for, say, a couple with two middle-class incomes. If I had a fiancee or wife I'd love to buy it at that price.

But we know that people with middle-class incomes no longer buy anything in northwest Brooklyn... it's the irrational exuberance of crazy rich people who are pushing the market into the stratosphere. So I predict that a Wall Street type with 2 kids comes in with a $500K down payment and buys it for $2.3M, then converts it to a 3/1/1 or 4/1 configuration and doesn't worry about making ends meet according to any sane sense of value, because he's got the income not to care.

Or, condos. Also at $2.3M.

Sigh. I'm moving to Queens...

Posted by: wishful thinker at May 7, 2007 4:00 PM

thats belongs to rapper foxy browns family

Posted by: itzme at May 7, 2007 5:51 PM

Is a fire pit legal? If so, I want one.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 7, 2007 6:34 PM

I agree with Brownstoner on this one. The interiors are totally bland are not special at all. Don't waste your time. A broker will get this soon and price it more reasonably. Guaranteed!

Posted by: west at May 7, 2007 7:53 PM

Feels like a condo conversion oppty to me. Extending the back well into the yard would provide room for 2-3BR apts on each floor except for for top floor. What woudl those condos go for? $750K average times 5 units, is almost $4mm gross.

Purchase for $2.25mm w/, put $1mm into conversion, net close to a mil.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 8, 2007 11:18 AM

Meant to say "extending the back WALL.."

Posted by: Anonymous at May 8, 2007 11:19 AM

Pretty sure it does NOT belong to Foxy's family -- though they do own two smaller houses on the block.

Posted by: Anon at May 8, 2007 6:02 PM

They had another open house this weekend. Did anyone make it?

At an earlier one, I saw that the interior really needs work. Yes, it may have five floors, but that's because the ceiling height is squeezed low on all but one floor. Original details are few.
And the rental units are not proper 2 bedrooms, because they count the alcove as a room...used as an office by most tenants. You can definitely get $1700 per unit, but above that, you are stretching it, because of the railroad setup the alcove room is more of an extension of the bedroom.

The entire condition is so-so, with the owner's duplex needing a lot of work and having an awkward set-up with the bedrooms on the parlor floor.

Only the garden is in really good shape, as is the exterior of building.
I'd give it not a penny more than $2.0M, that is, if i had it.

Posted by: Anon at May 21, 2007 2:11 PM

« Co-op of the Day: The $85,000 One Bedroom Monday On The Record »

May 7, 2007

House of the Day: 181 St. Marks Avenue

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