« Condos of the Day: Side-by-Side in The Slope Firesale of the Day: 732 Jefferson Avenue »
June 5, 2007
House of the Day: 560 Putnam Avenue
Based upon the exterior of the house and the lovely block it's on, 560 Putnam Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant looks like an interesting buy at the asking price of $650,000. The three-story, two-family house hasn't changed hands in a long, long time nor has it had any renovations that would merit a filing with DOB. Both of these factors help explain the low annual taxes of $839. They also suggest that whoever buys the house will probably have some work to do. That's fine given the price. The big question is whether this is a time capsule with original details or something that been destroyed over time. Anyone know?
560 Putnam Avenue [Irongate Properties] GMAP P*Shark
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/1295
Comments
I've seen the house a couple of Months ago. I spoke to the owner as well. The house has lots of potential, lots of details, but it needs a lot of work. Maybe 100-15k to bring back to its original Glory. If you're willing to pay $750K for a 2 Fam in a not so Prime Bed-Stuy then this house is for you. The House has potential though....
Posted by: Denny Henriquez at June 5, 2007 1:33 PM
The listing says it has been gutted.
Posted by: Waverly at June 5, 2007 1:34 PM
judging by the doors and windows, I would say no work has been done here for a long time or possibly ever.
Bed Stuy is a poor area, most folks did not have the money to update their houses. It's still a poor area. A poor, African-American area, lest we forget.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 5, 2007 1:35 PM
the listing also says its loaded with details
Posted by: sw at June 5, 2007 1:37 PM
if taxes are 839 does that mean the slightest registered renovation means they pop up to $4k a year or something? how does that work?
Posted by: Anonymous at June 5, 2007 1:38 PM
I'd actually be more interested in this
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/rfs/345396752.html
the work is already done.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 5, 2007 1:40 PM
The fact that the listing says that its "currently gutted" and no interior pics makes me very suspicious of the condition inside. I might be worried that DIY home improvements may have destroyed important details. I like the outside detail that remains, however.
Posted by: rj at June 5, 2007 1:43 PM
855 Jefferson has already had its moment in the sun on this site..should we go over it again?
Posted by: steveo at June 5, 2007 1:55 PM
If the house has been gutted than its not in move in condition. This makes financing a lot more complicated. 650k for a shell in non prime bed stuy seems like crazy talk to me. Am i the only person left who doesn't think every brownstone in brooklyn is worth at least 1 million? (The building is about 2400 square feet that means renovation costs are at least 250k - 500k)
Posted by: Anonymous at June 5, 2007 2:07 PM
Speaking of Bed-Stuy, there is another house next to the Decatur open house (between Stuyvesant and Malcolm X) from a few weekends ago that is for sale (I live on the block hence my interest in getting the word out--no connection to the sale). It is listed through a local brokerage, the sign in the window says Home Dimensions Realty, and the number is (718) 802-1411. The house looks fairly promising from the outside, and the block is a nice one.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 5, 2007 2:23 PM
1:35 Not sure what the motivation was behind your comment. Do be mindful that not long ago Fort Greene/Clinton Hill was a "poor, African-American area." Williamsburg was a "poor, Latino, immigrant area". Chelsea was a "poor immigrant area." Harlem was a "poor, African-American area." Lest you forget.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 5, 2007 2:37 PM
What's the address of the decatur St house ?
Posted by: electricgreek at June 5, 2007 2:38 PM
"Gut", as it is used by broker, homeowner, and seller has as many subjective meanings on this site as asking about the weather. To some, gutted can mean bare to the plaster walls, with all kitchen, bath, and light fixtures removed, but still with doors, fireplaces and detail remaining and to some gutted means down to the studs with nothing else left, along with varying degrees in between. Also the amount needed to make it livable depends on a buyer's wallet, as well as his/her standards of livability. This could be a great deal, or not. It certainly looks promising from the outside. I wish I had my original doors.
If someone is really interested, they should go see. Hopefully, without anon 1:35, Poor African-Americans, not withstanding. I'm still trying to figure the motivation of that comment, myself.
Posted by: Sterling Silver at June 5, 2007 3:15 PM
electricgreek, I think it's either 313 or 315 Stuyvesant.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 5, 2007 3:25 PM
SORRY make that 313 or 315 DECATUR.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 5, 2007 3:28 PM
I don't know what anyone's motivation is when they post here but I think that buying a small, badly maintained house, in a poor black neighborhood, for 650,000 dollars would be considered highly suspect business sense most anywhere. But this is NYC, it is not most anywhere, so anything goes!
Posted by: Anonymous at June 5, 2007 4:24 PM
I'm sure that for someone, this will be the house of their dreams, and their chance at owning a Brooklyn brownstone, which they will fix up beautifully.
They won't mind living in "a poor black neighborhood", because they are more concerned with getting to know their neighbors and new nabe, and gasp! they might even be black themselves! It's been known to happen - black people with money (also known to happen) do buy houses, too. Why assume everyone who reads this, or buys a house, is white, or at best, would mind living with people outside of their race or income level?
Can people on this site, just for a change, consider that their all high and mighty standards and conditions MAY not be everyone's? This is a perfectly nice house, for a great price in today's overinflated market, even considering renovation, on a pleasant block full of decent neighbors, in a neighborhood that is changing every day. There are worse things than living with poor black people. Living with rich white snobs might be one of them.
Posted by: Rouser at June 5, 2007 4:49 PM
It's nice to know that black folks with money would want to invest it in Bed Stuy rather than in a fancy suburb where their kids could go to school and do well without being accused of "acting white". Everybode can put the spin on reality they want, especially when discussing real estate in the ghetto.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 5, 2007 4:53 PM
As an African American it is amazing to me that people do not think about the things which they right. My family has owned a brownstone in Crown Heights for more than 50 years and has seen the neighboor in its good times and in its bad times. As someone stated before the home is what you make of it and the neighboor thrives and dies with the people who take the time to care for there properties. Many on the owners and tenants on my "block" (which is in between to major streets) have become a nieghborhood within ourselves and have for countless years helped to bring back our community.
I would say that this home would be an excellent buy and the neighborhood which may always be filled with darker skinned people will return to glory.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 5, 2007 5:20 PM
4:53, Black people with money, and those without as much, all want the same things as everyone else, including the opportunity to own a home, and raise their families in peace and safety. As has been said countless times before on this blog, most of Bed Stuy is not the ghetto people who have never set foot in it seem to insist it is. Granted, there are some very rough spots, and problems galore, but this particular house in not in one of those spots, and 75% of BS is not, either.
Most people who write negatively about living here just can't seem to wrap their minds around the concept that there has always been a large core of middle class, crime-free, hard working, decent, intact and proud families here, and those are the people who have kept the good blocks that way, and kept the bad ones from getting worse. These are people who's kids manage to get an education, whether private or public, and know better than to subscribe to such nonsense as to think that to be educated is "acting white".
To be African American and perhaps wealthier, and a new homeowner in this community is to become part of, and add to, a proud tradition of community and home. Any one else of like mind is welcome, too. People who automatically think that black means poor and ghetto, uneducated and/or criminal need to look elsewhere.
Posted by: Brower Park at June 5, 2007 5:43 PM
Rouser, good stuff! Except I'll bet the troll isn't a "rich white snob", but rather a working class schmuck. Uneducated, unenlightened, doesn't get to see the world. Either that, or it's just some high school students trying to get a rise out of us.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 5, 2007 5:46 PM
As a early 30 something year old African American male that is a soon to be former resident of Park Slope North, I just sold my duplex in a brownstone and is looking forward to living in my four story home on MacDonough Street. Being an architect myself I am sure the same architect that designed most of the 3 million dollar homes on St Johns Place and President Street btw 8 and PPW in Park Slope designed my soon to be home in “Stuyvesant Heights” loaded with the same details that in PS homes and that’s selling for around 900K.
Now If you call 900K a poor African American neighbor there is no such thing as a rich one nowhere in this country. I will love to save the date June 5, 2012 or lets make that 2010 and let see how POOR Bedford Stuyvesant is then. As I get familiar with BS I am noticing it is starting to look like the UN which was the second thing that attracted to this the neighborhood. People are ultra friendly in BS which use to be the case in PS but not so much anymore as the “Manhattan folk” move to the area. I think anyone who dose not work on wall street or have a trust fund and wants to spend 1-2 million on a apartment for the name of a neighborhood (“designer hood”) has bumped there head. Let’s weight this out, gentrified neighborhood with over priced homes and apartments or colorful neighborhood that has the same architecture with apartments and houses that are 1/3 of the price and 5mins longer on the train... OK I will miss the most beautiful park in NYC but that’s only a short bike ride away…
Posted by: MMM at June 5, 2007 6:34 PM
Go Brower Park!
Your post (pardon the virgin joke) RULES!
Posted by: Anonymous at June 5, 2007 6:44 PM
I still find it amusing to see how many negative posters on this blog have no clue whatsoever about the real estate trends in NYC. I have to ascribe this ignorance to the high probability that these posters are not native New Yorkers. Allow me to give those folks that post negative comments about Bedford-Stuyvesant a qick education.
First; Brownstones are not just places to store your stuff in, they are New York architectural icons, why do you suppose everytime Hollywood makes a NY movie, the main character lives in a Brownstone? Just like when people buy Rolls Royces, they don't buy them for the performance but the luxury, the look and history. And the certain knowledge that they are buying an APpreciating asset, not a depreciating one like most other cars.
Second: If you are a millionaire, you may still be able to buy one in the downtown Brooklyn area, if you are a multimillionaire, you may still be able to buy one in Manhattan. If you are neither, the last place to buy one with a middle income salary,is Bedford -Stuyvesant. And no, African-Americans are not the only people living in Bed-Stuy. that's 1980's thinking. Just like in the 1880's when everyone probably believed the area would remain Dutch and German. Things change. Brooklyn is changing VERY fast and all sorts of people are moving all over Brooklyn: carribbeans, asians, indians, hispanics, eastern europeans, the list goes and includes middle class african americans as well.
Third; They're not making Brownstones anymore, Bed-Stuy is the last of the brownstone neighborhoods that radiate out from Brooklyn heights to Boerum Hill, to Fort Greene, to Cobble Hill, to Park Slope to Clinton Hill, to Prospect Heights and finally to Bed Stuy and Crown Heights. Beyond, you will find other types of architectural styles with their own merits, but not the archtypical Brownstones. Get used to it and understand that there is a limited quantity. Like that Woody Allen movie says; "Brooklyn is not expanding!"
Posted by: Antoine Roquetin at June 5, 2007 7:40 PM
First of all, who said it was a shell? A shell is the four brick walls, and maybe a roof. According to the listing, as well as the report of someone who has actually been there, that is not the case.
Secondly, where is Putman Avenue? If you are going to dis the nabe, at least get the street names right. Tends to reinforce the theory that you probably have no clue as to where Putnam Avenue is, anyway.
Thirdly, and most importantly, as a social worker, or the police, you go into the worst situations in the neighborhood, and see the worst of living conditions, and perhaps some of the worst and most desperate of people and situations. You are not going into the homes of civil servants, teachers, supervisors, office workers, lawyers, health care practictioners, etc, etc, etc. These are the people who make up the majority of the homeowners of Bed Stuy.
To judge any neighborhood by the worst you see, is short sighted, unfair and highly inaccurate. You also do yourself a disservice, as you have been hardened to all of the good the neighborhood and those in it have to offer. Hopefully, you can go back with an open mind and see the other side of the neighborhood and its people.
Great post, Antoine.
Posted by: Brower Park at June 5, 2007 9:49 PM
Oh, while brick red, at least on my screen, is not the greatest color for a brownstone, it is not a dealbreaker. The facade looks to be intact, which is what's important, and a homeowner could certainly wait and strip and/or resurface later.
Sorry, not buyin it, but you're still not getting it. Unforseen circumstances not withstanding, this still looks like a good deal.
Posted by: BrowerPark at June 5, 2007 10:01 PM
Orangestone for 650K hmmm not too bad... has anyone been inside this house?
Posted by: MMM at June 5, 2007 10:08 PM
Of course I get it, but the reality is that brownstones in Bed Stuy are never going to be $200k again, as they were only ten years ago.
I agree that prices have shot up way past the prices that the neighborhood's median income can afford, and I would be the first to agree that that on the whole, vastly overpriced homes do the neighborhood more harm than good, and there is the expectation that if you are paying a million dollars for a home, you should be able to expect certain things that just may not be there yet. Not just lattes for you, but basic human services for some of your neighbors.
However, not buyin it, your tone has changed from your first post, in which you stated that anyone with a dollar and a brain should be running from the hood. That's a far cry from your last post, which I agree with. I just think you picked the wrong house to vent your ire on. In this real estate climate, this house is seen as a bargain. Not a mini mansion by any means, but a house that someone who isn't a stockbroker could possibly afford. These are the people who will actually be the majority of the newcomers to Bed Stuy, not the real mansion buyers.
Posted by: BrowerPark at June 5, 2007 10:30 PM
The disturbing thing here is how practically every comment string on every topic ends up becoming a racial issue. I wish things weren't that way. Everyone here is interested in houses. Why not talk about houses and not bring race into it? Just an idea.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 5, 2007 10:39 PM
Houses don't exist on little hills isolated from the rest of the world. They are in neigborhoods, and most neighborhoods in Brooklyn are changing so fast, your head spins. Race is an inevitable topic - gentrification, displacement, old timers, new comers, amenities, crime and safety, class and education, as well as real estate prices all have a racial spin. This is inevitable, I think.
I also think healthy discourse is valuable, and if we agree and disagree with some level of courtesy, and if the incindiary idiots who like to ruin these discussions stay out, we may actually learn something about people who may not look like us. That's always a good thing.
Posted by: Rouser at June 5, 2007 10:55 PM
Hey rouser - asian-american households have a higher average income that white households and according to the NYPD are suspects in virtually 0% of the crimes (blacks and hispanics make up 83% of the suspects, whites make up most of the remainder). So white people could move in, it'd finish the spread of the curve. The rich snobs are the asian-americans, though people like you are having trouble updating to this new reality it seems.
Also 2.37pm anon - you might what to get your facts straight re. williamsburg - its never been predominantly poor latino (tho areas of it are). You are at least forgetting the large italian-american community.
And whats with this conflation of "blacks" and "african americans"? Recent immigrant black populations from the west indies and africa have a very different social make-up and economic success level from the establoshed african american population as a whole.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 6, 2007 9:07 AM
And I'm sure there are some Estonians and Icelanders in pockets of some neighborhoods, too, 9:07. You are missing the point by counting the trees instead of looking at the forest. Our conversation here is not about a census of people, it's about generalized trends.
While we are at it, the Asian-American population is no more a monolith than is the African-American population, or any other population group. But people like me tend to remember things like that. What does any of that have to do with what we were discussing?
Posted by: Rouser at June 6, 2007 9:24 AM
monolithic - like "rich white snobs" you mean?
"While we are at it, the Asian-American population is no more a monolith than is the African-American population, or any other population group. But people like me tend to remember things like that."
I think what you meant to say is people like you maintain the cognitive dissonance of "everyone is an individual" and that different cultures exist. Cultures are defined by their common elements, i.e. sameness amongst the members - if everyone was truly individual then cultures wouldn't exist would they.
Your confusion may even extend to the idea that the white population is monolithic and non-white being layered and diverse, but perhaps I'm being too harsh.
I won't even go into your conflation of race and culture.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 6, 2007 10:09 AM
Go into it, 10:09, because you make absolutely no sense right now, and the more you go on, the more diffused your arguments get. As I said in plain English, "the Asian-American population is no more a monolith than the African-American population, OR ANY OTHER POPULATION GROUP". That would also include the white population.
I'm really getting tired of being lumped into your "people like you" category, especially since I have no idea what people like me are supposed to be doing or thinking. Talk about lumping folks into a monolithic group. You take "rich white snobs" totally out of context, and totally miss the point of the comment preceding it, so who is confused here?
Posted by: Rouser at June 6, 2007 11:01 AM
Well, this was interesting. Seems to me the argument is really more about code words and phrases than anything else. As a White once married to an African-American, I was in the odd position of being included in the white "code words" club, by those who figured the fact that I shared their skin color meant I shared their prejudice. Suffice it to say all groups have their code words, and insiders in each group know what they are.
the fact that someone (anon 1:35, tues)used and then re-emphasized the fact that Bed-Stuy is a mainly African-American neighborhood on the surface is a reflection of reality- but re-iterating it and the way they said it, anyone from any culture got the idea loud and clear. It really is the truth- it's not what you say, it's how you say it.
I think rouser and Brower Park , as well as several others got it. The implication is that an African-American neighborhood is just not as good as White one. For all of those who like to quote stats and numbers to "show" that Blacks or Hispanics are somehow less worthy people, yes- you are prejudiced. ANd secondly- you need an understanding of statistics and their applicability in the real world before you make group value judgements and try to make the term "African-American" an adjective for bad.
I've always found it interesting that those who gasp and cringe at the mention of living in a Black or Hispanic neighborhood are those who usually have little to no contact with them. Sad for you- you miss knowing a lot of wonderful people. Sad for the rest of us- we're embarrassed that anyone thinks you speak for the rest of us white folk.
Posted by: resident of at June 6, 2007 11:31 AM
I am aware of quite a few long time residents of Bed Stuy with properties in Fort Greene, Park Slope, Clinton Hill, parts of Florida and Maryland and Grenada and Jamaica. They live in Bed Stuy with saunas in their cellars and children graduated from universities all over this country. I sold a house of mine in Clinton Hill last year and I still live in Bed Stuy. The price of the house on Putnam sounds like a deal to me and I have one for sale on Gates between Bedford and Nostrand; around the corner from the Y where those 29 condos will soon be standing. I am aware of racism and it is the greatest indication of the stupidity of the individual who has those feelings. African Americans don't make an area bad or good racists do.
Posted by: Anon at June 6, 2007 4:22 PM
I remember when that 1.5m property on Clinton would have been considered Bed Stuy.
Posted by: anon at June 8, 2007 2:00 PM
The blackout of 1977 had one fatality in the city and that was in Fort Greene, thirty years later this is ancient history but fortunate for some of us our families didn't listen to people telling them not to purchase brownstones in Bed Stuy for 60k or Cambridge and Gates for <60k in the early eighties. My point is that the price will go up and Bed Stuy is prime and will be more attractive in two years because it is near enough and yet far enough from all that it needs to be to be the best value on the market.
Posted by: Anon at June 8, 2007 2:16 PM
<60k. My point is that Bed Stuy has every indication that values will go the way of PS, FG and CH and comfort will be far better because it is far enough away from Atlantic Yards to avoid the traffic and near enough to catch the game and be home in 5-7 minutes.
Posted by: Anon at June 8, 2007 2:21 PM
<60k. My mothers friends thought she was insane to leave her nice house out on the island and purchase her first of many houses in Bed Stuy in 1984. She was luckily not the only family member crazy enough to invest in the greater Bed Stuy area including CH and FG. Be careful who you listen to because they may or may not be right. Bed Stuy for 650k sounds like a steal even.
Posted by: Anon at June 8, 2007 4:13 PM
Not buyin it, I am not buying you; but what do you say now that 457 Greene sold for 1.08million and they sold a house on Stuyvesant for 1.2 million. You remind me of my friends mother who came to an estate sale and saw a house sell for over 800k and she said after, that she wouldn't pay 400k for the house, to which I responded "I would, and then I would sell it to him" motioning to the guy who just purchased the house - or maybe the other people who all bid over 700k. Clearly my friends mother was challenged.
Posted by: Anon at June 21, 2007 3:01 PM
Latest Restaurant Additions
-
Le Toukouleur
added January 8, 2009 12:00 PM in Bedford Stuyvesant -
Hibino
added January 7, 2009 12:00 PM in Cobble Hill -
James
added January 6, 2009 12:00 PM in Prospect Heights -
Abistro
added January 5, 2009 12:00 PM in Fort Greene -
Wing Wagon
added December 30, 2008 12:00 PM in Prospect Heights -
Babouche
added December 29, 2008 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
La Maison du Couscous
added December 23, 2008 12:00 PM in Bay Ridge -
Sotto Voce
added December 22, 2008 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Pedro's
added December 19, 2008 12:00 PM in Dumbo -
The Moxie Spot
added December 18, 2008 12:00 PM in Brooklyn Heights
Post a comment
Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.