House of the Day: 9 Lefferts Place

"..to the landscaped garden; that is absolutely breathtaking. "

wow, only in this market could a hunk of concrete, some turf and a freaking shrub be described this way.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 1:41 PM

That block is actually very quiet, between St. James and Grand. Looks like a good deal without knowing what sort of upgrades it might need internally.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 1:46 PM

I think the market is starting to soften. Mortgage rates are rising, there is an enormous amount of supply in terms of new housing and I am seeing a lot of the same listings that I saw in Jan. Sure, the most desirable homes are moving, but the average stuff is sitting around.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 2:21 PM

This website's bias for FG/CH is nauseating

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 2:36 PM

brownstoner,
concentrate on c. gardens! this is just wrong!

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 2:48 PM

Seems overpriced to me.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 3:34 PM

Our block was built in 1899 and my house has them at the end of the parlour where the dining room begins. This makes a great open flowing space, but the thing (can't remember name) marks where the living room ends in a nice way.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 3:37 PM

Clinton HIll/Fort Greene has great architecture. The area is also one of the very few, very few, racially integrated neighborhoods in the entire country.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 3:38 PM

Mt. Airy in Philadelphia is also diverse and lovely. I mean gorgeous!

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 3:58 PM

No mention of the tenants.
Does the house have unregulated tenants or rent-regulated (or elderly) tenants?
If it is really leaning?
The windows look bad and if it is in the landmark distrcit are probably in violation. beware buying a house with a landmark violation. Title searches usually do not pick that up.
I think it is a big house for the price but the structue and the tenant situation really would determine how good a deal it is.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 4:07 PM

Is NOT landmark district. And even if were, windows not 'in violation'. What is there is there in landmark distrcit.
Problem comes when want to change/alter. Then same thing not allowed. But you aren't 'in violation' for something that exists already. Rare (although does happen) to have rent regulated tenant in 3 family house.
You sound the the nervous nell worrier type that will never make a real move as far a real estate or anything esle in your life because concentrate on all the possible negs instead of the positives.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 4:26 PM

Get rid of that screen thingy. Just another anoying cloying detail. Seriously, the part about the breathtaking landscaped garden has got to be a joke. Makes me wonder what other suprising treasures are to be found in this property.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 5:19 PM

This should sell easily. Probably above asking. 65 Lefferts Place is also on the market (FSBO) and the building is 22x45 (4k sq.ft+) on a 22x140 lot! Needs some updating though. I think they're asking north of $1.6M (somewhat too rich and aggressive given condition). But 9 Leffets appears to be priced just right, if not slightly below market.

I love this small stretch of Clinton Hill. It's a little off the beaten path as it is one of the only brownstone blocks in CH that's south of Fulton. Lefferts place reminds me of an urban cul de sac, tree lined with some very nice and big historic brownstones and neighbors seem to take a real interest in the community. The LPCA is a very strong block association. The big plus with this house is that it's right around the corner from the C train.

Both 9 and 65 Lefferts should sell for close to $1.5M. 63 Lefferts was purchased last summer for $1.4M and there's been some good comps in the area to support this price point.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 6:04 PM

This should sell easily. Probably above asking. 65 Lefferts Place is also on the market (FSBO) and the building is 22x45 (4k sq.ft+) on a 22x140 lot! Needs some updating though. I think they're asking north of $1.6M (somewhat too rich and aggressive given condition). But 9 Leffets appears to be priced just right, if not slightly below market.

I love this small stretch of Clinton Hill. It's a little off the beaten path as it is one of the only brownstone blocks in CH that's south of Fulton. Lefferts place reminds me of an urban cul de sac, tree lined with some very nice and big historic brownstones and neighbors seem to take a real interest in the community. The LPCA is a very strong block association. The big plus with this house is that it's right around the corner from the C train.

Both 9 and 65 Lefferts should sell for close to $1.5M. 63 Lefferts was purchased last summer for $1.4M and there's been some good comps in the area to support this price point.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 6:04 PM

"brownstoner,
concentrate on c. gardens! this is just wrong!"

"This website's bias for FG/CH is nauseating."

Are you guys serious?!?! If so, get a life!!!

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 6:08 PM

161 lEFFERTS SOLD FOR $1.45M IN APRIL '07.

NICE HOUSE TOO.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 7:37 PM

That block is sh*t, and after the building of Atlantic Yards will continue to be sh*t. The only reason this listing even makes it to this blog is that Mr. Brownstoner lives around the corner.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 8:12 PM

This house looks nice to me. Who cares where brownstoner lives. I am just glad brownstoner puts up stories about the Scarano project on the corner of 2nd Pl and Smith which seems totally out of charactor for CG. I think things sell quickly in that area if they are priced right. Do you guys really need the hype?

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 9:23 PM

there is so much ignorance and lashing out here. you should know that if you buy a house in an historic district whose prior owners have made changes -such as fugly windows- you buy the violation, and you buy it even if the city has not yet noticed. when they notice, like when you apply for a permit for something, they will stick you with a violation if the windows or whatever do not match their photos of the house.
just because it's there doesn't make it legal, that had to be dumbest comment of the day. If the bock is not landmarked, and it probably isn't given the poor alterations evident here and next door, then anything goes. Buy it and tear it down.
I am suspicious of the defensive tone.
I think the buyer should be very wary and should do very thorough due-diligence on this. I don't get a good vibe from it. Something's up.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 26, 2007 10:33 PM

Samiam, you obviously haven't been here long. Whenever these few blocks are discussed, their isolation, as you call it, is part and parcel of the charm. Many of these houses have been meticulously kept up or recently restored, and walking up and down is a visual joy. The addition of the antebellum mansion and other freestanding homes give it charm and history. The only block that isn't so hot is the one next to Franklin Ave, but the others are great. These houses seem to get close to ask if not better.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 12:12 AM

I agree that the Carroll Gardens whiner should go away, but I also think that it is amusing that you should call him/her insecure when people who live in Clinton Hill....

Post the same comment about it being a racially diverse neighborhood ad nauseam

Call Clinton Hill, Clinton Hill/Forte Green in the hopes that some poor unsuspecting reader might actually think that it is the same neighborhood and and pay FG prices.

Place these comments in threads that have nothing to do with Clinton Hill because they are clearly peaved that brownstoner ever posts anything that is not in Clinton Hill.

Get over yourselves. It is great that Clinton Hill is becoming a more racially diverse neighborhood but there are actually quite a few racially diverse neighborhoods all over this city and the metropolitan area. In fact, Brooklyn in general is filled with boat loads of racial and ethnic diversity. Each neighborhood explored in this blog has wonderful cultural and ethnic experiences to offer.

So who are really the defensive ones who can't stop telling everyone how wonderful and important their neighborhood is?

You live in a nice neighborhood like lots of the other neighborhoods in brooklyn

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 12:17 AM

I'm sorry but the brownstone nabes west of Flatbush (BH, PS, CG, CoH, BoH) are not racially diverse. For the most part, they are homogeneous and monolithic nabes - white, white, white. Reminds me of college and most recently of Corporate America; throw in a couple of brown faces (though it's still 95% white) and that's called diversity (from a white person's perspective of course). Compare this to Fort Greene and Clinton Hill which is truly diverse. I would say it's close to 50/50 in 2007.

As for all the Clinton Hill bashers out there, you are so misguided. Brownstoner discusses neighborhoods all over Brooklyn - from Gravesend to Greenpoint and from Brooklyn Heights to Williamsburg. I don't think that there is a neighborhood close to downtown Brookyn that Mr. B has not covered countless times on this board.

Also, I don't understand why some people would have issues with Stoner's coverage of Clinton Hill. It's his blog and he lives there which makes him more on top of what's happening in the community. More importantly, Clinton Hill is often discussed because it's a very interesting place; I would argue far more interesting than Carroll Gardens. Clinton Hill is far more diverse and its housing stock is far superior. CG is nice but the only thing it has over CH is Smith Street. Let's be honest here, there are few stretches in all of Brooklyn that is more magnificent then the mansion rows of Clinton and Washington Aves.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 5:42 AM

I think that brownstoner should organize some tours of the neighborhoods just to get these people out of their own area for a change. Clinton Hill really IS seen as an extension of FG in terms of so many things. If you are sitting at home in Carroll Gardens of course that is something you wouldn't realize. Although I suspect the Carroll Gardens obsessed poster really is just baiting us all to talk about the topic of race. Give me a break. If you want demographic information go check out the census stats or something and then post something useful. Your own thoughts on the subjects are totally uninformative.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 7:14 AM

As a person who lives on Lefferts Place I feel like Fort Greene and it's amenities are miles away. This can be good and bad, depending on when you wanna eat or when you need some good weed. The restuarants here take at least 45 minutes to put out a main course, and Met Foods is really over priced and the ceiling has leaked over the meat area twice in the past month when the rains were here. To me, this is disgusting and I no longer purchase food there. Hit that whole foods before you go underground and wait 45 minutes for the next C train because there will be at least 4 A trains in between. Oh, and the house at 65 Lefferts is actually 22x47, not 45. It is listed incorrectly on the paperwork, I know I measued it.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 9:15 AM

I think that neighborhoods east of Flatbush Ave. are diverse now only because they are in transition. Over the next 20-30 years, as more rich white people continue to buy buildings, co-ops and condos, PH, CH, FG, BS, etc. will become more homogeneous. This is already happening in the western parts of FG and PH.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 9:19 AM

Yeah, this house looks exactly like the many Federal brick townhouses found in Carroll Gardens at 35% less cost. Anyone with a house on the market in CG knows that this house in CH sells before theirs. No wonder why the CG poster is so pissed.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 9:54 AM

if you actually read my comment you would see that it says that each neighborhood has wonderful cultural and ethnic experiences to offer. Do I need to explain to you what cultural and ethnic experiences are? There are actually lots of interesting places all over Brooklyn and just because you don't know about them does not mean that they don't exist. I know you would like to believe that Clinton Hill is the bomb, but the truth is that it still has a long way to go. BTW, I don't live in Carroll Gardens, but I do think that Carroll Gardens is a great neighborhood that has lots of wonderful things to offer that go far beyond Smith Street.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 10:04 AM

These boards remind me of the pump and dump stock boards you used to find at the height of the internet bubble. So much animosity. And all because people have their life savings wrapped up in their houses. That or flippers who are seriously in the weeds.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 10:10 AM

same size house a few houses down sold for 1.495 last year, fsbo, no open house because they had an accepted an offer in the first week. This will sell easily. Great block.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 10:14 AM

You have got to be kidding me. There has not been a house in Carroll Gardens that has gone for under a million in many years. If this house was in Carroll Gardens it would be going for $1,900,000 and that is very easy for anyone to verify so you aren't doing yourself any good telling bold face lies. Is that why you guys are so angry about Carroll Gardens? Because the houses their sell for more? Why so much anger?

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 10:17 AM

I live on the block. 161 is on the next block between Grand and Classon - and is not twice the size, though 161 is on a longer lot (130 ft I believe versus 100 feet long).

15 sold for 1.495 last year - within a week of fsbo listing they had an accepted offer and closed a few months later. If the bones are good in #9, then this will go quickly. I know some neighbors have put in bids already. We'll see. The great thing about these houses is the large scale of the rooms since the footprint is a bit wider than average. Great feel on the block with friendly neighbors. Enough of my biased perspective. I'm here for the long haul so I'll just be happy with more nice neighbors.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 10:47 AM

10.47am here. Actually, 161 is even further away, my mistake, between Classon and Grand.

Another house, 63(?) on the Grand to Classon block, sold for $1.45 in the past year or so.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 10:55 AM

Having lived on Lefferts Place, it still doesn't cease to amaze me that any building in this part of Clinton Hill would sell for 1.4. The block-in-question is pretty, reasonably quiet, and most of the neighbors are nice and friendly, but the rate of gentrification is out synch with the current state of the surrounding neighborhood. Drug deals occur regularly on both the block and near-by Fulton. Two people got shot just 2 blocks from Lefferts in 2006. A methodone clinic and flop-house hotel are within 2 blocks. Who are these people who are going to put down a huge down payment to keep the mortgage viable for current neighborhood rental rates? Must a neighborhood that finally got 2 coffee shops in the past 2 years suddenly be overwrought with yuppies?

Having been inside the house, it needs substantial renovation, and may indeed suffer serious strauctural issues. It hasn't been updated since the 1980s. The top floor apartment might have to be gutted due to the sloping floors. All details in the parlor are original, including the screen and pocket doors, but the ground floor must have been renovated in the late 1970s or 1980s, so needs substantial work. Windows def. need updating. The yard is decent, with concrete, grass, and flower beds, but "landscaped" is a stretch, and you get a view of the back of the post office.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 11:37 AM

"As a person who lives on Lefferts Place I feel like Fort Greene and it's amenities are miles away."

Huh? It's a five minute walk? What are you talking about? Fort Greene is FOUR blocks away (from St. James to Vanderbilt along Fulton). Put down the pint of Ben & Jerry's, hit the gym and perhaps it won't feel like a mile to you!

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 2:54 PM

Well, a few houses on the street have already sold for over 1.4 in the past few years so your shock is a moot point now. The methadone clinic on Waverly and Fulton two and a half blocks away is close to other houses that have gone for far more. This house does not back onto the post office either. Drug deals do not regularly go down on this block. There is no hanging out on the block. It is very quiet. There is dealing and hanging out on Fulton Street as has been discussed ad nauseum on this blog. I suppose the brownstone condos on Grand should not have sold for such a high price, or the numerous other sales in the area one block from Fulton Street based on your reasoning. But, again, it is what it is and a relative bargain unless there are major structural issues with the place.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 2:55 PM

"Having lived on Lefferts Place, it still doesn't cease to amaze me that any building in this part of Clinton Hill would sell for 1.4."

There's been 7 houses on the three blocks of Lefferts Place that have sold for $1.4M or better in the past year alone. The comps stand for themselves. The methadone clinic has no bearing on Lefferts Place which is further away from it then the townhouses on Clinton and Washington Aves that routinely sell for more than $2.5M. The hotel on the corner of Lefferts and Classon is under new management (24/7 security detail), after a court ordered closing last summer, and it is no longer being operated as a flophouse. From what I understand, the hotel is now 100% legit.

That being said, it appears that buyers after weighing all of the pluses and minuses are still very bullish on the nabe. The area is changing for the better and given the sheer beauty and size of these magnificent homes, I guess families view their purchases to be a good buy. Who am I, or anyone of us for that matter, to argue with that decision? It's personal.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 3:16 PM

I agree, and the people who have bought are families, which is nice, who are here for the long haul.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 3:30 PM

Yakov, where do you live? When was the last time you been to the area? How often do you visit? At what times?

Where am I going with this? Well, I think that you're full of shit and don't know squat about the area but just spouting a bunch of hate for reasons only known to you. Perhaps you're in the market, either as a buyer or seller. In any event, you have no credibility because you don't know the area one iota. Best of luck selling that overpriced piece of crap in CG, douchebag!

TEST: Tell me the four corner businesses at the intersection of St. James and Fulton?

Posted by: Anonymous at June 27, 2007 11:12 PM

"you're waiting 40 minutes for your C train (which incidentally doesn't run on the weekends anymore)"

Again, another lie (incidentally):

The C Local runs every 10 minutes during rush hour and 15 minutes most other times during the week. You can then transfer to the A Express at Jay Street for a quicker commute. On weekends, the C train does not run. Why? BECAUSE THERE IS NO EXPRESS SERVICE AND THE A TRAIN NOW SERVES ALL LOCAL STOPS!

Listen to Yakov and one would think that on weekends everyone living east of Flatbush on the Fulton line simply walks 5 miles into the city since there is no train service! I agree, Yakov is simply a troll with no credibility to speak of. He doesn't know the neighborhood or the fine people who live here.

http://www.mta.info/nyct/service/pdf/tccur.pdf

Posted by: Anonymous at June 28, 2007 6:43 AM

I know Icewoman, the whore/slut extraordinaire! She gave me the claps....

In any event, what's the significance of this info? I moved out of Manhattan five years ago....

Posted by: Anonymous at June 28, 2007 10:04 PM