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October 17, 2007

House of the Day: 328 East 7th Street

We're not sure what to make of this house at 328 East 7th Street in Kensington, partly because there's a lack of decent photos on the listing but also because we're not as well versed about comps in this neck of the woods as we should be. (We did notice, however, that a similar house at 398 East 5th Street went for $690,000 earlier this year.) Regardless, with an asking price of $749,000, this strikes us as a potential alternative to a small two-bedroom in nearby Park Slope. It also looks like a house where there may be the opportunity to add some value through some TLC. Think it looks interesting?
328 East 7th Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
Photo by Nicholas Strini for Property Shark

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Comments

Where is Kensington?

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 2:09 PM

what about adding the top of the building? did a tornado take it away?

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 2:36 PM

Looks nice - but I hate when they box in the porches like that. If you're going to close it in, as least make it like a sunroom to not make the living room windows darker.

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 2:40 PM

does it come with the carcass?

Posted by: lifer at October 17, 2007 2:45 PM

Overpriced. Should be around $650k. I had a friend who just bought a very nice similar house (same size/layout) on the other side of Ocean Parkway for $637k a few months ago. This is still West of Coney Island Ave.

Posted by: vinnie_barbarino at October 17, 2007 2:49 PM

Is this the house they filmed from the opening of "Family Matters" ?

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 3:02 PM

Lol. $749K for this beat-up POS?. I can smell the urine from just LOOKING at the photograph.

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 3:10 PM

vinnie, the reason your friend's house was cheaper ws because...it was on the other side of ocean parkway

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 3:13 PM

"$749,000, this strikes us as a potential alternative to a small two-bedroom in nearby Park Slope"

Uhhh, which SMALL 2BRs are $749K in the Slope? Nice 2brs tend to be $600-700K. Jeez Louise.

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 3:20 PM

I live 3 blocks from here. Without interior pictures it's hard to say. It's Corcoran, so i'd say they definitely went to the high end and they don't do a lot of listings here outside of apartments. If really well maintained, maybe only a little overpriced. This one does have four decent sized if not huge bedrooms (no 7x10' closets masquarading as the "baby's room") But if everything besides the kitchen is in need of a redo, then not a huge bargain. To be honest, this is a neighborhood where all sorts of horrors were visited upon the exteriors of houses-bad siding choices, closed off porches, etc. but you just never know. In the case of my house, the interior was the thing that previous owners had worked on. You'd be ranking on my house if all you saw was pics of the exterior and one other room.

The fact is that a lot of houses here have had conversions to mutifamily buildings and are all cut up and butchered inside. From talking to my neighbors, the last time they considered the area "really nice" was in the 60's so I'm guessing that's the last time a bunch of the housing stock saw significant interior renovations. Maybe this is closer to worth it if this place hasn't had those disasters as opposed to something that needs the amount of work typical for the area. I'm betting it has a really nice sized yard, too.

The block borders Church, which I'm not in love with but if I remember it right, it's a fairly nice block. There's pretty much a choice of the F or Q by being on this side of OP. Judging by the complaints on the neighborhood blog, the Q is a very nice option. And it's within easy walking distance of Cortelyou and some nice restaurant options over there. The rest of Kensington can be a little challenged in that department and seem more isolating.

I've lived here over 4 years and I've seen more and more folks sprucing up their homes and the area becoming tidier. Most of the area folks are very friendly and it's a wildly diverse population. I would take this house over an overpriced condo on 4th Ave if I had to pick.

Posted by: kensington gal at October 17, 2007 3:24 PM

Don't know where you're lookin, 3:20 but decent, move in condition 1000 sf-plus 2 bedrooms in Park Slope are well north of 750K. More like a million.

I'm talking actual Park Slope here. Not South Slope.

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 3:24 PM

It's true, what 3:24 says. I'm amazed at how much the 2-bdrms have risen in the slope in the past year alone. I priced my coop to sell a year ago because I was moving, and I thought that had to be the height of the market, but no, it just keeps chugging upward and onward...

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 3:30 PM

3:20 ur on crack
unless u consider 22nd street park slope

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 3:30 PM

No 3:24, they aren't. Nobody with any sense is paying $1000/sf, even for North Slope.

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 3:31 PM

Yes, and everyone else is wrong and you are right, 3:31.

http://www.corcoran.com/property/latestlistings.aspx?Region=NYC&FP=NL&SRType=S

Scroll down and take a look at the listings for Park Slope. You will see that there are 1 bedrooms going for the price you mention. There is one or two listed below 700K...the other ten 2 bedrooms are between 750K and 1.28 million.

You don't know the market very well.

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 3:43 PM

This looks like an awful house. It's unattractive, is in bad condition, has cheap construction, narrow lot. Not appealing.

Posted by: sam at October 17, 2007 3:59 PM

It looks like it needs some tlc and curb appeal. Remove the enclosed porch, get rid of the asbestos siding and go with something more period appropriate, prune the tree, and plant some flowers or shrubs. Also spring for a replacement turret or whatever was on the roof originally - bet there are other houses in the nabe closer to their original look, or get the tax photo.

As for inside? Who knows, probably needs lots of work. I know nothing about this neighborhood, but if the price went down a tad, and someone creative and industrious, who might have been priced out of other homes nearby, why couldn't they make this place great? Might be very worth it in the long run.

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 4:16 PM

isnt this where all the mooslims live?

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 4:21 PM

I will rub you the right way. I give the best Sensual massage. I am in Crown Heights Brooklyn. I charge very, very low rates.
Come to my private studio and enjoy soft music, candle light and aromathreapy.

$40 for the half hour $70 for the full hour.

Mention Brownstoner and get $10 off.

Ask for C i n d y and you will never regret it.

Call 718-2 2 1 0 1 6 9

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 4:24 PM

The 2 bedroom co-op above me in the North Slope sold in August for 875K.

Not sure where these 500-600K 2 bedrooms you found are.

In case you don't know the boundaries, 15th street is the end of Park Slope proper.

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 4:42 PM

$600-$700K, Center Slope. Seek and ye shall find.

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 4:52 PM

Anything at that price in the Center Slope is nothing special, small and needs a little work.

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 4:57 PM

Brownstoner, you have got to be kidding. Looks wretched to me.

Posted by: punko at October 17, 2007 5:07 PM

I live in the neighborhood and its not an insane number. The thing is its unlikely that someone who was considering a 2 bedroom in park slope is going to buy this house as a one family. Usually houses like this are bought up by individuals who use it as a 3 (or possibly more) family home. They can make the large mortgage b/c they rent out as much of the house as they can. Its kind of sad b/c you see a lot of formally nice houses in the neighborhood that are so neglected and you know when they come on the market that they won't be bought by someone interested in making them attractive.

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 5:47 PM

Folks here whine, whine, whine that everything is so expensive and yet the HOTD is:
1.) under a million and the claim is that it has details
2.) is in an decent area with new, nice businesses that have opened or are opening within blocks.
3.) close to the Park and is 45min by train or 30 by bus to midtown

If the listing is true and the original details and stained glass windows are actually present, this could be worth it for someone who will never have quite enough to get that brownstone in a prime nabe. I've seen the inside of more than a few places within 2 or 3 blocks of here that have great staircases and moldings, inlaid floors etc. My own house had such a curb appeal problem I didn't want to go in it when we pulled up outside of the open house. Frankly, due to the cost of siding etc, it still has the same problem with the exception of a nicer garden in front and back. Someday...

But our house had no major mechanical issues and the details were restored or at least there. There was nothing we found on the market 4 years ago in our tiny price range that didn't need a SUBSTANTIAL amount of work and that made up for a lot of siding horrors and ugliness. If that's the case with the HOTD then the right person for this house is someone who has a little more vision than average.

Posted by: kensington gal at October 17, 2007 6:46 PM

Ouch- it hurts. That is a middle class house in any city in America. How much do you have to make to buy that?

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 7:57 PM

Does C i n d y include a hand job with the massage for those prices?

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 8:08 PM

I don't see how this can be a 3 family look how narrow it is.

Is Kensington the same as Prospect Heights was 10 years ago?

Posted by: guest at October 18, 2007 12:11 AM

You could get a 2 handjobs in the North Slope for what Cindy's trying to charge for a Crown Heights rubdown. Not worth it. Probably poor details and a poor interior shots.

Posted by: guest at October 18, 2007 12:14 AM

Someone call thE ASPCA. The dog in the photo is need of a happy ending too.

Posted by: guest at October 18, 2007 8:15 AM

A happy ending in Crown Heights will be worthless when AY is built.

Posted by: guest at October 18, 2007 11:47 AM

I smell a happy ending broker

Posted by: guest at October 18, 2007 11:55 AM

What do they smell like?

Posted by: guest at October 18, 2007 11:58 AM

12:11 asked:

"Is Kensington the same as Prospect Heights was 10 years ago?"

Well, without being near the biggest and best transportation hub in Brooklyn, and without any brownstones to speak of, sure I guess.

Kensington is a good and more affordable alternative to Ditmas or Midwood. It's not an alternative or option for those who definitely want to be in an historic brownstone neighborhood located closer to the park and more transportation options. But it's cute and I think this house has charm.

Posted by: guest at October 18, 2007 12:10 PM

The housing stock and layout in Kensington, even pre-remuddling was never as nice as Midwood or Ditmas. So, I would not consider it an alternative to those areas nor is it an alternative to Brownstone Brooklyn. That said, the area still has charming homes with early 20th century details that would appeal to someone who can not afford a million dollar plus home with the same aesthetics elsewhere. I can easily see how one can be scared away due to the lack of curb appeal. The owners of the homes that I have been in have done wonders with their interiors though. They will, I'm sure get around to the exteriors.

Posted by: guest at October 18, 2007 2:10 PM

For anyone out there still contemplating this house .... It's had a further price reduction to $719,000. The exterior is comparable to other houses on the block, the block itself is very nice, and there's a decent sized backyard and basement. The kitchen is great. Every other room needs significant plaster work, and the floors are in mediocre-to-bad shape. You would be committing to at least $200k in interior improvements. And you'd probably want to get rid of that enclosed porch. And I don't know about any structural issues. Still, 4 bedrooms, nice block. For -- say -- $650k, this might make sense. Probably in five years it will seem like a really good deal.

Posted by: guest at December 10, 2007 10:04 AM

« Video: TRD on the Domino Sugar Factory Conversion Streetlevel: Moroccan Food Coming to Former Liquors Space »

October 17, 2007

House of the Day: 328 East 7th Street

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