House of the Day: 193 Washington Park

The house looks completely unremarkable on the inside. I was expecting to click on the link and be blown away for that price! Those floors don't look original and are ultra-glossy and cheap-looking. And it's a 4-family. Wow--the Montgomery Place mansion off of Prospect Park is almost 1/2 million less than this place. And a much better buy. Fort Greene continues to be completely overrated and overpriced.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 1:40 PM

BTW, 204 Washington Park, has two FOR RENT signs on two of its floors. Guess it won't be delivered vacant anytime soon.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 1:42 PM

oh, sweet and tasty crack!

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 1:47 PM

I'm also boggled how this place could be more than Montgomery or the Berkeley Place 3.4 million beauty that went a couple months ago.

Say what you will about Park Slope, but certainly the access to Prospect Park and the school situation is far superior.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 1:51 PM

People buying this house (even it goes for 3.1) may not be worrying about getting their kids into a good public school.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 1:54 PM

Montgomery Place is also not a block away from the projects...

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 1:54 PM

Yo Retards, The shit has hit the fan. This the start of the Long Emergency. Money and credit will dry up. 3+ Million for a house on Washington Ave. Get the ferk out of here. Citibank is INSOLVENT dumbasses! WAMU is INSOLVENT also! Get your money out of there, ASAP!

Rubin, Bischoff to split top Citi roles; Prince ousted
Up to $11 bln in new write-offs seen; SEC accounting review reportedly set

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/prince-out-citi-duties-split/story.aspx?guid=1CA9FC41-0F21-434F-9F07-9E08C12CDF31&dist=SecMostMailed

The What

Someday this war is going to end

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:03 PM

3.875M to live in a former crackhouse, a block from the projects.

Whoever buy this deserves it

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:03 PM

You think they'll throw in those country chairs and table on the parlor floor?

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:11 PM

People have to remember some of the reasons why houses have been going for decent prices in FG: location is a MAJOR factor; it's more laid back; and, you can even consider that the houses are older than PS generally and have character from an earlier era—frankly more picturesque.

Was back in my ol' stomping grounds of the UES (yuck) yesterday and we agreed that much of it is basically u-g-l-y, that FG can be much more charming...that is, if you like mid-century cuteness...Granted, it's not cutesified like Georgetown but by NYC standards, it's not too bad.

The nabe has lots of playgrounds which are getting more and more crowded, is a hop to the BQE and the bridges, has decent parking and a decent garage on DeKalb; and, right by a major transit hub. People who buy these brownstones have been spotted coming in on the LIRR on summer Monday mornings coming in from their house in the Hamptons. Maybe this is happening in PS just as much.

Nobody is taking into account such things as the competition going on at the FG First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn play-date program. Sign-up was to begin at 9:30AM on a Thursday. People were lined up at 7:30AM with the line wrapping around the block before the doors opened.

Despite the various north-of-Myrtle buildings people refer to, the changing face of FG is profoundly yuppy and privileged.

It remains to be seen if the financial sector job shakeouts sure to come Q1'08 will stop this trend. Ear on the rail: a recent sale went to one of FCR’s staffers. Will their ilk be moving to FG to have a base for the proposed years of construction?

FG/TGL

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:19 PM

three pont what?!?!?!

for fort blacke?

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:22 PM

2:22PM,
You must be joking. Racism and ignorance...

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:24 PM

ignorance is paying $4M for a house thats in the shadows of a huge housing project

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:26 PM

the housing project talk is nonsense.

people pay 10 million on the upper west side to be a block from the projects.

they pay that much and more to live in west chelsea...also right near housing projects.

lower east side, same deal.

harlem, you guessed it.

your comments are completely ignorant. almost every neighborhood in the city is next to housing projects.

it's one of the things that make this a unique and special city. lots of different people of various income levels living side by side.

if you don't like, move to greenwich.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:32 PM

Oh, so what 2:26? God, you people act as if the entire population of the projects are camped out in front of this block waiting for stupid (white) people to emerge with their Prada bags stuffed with money. Give it a rest already. There is a world of difference between this block and the projects, and since it's still legal for the residents of the latter to walk past the former, mostly on their way to work, if anyone interested in this house can afford to bite, and loves it and the neighborhood, they will. If they don't, they won't.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:33 PM

2:26
No one is "paying $4M" as yet. The asking price may be high...okay...

Making cracks like "for fort blacke?" remains racist and ignorant.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:34 PM

this place is worth 1.5 Max

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:35 PM

2:35...ridiculous...it'll go for much more.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:43 PM

i think it will go for les than 3M
dont know how theyre coming up with these prices

i wouldn't even consider living so close to the projects, much less pay a premium for that pleasure

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:48 PM

Still a good price, if you ask me.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:51 PM

2:51 is the broker

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 2:57 PM

Yes, 2:51 may be the broker. Let's agree it won't sell for as little as 1.5m as suggested above but it may sell for under 3m.
Does anyone know the particulars on this house? Where are all you researchers?

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 3:00 PM

This house will sit for a long time. Just like 181 Washington sat for over a year before being purchased for 1 million less than its original asking price. And that was during the top of the market, and in pristine, restored condition.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 3:11 PM

You know, it's funny, but Fort Greene is now populated with the same stererotypes of people that everyone loves to hate in Park Slope. Actually, it's worse, because the ones in Fort Greene really try to pretend they're hard core unique and edgy. Go by Ft. Greene park on a weekend and you'll see exactly what I mean. The irony is that these same people are scornful of PS yuppie types, when they're the same or worse.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 3:16 PM

What's wrong with a block away from the projects? I used to live across the street from Gowanus projects and had no problems whatsoever. In fact I got mugged on 7th Ave in Park Slope, but never near the projects.

Do people really fear for their safety or property or is it that you don't want to see poor people or what?

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 3:21 PM

Sure people live near the projects. But homes near the projects get a discount relative to the ones a few blocks further out---always and in every neighborhood. $3.9 is no discount, my friend.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 3:22 PM

Projects or not, this house is not worth almost $4 million dollars. Give me a break. Let's not change the subject. Nothing in the comps suggests this house will move for that dough. It's a number pulled out of the seller's or broker's ass. Obviously the owner is in no hurry to sell. He also owns the brownstone next door.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 3:25 PM

I agree. $3.8 million is pretty rare air, even for New York. I suspect that a buyer at that price point wouldn't care about tenants helping to pay off the mortgage; they'd want the whole thing to themselves. That said, no shots of kitchen or b/r's, so you've got to believe they're outdated or run down (or both). I suppose I could see this price for a top-line renovation, delivered vacant.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 3:41 PM

Actually there are comps...

181 Washington Park...4400 square feet for 3.037 million.

This is certainly a huge pricetag, but it's also 2000 sf larger than the most recent comp on this block.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 3:53 PM

The brownstone next to my old place on West End Avenue is for sale for 8 million dollars.

Some people might consider half the price to move to Brooklyn.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 3:56 PM

People that live in Projects never cause crime... It is the poeple who visit.. like us that make trouble...

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 4:00 PM

Actually, 181 Washington Park was over 5400 sg ft. and had an entire extra story--five floors in all. AND it was a 1-family expensive and high-end RESTORATION, not just renovation. AND it closed just 3 months ago at a little over $3 million.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 4:01 PM

3:56, I think I know the WEA brownstone you speak of, and it's a 1-family mansion in pristine shape. Sure, 1/2 the price to move to Brooklyn, and then have to sink another 1.5-2 million into making this a high-end 1-family home to match the WEA mansion. Not the best deal, me thinks.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 4:03 PM

Sorry, but I HIGHLY doubt that a buyer who can afford to even consider the $8 million West End Avenue brownstone would be in the market for a Ft. Greene house. They're two different properties in two very different neighborhoods and price brackets, and I doubt they attract the same buyers.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 4:10 PM

I love how someone (4:10) thinks that no one looking at a property on the Upper West Side could POSSIBLY want to look in Brooklyn.

It used to be that the Upper West side was filled with hippies and left wing liberals (still is in fact).

Believe it or not...MOST of the people moving to Brownstone Brooklyn are from the Upper West Side of Manhattan in search of a similar feel they had 10-20 years ago with cheaper home prices.

West End Avenue is not Park Avenue. Nor is it 5th Avenue along the Park.

Practically everyone I know who lives in Park Slope or Ft. Greene came here from the UWS.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 4:16 PM

Yo, super defensive 4:16. My point is that if you CAN EASILY AFFORD the $8 million for that West End Ave townhouse, I doubt you'll be saying "whoa, I can get a house for 1/2 the price in Brooklyn". I live on the UWS and I'm looking in Brooklyn, so calm the heck down. Different price brackets in this case, that's all.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 4:22 PM

Townhouses in Greenwich Village are $15 million and up--so what? Does that you can put any price tag on a Brooklyn brownstone? Does it mean I'll pay anything for a Brooklyn brownstone just because it's cheaper than a Manhattan brownstone? Hell no.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 4:31 PM

I'll bet you this listing is somehow related to this:
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2007/10/wtf_on_washingt.php

The broker was probably "priming" the market for 193 Wash. Park with the fake listing and fake price, got snagged, and then ended up losing the real listing to Corcoran.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 4:44 PM

Pretty soon all the brownstones in Fort Greene will be condo conversions--awesome.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 4:48 PM

keep in mind that many of these beautiful brownstones are really income-producing properties. Rents in Fort Greene, because of the neigihborhoods convenience to Manhattan, are very, very high. Looking at this building as a 4-unit rental with 4 market-rate apartments is what makes the price even remotely feasible. This is why house-hunting in Brooklyn sucks. These properties can be used as apartment buildings or converted to condos, there are no prohibitions in the city like there are in the nicer towns in the burbs. It is crazy to compete with landlords and developers looking for income-producing property when all you are looking for is a family home. Fort Greene home ownership is off limits to all but the very wealthiest in for this reason. Pretty soon there will be very few single and two-familty brownstones left in these blocks. the economic pressures are too great.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 5:18 PM

hmmm... how come Minsky didn't score this listing?

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 5:44 PM

he was too busy...scoring...

wink wink.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 6:05 PM

Thank you 5:18 for some reasoned explanations. I like to think the pressure on the FG market, aside from the incredible location, is due to the quaintness of the streetscapes...but I'm a romanticist.
I have to wonder if as much of the houseing stock will be coverted to income properties as you seem to predict...non-owner occupied. It seems to me there has been an influx of 30-something relative-wealth moving in and taking over whole houses as single-family or keep the houses with that one garden-level income apartment as it was before. Have a lot of houses been converted recently?

FG/TGL

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 6:06 PM

A little trivia:
Tony from the 'how to replace a window' video last week used to live in this building.
Also, the man that owns 193 also owns 194 - he bought them for DIRT CHEAP in the 70's...low five figures from what I've heard!!! Very smart man.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 7:03 PM

Drew,
Agreed. 2:34 PM here. 2:22 PM's fingers should melt off when he even thinks of attempting to type such clap:

"three pont what?!?!?!

for fort blacke?"

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 7:17 PM

A celebrity lived in the house (Tony). That certainly raises the value!

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 7:25 PM

This house will go down the road of 338 Clinton Avenue--see HOTD (LAST YEAR!!) http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2006/11/house_of_the_da_221.php

The guy who owns the "mansion" at 338 Clinton also owns the house next door (just like the owner of this house). It's been listed for over a year and was only recently reduced $500K (from $3.2 original listing price), yet no takers yet. Not even a developer. I guess these guys just don't really need to sell and are willing to test the waters at completely insane prices. It will become another white elephant. There are too many properties on the market in Fort Greene that are listed for ridiculous sums compared to recent sales.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 7:35 PM

Ah, This blog is designed for open class warfare. So if you think Mr.B or the fucktards on this blog love you??!!! They have hatred for people who lived in these neighborhoods. But storm clouds are gathering! America is TOAST!!!! Citibank, Wamu, JP Morgan and others are fucked. Maybe the hood can go back to normal. Ew Black people shit, go fuck yourself!!

The What

Someday this war is gonna end.......

The end of the Mutant Real Estate Bubble is here.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 7:42 PM

Yep, Citibank is definitely fucked.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 7:46 PM

$2.5 tops. $3.2 if it was in perfect renovated condition.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 8:16 PM

the what = allen m???

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 8:34 PM

I think people had this kind of money six months ago, but not any more. Six months fom now the money situation will be worse.
We are in for a little dip in the economy. Strap yourself in and hold your breath, pray you don't toss your cookies.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 9:25 PM

I think people were more willing and able to spend more money 6 months ago. Now, no way. But regardless, this house is way overpriced for what you get. For almost $4 million freaking dollars in Ft. Greene you better give me the Pfizer Mansion details, but in move-in condition.

Posted by: guest at November 5, 2007 9:32 PM

And toss in a dozen of the hottest houseboys this fair metropolis has to offer.

Posted by: guest at November 6, 2007 1:00 AM

It says alot for the thread when "the What" seems to make the most sense. Congratulations again Brownstoner. Jerry Springer syndication cant be too far off. Maybe you will go into reruns soon.

Posted by: guest at November 6, 2007 2:34 AM

7:03

not smart, just lucky
dont even try to chalk that up to market savvy

luck
pure luck

Posted by: guest at November 6, 2007 9:39 AM