Open House Picks: Apartments

I love it.

"Price is negotiable" on the Ft. Greene coop.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 9:14 AM

The DUMBO link appears to be broken...

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 9:41 AM

Saw the Oxord street coop a few weeks back. Tiny elevator. Back of the building. Bars on windows. Looks like three or four frat boys live there. The picture in the listing was staged - in person the place needs work and a air amount of it. Kitchen is old - at a $mln - you'd rip it out. Ugh.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 10:36 AM

Wow on the condo on 8th Ave. That building is our favorite in Park Slope, we always wondered about it when we'd go by as I'm sure everybody does. And it has private garden and parking! Looking at this I can't help but think how The Vermeil has the gall to ask the same price for one of their tiny 3 BR (the 3rd bedroom without closet and more like an office) that does not offer a garden or parking and is 250 square feet smaller. Did the Vermeil do any research whatsoever before they built that building and priced their units? Doesn't seem like it.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 11:00 AM

I would never use the phrase, "price is negotiable". For one thing, it's a given. It also sounds desperate which might make people worried about the economy even more anxious about buying a place. Most brokers instead say "Motivated Seller."

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 11:06 AM

11 AM, you wouldn't by any chance be connected somehow to this listing? this place looks lovely and the building is neat, but it's been on the market for months. It's overpriced, plain and simple. The owner/broker should have accepted an offer for it a few months back if he had one, apartment prices in the slope are going nowhere but down at the moment.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 11:10 AM

Nope, I'm not connected to the listing, 11:10. I genuinely am enraptured by that building. We used to walk by it all the time when we lived in Park Slope. And gleefully I noted there's a glimpse of the building in the movie "The Squid and the Whale" through a car window as the characters are driving by.

I've never looked at this unit. I think with the parking and the garden it seems a good price. I'm simply commenting on the listing, and comparing it to the Vermeil which I DID look at. That's where my knowledge ends. I did feel I had a legitimate right to share my little opinion. Maybe there's some issue keeping the place from selling, that we don't see until we step into the place. Noise? Sadly, these earlier brownstone conversions never have insulation between floors or walls and they're crazy noisy, with what you hear from the neighbors. Maybe someone who has seen the place can say why it hasn't sold.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 11:28 AM

didn't mean to imply you had no right to share an opinion! But really, the reason it hasn't sold is that it's too expensive, even if it's 100% perfect as an apartment. You can get a lot more for your money, even in Park Slope. A charming building is nice, sure, but not worth a 300+K premium over other also lovely, similarly-sized and zoned period apartments in the neighborhood. I can't comment on the Vermeil at all though, don't know much about it.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 11:40 AM

Is a ham and cheese sandwich kosher?

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 12:00 PM

> Most brokers instead say "Motivated Seller."

That sounds even more desperate.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 12:08 PM

Get thee to Craig's List, 11:50.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 12:09 PM

Are those actual photos on the South Oxford Street place? The furniture looks like it's been photoshopped into the picture.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 12:11 PM

There are two apartments on the market at 70 8th Avenue. Both are severely overpriced. Nothing is moving currently and most brokers are starving. This building is noisy. They should both trade at about $1.3 mil or so..

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 12:17 PM

I saw south oxford, no "frat boys" but a lady with a kid. The furniture was what was there before she moved everything out. It is a lot of space and a lot of light but otherwise unremarkable in this market. The street, despite being so near atlantic center, is quiet. In more optimistic times it might have fetched the price.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 12:28 PM

I disagree about that same size being so easy to find, 11:40. We were on the market for a 3BR condo before we finally bought a house in another neighborhood. So we looked at what's out there and all the ones I saw were 1100 to 1200 square feet with prices at $1.1 million to $1.3 million. But with no parking. One had a garden, but the layout of the place was ridiculous. Everyone had to trudge through the master suite to get to the back garden entrance. Which is horrible for entertaining. So in reality, that room would have to be a den so the place was only a 2BR with den. The Vermeil condo I saw was listed at the same price as this one, and was 1200 square feet, no parking, no garden access. As for noise, the only buildings you don't get noise are converted factory loft buildings with concrete floors. Every other kind of unit I've been in, in NYC, is noisy. No matter what the price. It's sad!

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 12:34 PM

I'm eating some great apple pie. I just wanted to share that with y'all. Do I need to make a real estate comment? I do? Okay, yeah I agree NYC apartments are noisy.

Mmm. Now back to my pie.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 12:54 PM

LOL on the pie.

12:34, prices have dropped since you were looking. Without wanting to name specific brokers, there are 2 very nice 1300 Sq. ft. 3 BR coops on right now in prime PS, both for under a mill. There is a large (1600 sq ft+) coop in a nice bldg in 321 district on that has been sitting for a month at $1.25. It's a reasonable place, I've seen it, lots of others have seen it - nothing wrong with it. Just a very slow market right now and many buyers (us included) can afford to wait in the knowledge that prices are likely to continue stagnating and hopefully even dropping more.

As for the noise - I used to live diagonally across the street from that bldg and it must be the noisiest corner in Park Slope. Not much you can do about that except put in double glazed windows and central AC, but there are quieter locations in the Slope, for sure.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 1:04 PM

You do realize that November, December and January are the slowest months for real estate, don't you?

Unless you want to be a contributer to the economy faltering even more than it needs to, there is no reason to be a part of the constant and usually uninformed negative press surrounding it.

These prices, while perhaps slightly overpriced, are still quite healthy.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 2:40 PM

how nice of the ft. greene home to hold an open house for a WHOLE HOUR.

guess they weren't expecting too many people to come by.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 2:47 PM

Ugh. I want some apple pie now. Warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. You suck, 12:54.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 3:06 PM

12:54 here. I still have some apple pie left. I'm gonna save it for tomorrow. Mmm.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 3:13 PM

re: Boerum Hill place.
Nice. Tasteful. Roof too.
Decent price I guess.

But a 3BR at 680 sq ft?

Somebody shoot me, please.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 4:15 PM

Appears the Boerum Hill co-op is only 40% owner-occupied in a 25-unit building, which means 60% of the building is most likely rent-stabilized apts.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 4:34 PM

Do the owner-occupied units have to carry the maintenance costs of the whole building (i.e., for the rent-stabilized units too) when it's a situation like that?

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 5:30 PM

i bought a new condo in williamsburg last year and it's really quiet. never hear our neighbors. it is a first, but the point is that it's possible. the street is pretty quiet too, and it was one of things we liked about the area.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 9:22 PM

where is williamsburg?

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 9:44 PM

serious, sarcastic? from ireland?

i will give you the benefit of the doubt -

williamsburg, est of the east village over the river in brooklyn. 1st 3 stops on the L train, first 2 stops on the JMZ.

also reached by water taxi and by walking over the williamsburg bridge.

it is considered the hippest neighborhood in the world.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 10:24 PM

only by its denizens

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 10:56 PM

"it is considered the hippest neighborhood in the world"

with that statement, Williamsburg is now officially dead. As a doornail.

I had so much trouble understand your statement until I substituted the following for "hippest", and everything suddenly made sense:
- most underemployed, trust-funded, poseured
- formerly debatedly hip, but now ignored by everyone else in NY

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 11:10 PM

Name names, 1:04pm! I've been looking for 3BR in PS that aren't btwn 4th & 5th ave and not finding anything priced under $1.5M. If you (or anyone) has links - do post 'em...

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 11:16 PM

Well, now the South Oxford apartment is the number one viewed property on Corcoran. Wonder how many clicks it takes to get on that list?

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 11:40 PM

"Name names, 1:04pm! I've been looking for 3BR in PS that aren't btwn 4th & 5th ave and not finding anything priced under $1.5M. If you (or anyone) has links - do post 'em..."

are you high? there is one on ahrlty with roof deck and two exposures between 6th and 7th ave for 7xx, and a new listing they also have again around 6th ave, center slope this time, for 9XX also with an even nicer roof deck.

Are you paid to push the market? both of the above units are spacious 3brs yet both are OVER PRICED. 1m to 1.5m is stupid in this market.

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 11:08 AM

Hey, 1:04pm, actually prices went up after we looked at the 3BR condos I mentioned. Before we bought our house. This was Summer '06.

But maybe there's a lull right now in coops in particular. There's a different reason for that, that's not about the overall market. It's something we anticipated and why we wanted out of our old coop. Because of all the new condos coming on the market, ownership of a condo is more appealing than a coop to buyers now. Even when the coops are in older brownstone buildings on better blocks. Everybody has heard about the coop board experience! The word has spread.

For the person asking about 3BR condos under $1.5 million - the Novo had some 3BR's for under a million. But it sounds like nobody is too impressed with the building. The 3BR places we saw in 2006 were new condo conversions in older, brownstone buildings. One was on 3rd St between 5th and 6th, I remember. That one was $1.2 million and that was the one where the 3rd "bedroom" was actually an open layout basement den/office/tv room. Where if you put up a wall to make a bedroom would give you a depressing windowless room. Then we saw another one between 5th and 6th for $1.3 million that was teeny tiny and we suspected it was originally a 2BR apartment just a tad bigger than the 2R coop we already owned. And they'd rearranged the layout to make 3BR with one bedroom windowless. Needless to say, we were not impressed with what we were seeing!

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 12:22 PM

I always understand when busy working people want a condo, not a brownstone. Owning a house is great but it's been incredibly time-consuming this first year. We work from home so it was better for us, yet still it was a drain and affected our work. I couldn't imagine trying to go to work and back each day and look after nutty contractors. I thought the Fort Greene combined apartment was nice for the price. Plus it sounds like they'd take $900,000 as from the sound of it they have a motivated seller. Maybe somebody who is being transferred, or sadly, a divorce.

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 12:40 PM

Oh wait, I just noticed there's no laundry in the Fort Greene unit. It's in the building, shared. That's a drag. Families don't go for that. Hard to see where it could be added, except maybe open up the wall in the foyer and put the laundry in the WIC in the master BR.

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 12:44 PM

I did have a registered name before, dianabanana, and I agree it's good to see who is commenting b/c I fear my posts (about the Park Slope condo on 8th) might have got confused with someone else who seemed a little too worked up in responding to the person I was having a dialogue with. However, it gets so catty here and individuals who use nametags get picked on. So I stopped using mine.

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 1:18 PM

http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=1090354&OhDat=11/11/2007%2012:00:00%20AM;

saw this open house today
nice 3 bedroom

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 4:36 PM

Atlantic Yards!?! Everyone keeps saying those two words. Like the project will ever get completed as designed. Just like the Coney Island development getting modified, the same will happen to AY. Guaranteed to get downsized as the real estate market continues to soften in Bklyn.

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 5:48 PM

Hey 5:09 the place 4:36 posted about isn't anywhere near AY. Ever been to Brooklyn before?

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 6:15 PM

By the time AY is "done," the Brooklyn Rancheros of the American Association of National Basketball (AANB--it's semi-fantastic!) will be playing in the 2000 seat gym built of double wides that Bruce Ratner throws up there right before he jumps off the top of the beautiful Atlantic Center.

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 6:26 PM

in the last month, defaults on CONDO fees have skyrocketed 24% in manhattan.

we are beginning to see the end of the popular condo and a reverse back to coops.

they are what saved the nyc housing market and i guarantee as these condo owners watch their investments turn into glorified dormitories, coops will once again prevail.

i would never live in a condo in nyc. all the ones i've been in, i've noticed that no one wants to take responsibility for upkeep of the building. as more and more people in those buildings tire of them and rent them out, the problem will become worse and worse.

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 6:32 PM

very interesting article...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/realestate/11deal1.html?_r=1&ref=realestate&oref=slogin

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 6:40 PM

not that interesting. not very believable either.

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 6:58 PM

what 9:33, someone finds some inane NYT article planted by brokers to be uninteresting, and you take it personally?

Look, game over. The market's been slowing since August. Accept the reality.

Brokers are so stupid.

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 9:53 PM

what part of that article suggested that the market in manhattan has been slowing since the summer?

are you really that delusional?

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 10:21 PM

regarding pacific...

i don't know who in their right mind would convert the dining room into another bedroom, given the size of the apartment.

that said, it looks like a great deal and it should move quickly.

Posted by: guest at November 11, 2007 11:24 PM

UBS just announced that all cash bonuses will be capped at $750k. That might not sound like peanuts, but basically that means a 50%-75% paycut for a bunch of folks.

And then JPM Chase said it would be cutting 10% of its investment bankers.

I'm sure these guys will ALL still be looking to upgrade their apartments.

... keep trying to pump NY real estate 10:21, you stupid broker fuck.

Posted by: guest at November 12, 2007 12:06 AM

that's interesting. i know 2 people at UBS and neither have the same information you just gave.

Posted by: guest at November 12, 2007 12:27 AM

that's interesting, maybe they should read Saturday's Wall Street Fucking Journal.

do they work in some back-office function in NJ or are they just completely clueless?

Posted by: guest at November 12, 2007 8:11 AM

12:27 - here's the link to the WSJ article about UBS. Clearly the "people you know" are not in touch with what's happening at their own firm.

More likely, you're a broker who's talking out of your ass and didn't speak to the "two people that you know" at UBS on a Sunday about their expected compensation levels, which would have been both weird and uncouth.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119466417456288928.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news

Posted by: guest at November 12, 2007 8:17 AM

My husband has been working with some people who are putting together a new investment vehicle called property derivatives. As a result of their job, they are watching the market very closely, and are very unbiased on this topic (they are simply putting together some financial products). They are unequivocably said that prices are going to come down in NYC. There is simply too much supply and places are not selling. The next step is to drop prices, and prices will absolutely come down.

In my estimation, they are already coming down. I have seen several price cuts on places already. Things are just overpriced right now.

Posted by: guest at November 12, 2007 8:55 AM

so no one made price cuts before 2007?

is that what you're saying, 8:55?

price cuts are solely the cause of a real estate market that is going down?

i find that interesting.

i'm curious to know where this "too much supply" is.

i've been looking for almost 7 months, and my experience has been the exact opposite.

very little nice stuff on the market.

Posted by: guest at November 12, 2007 10:45 AM

We've been looking for a house this past year and have also found that inventory is low, but even brokers are telling us that the market is precarious and inventory is what's propping it up. Sellers, I beseech you: don't be so damn greedy! You'll still get a hell of a lot for your homes if you sell soon. I don't think prices are going to go down to pre-2000 level, but hell, if they went down to 2004-2005 levels, you'd still come out ahead. I say sell now - there are buyers out there for sure, but the market could turn (it has in practically every other US market) and then you'll regret having missed your moment.

Posted by: guest at November 12, 2007 11:53 AM

10:45- the "too much supply" is actually condos/coops in Manhattan. I can't comment on Brooklyn supply b/c we're not in the condo/coop market (looking for a house) but I was commenting on the NYC market in general, which is what these people who are putting together the property derivative product were referring to. Believe what you want to believe, but it is my firm belief (based on a decent amount of due diligence and research) that prices are definitely on their way down. I agree with 11:53 that they are not going to plummet. But they are coming down for sure.

Posted by: guest at November 12, 2007 1:49 PM

"but I was commenting on the NYC market in general, which is what these people who are putting together the property derivative product were referring to."

Actually the article was specifically about Manhattan.

Posted by: guest at November 12, 2007 2:05 PM

Did anybody go to any of these open houses?

Posted by: guest at November 12, 2007 6:19 PM

I saw this place about two weeks ago. The wife liked it but the price was too steep. Interior was tasteful and the space itself felt a little cramped, but definitely good for small family or couple. The parking is next to the house in a gated-off spot and seems secure.

There was another, slightly larger unit in the same bldg that was also for sale. Seemed a little more open, but it was a duplex and the bedrooms were downstairs, which the wife didn't like because of the noise upstairs keeps her awake. This apt also has a parking spot (next to the other apts spot) and was going for slightly less (?). I think sq footage was slightly bigger, but was less manicured than the previous place. I liked this one more, wife felt differently.

The corner the bldg is on is what convinced me not to bite. Busy street and seems busy all the time. Noise would be an issue. But I really want to live in that neighborhood, as we're expecting and the wife wants a house. We'll keep looking but PS is where I seem to like best.

Anything else with parking out there?

Posted by: guest at November 12, 2007 7:53 PM

Hasn't this place been on the market for ages?:
70 8th Avenue, #401
3 BR Condo

hhhh...

Posted by: guest at November 12, 2007 8:18 PM

The property at Union and 8th Ave looks really appealing and nice. Unfortunately, the Corner of Union and 8th is extremely noisely and has constant traffic jams. Many people, including myself, getting off the brooklyn bridge drive down Hoyt to Union St and up to the Grand Army Plaza area to avoid Atlantic Ave and Flatbush Ave. Buyers beware, unless you have some seriously insulated windows and walls, you may have a big noise problem. This is particularly true in the afternoons and evenings.

Posted by: guest at November 13, 2007 1:21 AM