Condo of the Day: 661 Carroll Street

first of all:
Has Worn-out Lewis ever heard of posting a floor plan on their site? Hhhh...

Anyway, the apartment is too expensive. They'll have to lower the price.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 12:45 PM

I will never rent or buy an apartment in a Brooklyn townhouse ever again unless I own the entire building. I lived pretty good for about a year until 4 months ago when new people moved in above us. The constant thud of shoes, speakers on the floor blasting music, and being able to hear every conversation they have forced me to move away. I suppose I should thank them since they were the catalyst that got me to buy in a pre-war, 1' concrete floors & ceilings, and 12' ceilings. And, it is still cheaper and bigger than this listing.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 12:54 PM

Excellent point 12:54.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 12:55 PM

Sounds like you had some pretty disrespectful neighbors, 12:54.

Most people who have problems like that take it up with the people who live there.

And if you owned there, you absolutely should have taken it up with the co-op board.

If you were a renter, then I don't quite see how your statement of "never buy in a brownstone" really should hold any value. If you own in a brownstone and there are loud neighbors, it is partially your fault for not screening them well enough in the co-op interview.

Footsteps is one thing...that can't be helped...but blaring music is another completely.

That being said, I can't hear a damn thing from my neighbors in my brownstone apartment. Guess I'm lucky.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 1:02 PM

12:45, The Warren Lewis listing has a floorplan.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 1:14 PM

I live in a townhouse and we hear conversations, TV, music, the whole shebang from our neighbors on both sides. It's a row of brick houses circa 1913. I think earlier brownstones have better insulation between the houses. But we hear everything from the houses on either side. So a house does not neccesarily solve the noise problem.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 1:19 PM

I used Warren Lewis to sell my apartment last year. It took FOREVER to get them to put a floor plan up. And their photos were AWFUL, which is unusual they tend to have good photos. Warren Lewis was a bad experience all around for me though. Then again, most brokers are a bad experience all around, and a massive waste of money. Next time, "For Sale By Owner" Without A Doubt.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 1:35 PM

I think the developer did a great job, I'm pretty impressed. Love the old floors too. Given what else is out there for 875K, I think it's worthwhile since that the ASKING price.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 1:36 PM

I still can't get over how tiny this place is. Those chairs look like they were made for elves.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 1:37 PM

Saw this apartment at an open house two weeks ago. The apartment is bright and has a nice deck off the master bedroom with great Manhattan views. On the down side, while the finshes are very nice at first glance, when you look closely, it's all very shoddy. The countertop in the bathroom doesn't properly align with the wall, and while they installed a Viking stove and a SubZero refrigerator in the kitchen, the cabinets are incredibly cheap. Also, the bedrooms are particularly tiny and it's quite a hike up the very narrow stairs to get to the apt. This would probably work well for a single person or a couple, but I can't imagine shlepping a kid and some groceries up those stairs. Even with the price drop, it's still overpriced...

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 1:46 PM

the chairs look perfectly reasonably sized to me.

sure you aren't the one that's too large??

923 sf is a fine size for a 2 bedroom apartment.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 1:47 PM

Went to this open house, too. It definitely looks good, but there are some things that would annoy me about it: the master bath is super cramped, though I suppose being able to brush your teeth while you sit on the crapper is very efficient. If the living room/dining room/kitchen were a bit more spacious, this would be perfect.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 2:19 PM

I think it will sell at this price more or less

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 2:29 PM

Sure, why not, if the rest of 'em did, it'll sell. If it is cramped, it is a typical brownstone layout, with the advantage of enough depth for 2 baths, however small. Generally, the work is shoddy in these old brownstone renos. You fix it up to suit you as you go, if you want to. If you don't want to, at least it has been renovated, and you don't have to do anything (though you do never get used to looking at the cracks where counters don't hit the wall - you just live with it, covering up what you can, if spending to renovate isn't something you want to do .... that's what I do.) If it is slow selling, seems to me like a good time to make a low offer - surely they want to be done with it.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 2:37 PM

Having a terrace is nice, too - it is rare in this type of building, unless you are on the ground floor.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 2:39 PM

How can people buy these when there is similar apt - almost double its size, no transfer taxes, separate dining room, one block closer to the park - with private bkyard available for only 100K more?
http://www.brooklynproperties.com/condo205.htm

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 2:49 PM

I went to the open house at 659 Carrol (i.e the initial conversion next door) several times - the work they did is really by far the best and most tasteful I had ever seen at a brownstone conversion. We were very tempted but thought that the price was simply too high but I wasn't really surprised that they sold all units at or close to asking - quality sells...having said that, the place did feel pretty cramped and 923 SF seems very flattering...obviously a gross SF number but in this case the net SF is probably only ~750SF which would still leave you at north of the magical 1000 PSSF. Again, given the lack of quality alternatives, I'm sure there will be takers at this price of close to it.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 2:50 PM

Over priced by $100K at least. Try again.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 2:51 PM

It is actually 923 sf, 2:50.

No exaggeration.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 2:53 PM

That supposedly similar apartment, 2:49, is way too narrow for most people. I couldn't handle a living room or dining room less than 10' wide! And, unless you have need for windowless underground space, it is essentially useless (and expensive) storage space. Cheaper to rent a storage room...

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 3:01 PM

They should've added a partial wall to cut off from the dining/living room. It would have served as a nice partition without enclosing and shrinking the space too much. Everything else looks wonderful. I just don't like being able to see every single thing in the kitchen from the couch.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 3:19 PM

I like that they left it open. Personally hate those counters with stools they build in - I'd want to rip it out - don't like eating at counters at home.

Here, you can use your imagination - purchase a nice, not-cookie-cutter-looks-like-the-crappy-kitchen-cabinets island, with storage underneath, or put in a simple table as an extension, like a nice shaker one, or whatever you like. More options all around.

I even saw an apartment once that built in a very wide marble topped table in a similar location - with nice wooden legs - at a somewhat lower height than 30" - so it made a great space for dining, for working on a computer, for sitting and chopping food - very versatile, and a great transition to the living room and entryway.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 3:33 PM

Hey--anyone know what happened with sales at the Vermeil? Haven't heard much about it for a while.

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 11:05 PM

i live in an identical building on the same block as this building, same floor even (3rd). i pay 2500 for rent for same amt of space and could not make the numbers work at 950k. that would be more than double my rent with ~$200k down. the new price is a little closer. with $175k down, would be around 4300 per month. getting closer, but too bad i don't have the green yet. this is a very lovely area.

Posted by: guest at January 25, 2008 1:02 PM