House of the Day: 165 Columbia Heights

This looks way overpriced. 5mm maybe?

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 1:37 PM

wow. amazing place.

no clue about the price. if someone loves it enough, they'll cough it up.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 1:42 PM

Funny, the thing that made my eyes light up was that big garage! Wow.

What's not lighting up is the house itself. Very dark. Despite the skylights. Having no windows and just skylights only can be intimate and serene but in the end it limits your buyers. Most would hate that. I would never have done a dark kitchen and browns, rusts and tans for the interior in this house. Such the wrong way to go. It needs color and brightness. A totally modern interior done like a loft is what would work. You could make those interior rooms with the skylights look like art galleries if done right.

As for price, dang, you can get a better house in the West Village for this. Wouldn't have a garage but still, Manhattan baby. This is priced too high.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 1:44 PM

Btw, anticipating the usual hysteria, I was not suggesting Manhattan is always preferable to Brooklyn. We own a house in Brooklyn and wouldn't live elsewhere. But from a purely investment standpoint when looking at the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood which does command Manhattan prices sometimes, you do need to make the comparison.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 1:46 PM

the garage is worth 100K a year easy if you rent two of them out.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 1:46 PM

the crack is sweet and tasty

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 1:47 PM

7 million is a stretch, a big stretch. This house is on the non-view side of the street.
This seems like another one of those properties that languish for months and years on the market.
Any action on the little house on Garden Place shown here a few weeks back? That was four million, and is way nicer.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 1:50 PM

Ummm 1.46 Did I miss your sarcasm? Otherwise just who exactly is going to pay $4,166.66 a month for a parking spot? And while the ad says the garage has room for three cars can each of them get out without the others needing to be moved?

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 1:51 PM

people pay 350K for a rooftop cabana overlooking the projects a half a mile away.

anything is possible.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 1:56 PM

New Yorkers tend to be non-car lovers. Go figure, cars are the single most beautiful products of our time and civilization. They are our real architecture. But most of these sweet buildings with perfect garages are altered so as not to house a car. What a waste.

car lover from Brooklyn

(Yeah, sue me, eat my upholstery)

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 1:57 PM

I see nothing beautiful about cars.

All but a handful are completely utilitarian.

If cars are your architecture, bud...you really need to get out more.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:05 PM

This would be great fo rthe crack whores and pimps who work the streets of Brooklyn. A few tricks and the place is theirs!

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:08 PM

Love it. I've coveted this place for years.

Unfortunately it is priced about $6.2 million above my highest limit.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:10 PM

I say hurray whatever it sells for. Expensive property being put back on the tax roles instead of gov't subsidy of religion.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:16 PM

Ha ha ha ha ha! $1700 a square foot! That's rich.

Good luck with that glorified garage, people. Dark, cramped, and no view. Whoever is selling this is both delusional and tasteless.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:22 PM

$1700 a square foot is about $4000 psf less than apartments being sold at the plaza and 15 central park west.

given the location of this place, i don't find it nearly as absurd as you do, 2:22.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:24 PM

they're advertising another bldg today too. also very pricey

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:24 PM

You're seriously comparing Columbia Heights to the Plaza? Someone please tell me that was a joke.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:28 PM

"about $4000 psf less than apartments being sold at the plaza and 15 central park west"

And your point is?

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:31 PM

yes, believe it or not, buyers who look at the plaza, 15 central park west and 7 million dollar homes in brooklyn heights do have some things in common.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:34 PM

Make it a one car garage and reuse the rest of the space for a home theater!

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:40 PM

Well, when the Witnesses put that bunch of properties on the market last year, with their no listing price strategy, they were UNABLE to sell this carriage house and that thin and tall brownstone at 105 Willow. So, I guess that now the new strategy is to price it ridiculously high. It's a carriage house!! Nothing more, nothing less. Carriage houses in Brooklyn Heights do NOT go for $7 million. It's that simple.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:41 PM

This is the second astronomically high and totally arbitrarily priced property I've seen come on the market in the new year. I'm sure we'll be covering the other as HOTD very soon... Can't imagine what these sellers are drinking.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:45 PM

2:41 pm: AMEN

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:45 PM

Look, anyone spending $7 million in the Heights has much better options than a CARRIAGE house. Be real.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:46 PM

you're just jealous, 2:46.

if i had the money, i'd rather have a carriage house over just about any other property in the world.

this one is magnificent.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:49 PM

2:49 you sound like the seller.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:51 PM

well guess what...i'm not, 2:51.

the seller would be a jehovahs witness, if you knew how to read.

and i am most certainly not one.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:55 PM

This is one of the worst floorplans I have ever seen.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 2:59 PM

you are one of the worst floorplans i have ever seen.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 3:02 PM

You could be 2:55, why not? This is an anonymous forum, for Jehovah's sake! Anyone could be anything.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 3:06 PM

Buyers who look at the Plaza of 15 CPW ARE NOT looking to move into a glorified garage, sorry.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 3:10 PM

I agree that carriage houses have it over ordinary houses. They are rarer, roomier, and you canpark your car downstairs. Gimme a break. That is heaven. Especially to us car lovers who moved out of Manhattan because that place is too mass-transity.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 3:10 PM

If you like carriage houses, fine. HOWEVER, carriage houses are never priced the same as whole brownstones. So, why this one would be priced as much as a high-end Brooklyn Heights townhouse is beyond me.

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

you're right, 3:19.

carriage houses are almost ALWAYS priced higher than brownstones.

take a look at the 3.5 million dollar one listed in clinton hill highlighted here a while back.

a brownstone in clinton hill certainly isn't fetching that amount anytime soon.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 3:25 PM

On a per square foot basis, carriage houses do sell, on average, for more than single family townhouses, in comparable locations. But the established carriage house premium based on past sales is no where near what is being sought here. This would be a record. It will be very interesting to see what this goes for. I can't imgaine there will be more than one bidder at this price point.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 3:32 PM

I see the comments have once again been overrun by feces-smeared cretins.

And no way this is worth $7.2MM.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 3:43 PM

"take a look at the 3.5 million dollar one listed in clinton hill highlighted here a while back."

That ridiculous Minsky listing you refer to was on the market for more than a year and NEVER SOLD. It was taken off the market. And that was an even worse-offender, because it was NEW construction.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 3:46 PM

the worst post on this thread is yours, 3:43.

you are truly a gentleman.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 3:46 PM

Carriage houses always fetch premium prices. They are so rare and sought after. But seven million? Whoa! That is a tad ambitious.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 3:51 PM

3:46 -- good point.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 3:58 PM

For 7.2mil....I have problems with walking through a kitchen to get to a bedroom.

I love the term 'restored' carriage house. If this was truly restored, you'd see horse stalls, not a living room. It's 'converted' carriage house.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 4:34 PM

I have a horse, and I think he would fit RIGHT IN at this WONDERFUL carriage house!! But I can't afford it.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 4:47 PM

Makes 135 Joralemon look positively cheap!
(and we know that that hasn't sold in over a year)

The carriage house on Love Lane hasn't sold in a year, and it is 3MM

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 4:47 PM

Seems to me they're trying to get an ultra-rich neighbor who wouldn't mind paying through the nose to have an adjoining or close garage and guest house--maybe even for the nannies or hired help. Definitely a niche-buyer, and one who doesn't care to waste money, since this house can't be really worth more than $5 mm.
Problem for the sellers is, even ultra-rich people don't like to overpay or waste money.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 5:17 PM

I am Jehovah, witness that!

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 5:21 PM

"even ultra-rich people don't like to overpay or waste money."

ESPECIALLY ultra-rich people don't like to overpay or waste money.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 5:23 PM

There's an even nicer carriage house on the north end of college place for sale for 4.5m. We should all chip in and buy it.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 6:25 PM

And then flip it for 9 million! Count me in. Where do I send my check?

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 6:35 PM

Please send all checks to www.jumpinjehovahshouse.com!

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 6:44 PM

I have to disagree with whoever said that rich people do not like to overpay and waste money, Rich people LOVE to show off by spending obscene amounts of money. it's called conspicuous consumption. go to a yacht showroom some time, or look at the price of a Chanel handbag or Vuiton luggage (they can make the pieces so as to fit perfectly in your car's trunk)
There are cheapskates in every economic level but most super-rich love love love to show off by spending huge amounts of money or by giving away huge amounts of money, cheapness is not a virtue in the upper class any mmore than it is in the lower class. And even though there are rich people who are cheap, being cheap never made anybody rich, truly, otherwise there would be many more rich people.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 6:57 PM

Those aren't truly rich people who buy those things, 6:57. Those are the newbie wannabes. I know a family that is on the Forbes list with a billion dollar fortune going back 3 generations and they wouldn't be caught dead owning any of those tacky things you mentioned. They also never overspend on real estate. They like to think of themselves as more intelligent investors than that. They do give away a lot of money though, you're right about that. But philanthropy is totally different than throwing money away on vastly overpriced real estate.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 7:49 PM

7:49
You are sadly deluded.
Just because you know a cheapskate old money family with more bats in the belfry than money in the bank, does not mean that the rich in general do not like to part with money. Most of the wealth in this country is self-made. Crusty old snobs like yourself may think of this as newbie money or nouveau riche, but these folks are truly rich and they do not think it is a sin ti enjoy it. Thank God most people with dough have the good sense to spend it. Cranky old puritan cheapskates interest me not at all. Believe me, I have known some of them, they are the oddest and most unpleasent people on earth.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 8:19 PM

You know what? Paying for a Porsche, Vuitton luggage and diamonds is one thing. But no one, not even rich folk, new or old money, like to be suckers. Anyone who pays asking price for this carriage house is a sucker. And for those rich people who might be clueless as to the BH market, they have financial advisers and lawyers who would readily advise them that this is a rip-off.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 8:38 PM

There is big difference between conspicuous consumption and simply overpaying.

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 8:55 PM

i love brooklyn - 10 year + resident, but this is a stupid price. really? really?

Posted by: guest at January 3, 2008 10:05 PM

Last time I checked, 7 mil should buy a way better layout than this. You have to walk through the bedroom to get through the kitchen? I know carriage houses are rare but you can buy a SRO brownstone, pay lawyers to get rid of the tenants and fully restore it for less than this. I don't see the point.

Posted by: guest at January 4, 2008 12:50 AM

The garage layout is unimaginative. Someone with this amount of dough can afford one of those fancy hydraulic lifts, and reclaim half of the garage floor area without losing any parking. Think this is crazy? One of the carriage houses on Grace Court Alley has done it.

Posted by: guest at January 4, 2008 4:11 PM

Well, looks like they just decided to give it to a broker at Corcoran, after stating that no brokers are welcome. Maybe she's a Witness?

http://realestate.nytimes.com/sales/detail/44-1155166

Posted by: guest at January 4, 2008 4:12 PM