House of the Day: 47 Willow Place

Carroll Gardens smokes Brooklyn Heights

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 1:34 PM

Carroll Gardens smokes Brooklyn Heights

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 1:34 PM

Too expensive. Every time I walk by that house I think "pretentious Atlanta subdivision" not Brooklyn Heights. $1600/sq ft? Not this decade.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 1:36 PM

$1642/sf.

Not. Gonna. Happen.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 1:37 PM

Does the back "bedroom" on the top floor lack windows? Floorplan doesn't indicate any.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 1:39 PM

How much longer are people who live in $3.5 million homes going to get by paying a minuscule $5500 a year in property taxes?

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 1:43 PM

At best, Corcoran is being professionally irrespnsible by letting their clients' imaginations run away with them. At worst, they are committing fraud to get listings by telling these people that prices this absurd are feasible. Which is it?

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 1:46 PM

AS long as people living in $3.5 million (and up) homes run this city.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 1:46 PM

Think this will go for over ask.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 1:50 PM

Thanks, 1:46. I think that's probably the right answer to my question.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 1:50 PM

what agency does 1:50 work for? his transparent anti-corcoran comments are annoying. sell something. stop complaining to bitterly about corcoran taking all your market share...

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 1:53 PM

1:46 that is

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 1:54 PM

To 1:39:

"Windowless" top-floor bedroom is in front, not back, and has skylights in pitched roof. Ceiling is probably pretty low along the front wall. Some of the neighboring houses in this row have dormers instead of skylights in these locations.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 1:58 PM

Anyone who continually uses the term "asshat" (made up by a person who has fabricated an entire string of lies and actually is a broker in New Jersey) is either a sheep or someone with an IQ similar to that of a 12 year old girl.

It's like Paris Hilton going around saying "that's hot" every 2 seconds.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:04 PM

Thanks, 1:58.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:05 PM

"At best, Corcoran is being professionally irrespnsible by letting their clients' imaginations run away with them. At worst, they are committing fraud to get listings by telling these people that prices this absurd are feasible. Which is it?"

neither.

you have no idea what the broker set the clients' expectations at. if he asks $3.5M and gets $3.2M, the client may be thrilled.

i never understand why people get up in arms over asking prices. asking prices are just that.

if it's priced too high, it will come down. simple as that.

using words like "fraud" imply a very simplistic understanding of the world.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:07 PM

Anyone who quotes Paris Hilton is a 12yr old

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:08 PM

2:07...

99% of brownstoner commenters have VERY simplistic minds.

take a look at some of these comments.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:10 PM

Pokey house with lovely view of BQE. Watch it sit.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:11 PM

Stop being children and throwing cheap, poorly crafted insults. Grow up.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:13 PM

Nice house with a great price tag. bring it on. lets go bklyn equity!

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:14 PM

"Grow up" = most childish insult on this thread.

my 3 year old has just taken to saying it.

cute.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:17 PM

1:43, while the property taxes may seem low don't forget we pay almost 3% in city income taxes on top of that. i think it's a fairly safe assumption that folks buying houses in this price range will have a total tax bill that rivals those in westchester.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:27 PM

Cool it Montrose it is right next to the BQE. Very polluted and noisy area. The asshats are the listing agents.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:28 PM

A house like this in NJ would have taxes of 50K a year.

A nightmare.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:29 PM

Hey 2:04

As much as I love to take potshots at The What, my favorite white broker from NJ posing as a Black Brooklynian, I do have to inform you that he did NOT make up the term, "asshat".

Just being a wordsmith...its been around fora while.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ass-hat

Oh yeah and back on topic. For the house and the area, price seems right. WAY overpriced for my lifestyle and wallet but a perfect fit for some sucka'. Seems fair at 3.5 mil.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:31 PM

I agree with Montrose. No doubt this will sell for close to asking.

It's the Heights. This is cheap for BH.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:32 PM

Is it just me, or is this house kind of ugly? I mean, sure, it's old, but there's something inelegant about its proportions.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:37 PM

Should move quickly. Nice place, prime neighborhood. Agree with some others that it appears "cheap" for the area.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:37 PM

saw this house. it is TINY, and the top floor has bedrooms that slope down dramatically. you can barely stand up in there. front bedroom on top floor has skylights but no windows. tiny little rooms for tiny little people - would not put my children in there.

house in general is small, though nice enough renovation. dealkiller for me though is that from backyard & front porch, the BQE is blaringly loud. as soon as you step onto front porch, you can see a large strip of it - so the "tucked away on a quiet street" concept is totally blown. though I will grant that I could not hear the BQE from inside the house.

as with almost all current corcoran listings, this one is about $1m overpriced - and I am not talking about from what I think it should be...I'm talking about based on comps from 2007 and 2006, when the market was peaking.

corcoran has obviously decided to bump up prices by $1 million & force sellers to hold at those prices (regardless of how much they beg to lower them) because they want to create noise in the system. they want to create a facade that prices are holding, but if you watch carefully & do your research you can see that nothing is selling at the inflated prices. (I can really only speak to the Heights & Cobble Hill where I am looking to buy.) if a place really sits for a long time, it gets taken off the market & placed with a new broker - a la 135 joralemon, which was taken down from corcoran & brown harris stevens will be relisting shortly (we'll see if it is at a lower price).

but it only takes a quick look on streeteasy to see where even the meaningless asking prices are going - and that is down. every listing I am tracking (brownstones in the aforementioned hoods) is sitting. they are lowering prices or telling me to make an offer b/c the prices are negotiable, but the prices are still so far away from what they even were a year or a year and a half ago that it is crazy.

BUYERS: if they can collude, then so can we. let's all do our research and pinky swear not to go up from comps of last year. let's get prices in line with incomes!

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:52 PM

I think its great that people writing diabolical English can nevertheless make a decent living as a broker.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:53 PM

2:52 = BROWN HARRIS STEVENS BROKER

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:54 PM

There are two real downsides to this place -- the lengthy walk to the subway and the relatively shallow lot on the downward slope of a westward facing hill. This means that morning light arrives later after the sun is already relatively high. On the afternoon (front side), the light is being somewhat filtered by the BQE rising out of the Hicks Street trench, so that may be a little bit of a bummer as well.

OTOH, these light issues are much better than they would be down on Columbia Place.

On the plus side, it's a nice location in the south side of Brooklyn Heights on a quiet street -- very nice for a family with 2 or 3 kids (although PS 8 is pretty far and almost requires a cab ride).

It should be priced more like a 2100 sq ft house in Cobble Hill, so I think this will go for around $2.8 or $2.9M, depending on how dark most of the bedrooms are.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 2:56 PM

2:52 here. no idea how anyone could think I am a broker, since I am saying that ALL prices for brownstones in Heights & Cobble Hill are overpriced & not moving & even ridiculous asks are coming down. but whatever. I assure you I am a wanna-be buyer but not at these prices. do you want me to trash a brown harris stevens listing? pick any one of them. how about 30 orange priced now (after lowering yesterday I notice) to $3.1. a 20 by 30 house that needs COMPLETE restoration. a year and a half ago someone I know bought a house on that strip that is slightly bigger, did not need complete restoration and they paid about a million less.

or should I start on the garden place listing recently lowered to a pathetically optimistic $3.9m, having been listed for MONTHS with no interest at $4.4m? I can go on and on....

the brokers are all smoking crack, but corcoran has the biggest pipe.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:04 PM

3:04 = broker

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:06 PM

Unable to force down long rates, the fed has yet to come to the rescue of the jumbo mortgage seeker. So expect to pay a pretty penny to borrow any of this asking price. If you think a "mostly cash buyer" from "Manhattan" who "sold his UWS apartment" and whose "wife" is going to "fall in love with house" is going to open his "wallet" when he sees this, then you've never met an investment banker from Manhattan. Chop chop, get it down to the twos, and maybe you have a shot at a junior law partner; otherwise, sit with the two mangy dogs that live on the sidewalk across the street, and stare at a house that doesn't sell.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:08 PM

2:52/3:04 here - I know a lot more about brownstones in the Heights and Cobble Hill than any broker, I assure you. maybe I am obsessed, but this will be an awfully big purchase for me, so I am researching the hell out of it and tracking every listing.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:12 PM

2:52/3:04 here - I know a lot more about brownstones in the Heights and Cobble Hill than any broker, I assure you. maybe I am obsessed, but this will be an awfully big purchase for me, so I am researching the hell out of it and tracking every listing.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:12 PM

3:12 (2:52, 3:04), I completely agree with you. I am looking in the Heights and Cobble Hill and have seen so many houses just sit or get taken off the market. 30 Orange is not only a 20x30 house, it's also on a short 50' lot. And it needs a total upgrade and renovation, including the staircase. Way overpriced. They need to keep chopping on that one. The Garden Place house is also a total fantasy at that price. It's tiny.

Then again, many houses all over Brooklyn are overpriced and sit. Only a few are more reasonably priced and move quickly.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:18 PM

Once again no love by the regulars for the most upscale and beautiful neighborhood in brooklyn.

Then again, we know where they are all from.
Please...don't use the "P" word.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:23 PM

upscale is for old people.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:25 PM

If the presidential candidates were a neighborhood in Brooklyn, they would be:

Brooklyn Heights = John McCain
Barack Obama = Park Slope
Hillary Clinton = Prospect Heights

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:27 PM

hmm. No, I think Hillary Clinton would be Cobble Hill.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:37 PM

She's not upscale enough for CH.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:42 PM

"Upscale" is right next to "classy" in the "I'm from East Orange" lexicon. BH is a lovely neighborhood but not all of it is lovely. Go down to the end of Willow yourself, look at that garage, listen to the perennial gunning of engines as cars and trucks make the climb into what will be YOUR view on the BQE; then please, by all means, assume a lifetime of peonage and buy this house.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:45 PM

Hillary wouldn't be in brooklyn.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:50 PM

wah wah wah.
this is too expensive.
this is terrible.
this house has a view of city infrastructure.
I don't want a big mortgage.

someone will buy this house, and they will pay close to ask, and they will be richer than you and me, and they will be happy there.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:55 PM

Here is my 2 cents:

I know the block as I have owned a house on it for the past 11 years. 47 Willow Pl was purchased in '04 and current owner did a long, and from what i can tell, meticulous renovation. As a condo alternative it isn't that far off the mark for the area but I am not an expert.

I am not even close to wanting to sell my house so please dont try to say i am pumping area prices, because I am not.

I think it will go for just north of 3 million but who knows.

It is a unique row of homes. (a lone survivor of similiar row is between 2 modern houses across the street.)

The block is surprisingly quiet given its proximity to BQE.

Large modern house across street went for close to 4 million and they have been renovating for almost 2 years.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:55 PM

McCain is actually kinda white-trashy. No way he's Brooklyn Heights, sorry. His wife would be run out of the neighborhood. Ever notice her appalling fashion sense and her heavy NJ-mall makeup?

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:55 PM

It's not about sq ft!

this place is priced a little high, but not by much. they are coveted homes in willowtown. they're not atlanta subdivision homes, they are genuine civil war era homes.

also, the fundraiser that was held and Obama attended on Columbia Heights was highest ticket price event so far in his campaign

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:58 PM

Another vote of agreement with 2:52/3:04/3:12 and 3:18. (And to 3:23, no we're not haters from another neighborhood - we're all people who live or are looking in BH and know the market.)

To reiterate - even at the peak of the market in 2006/7, prices in Brooklyn Heights were never more than $1000-$1100 psf, even for a "renovated" home, except for a few true trophy houses that were of the 4500 sf variety. These relatively smaller houses at 2500-3500 sf (or less) never got that, despite all of the listings that trumpeted much higher asks (and continue to do so).

47 Willow Place is a 2200sf house and let's assume the listing is correct and doesn't need any significant renovation costs. The street has its pluses and minuses but I think from a pricing perspective based on peak-market comps they'd be hard-pressed to get more than $1100psf. That's mid $2Ms, not mid $3Ms.

30 Orange is a 2400sf house that needs a complete reno (according to the listing itself). The peak-market comps for a house in that condition/size only support a price in the low $2Ms. Yet in today's credit meltdown environment, they ask $3.1.

135 Joralemon is a 3500sf house, which is probably about the only house that can claim "recent renovation" since it was a flip done on spec. I think they could probably get a higher PSF because of the renovation, but even $1200 psf gets you only to the low $4Ms. They started at $5.9M and have only gone down to $4.9M so far. (How do you know it's going back to BHS?)

I say all of this not really to bash to sellers or even the agents - it's their business to pick a pricing strategy, and I don't see why a buyer would waste their time being outraged - make an appropriate bid and move on if the seller is offended.

But I do think the fact that these houses sit at those prices pretty conclusively demonstrates whether this kind of price-high strategy works.

Once again, if you want to know the state of the market, ignore the $4M and $5M asking prices that litter the agents' websites, and just spend 15 minutes looking at the recent sales data on the city's website. This market is small and it's easy to figure out what houses are actually selling for.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 3:58 PM

John McCain is to Brooklyn Heights because he's as stale as white toast, just like 75% of Brooklyn Heights residents.

Not you, 3:55. You sound great.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:00 PM

And let's keep in mind that the comps from the last few years were based on easy and cheap credit when buyers could get 7/1 arms for $1MM plus for 5% or less....not the 6-7%+ of today.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:06 PM

I'm not sure why people are calling a peak in 06/07 when the city records -- and every realtor report -- show they are up in every category.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:06 PM

omg. nobody who is buying a 3mm home is using products like 7/1 ARMs

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:07 PM

yes...they are. It is fixed for 7 years and by that point they will have paid the mortgage off.

I bough a co-op in the west village in May 2006 and took a $1.1MM 7/1 arm at 4 and 5/8th. I could pay the mortgage off today, but have it as cheap leverage on my balance sheet.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:11 PM

Selected one, two and three-family sales in Brooklyn Heights (per NYC data)

26 GARDEN PLACE $4,900,000 10/25/07
71 WILLOW STREET $8,000,000 4/20/07
104 WILLOW STREET $3,294,975 4/10/07
147 WILLOW STREET $3,450,000 7/3/07
152 HICKS STREET $4,400,000 1/23/08
111 JORALEMON STREET $4,500,000 9/5/07
12 WILLOW PLACE $3,450,000 9/20/07
29 GARDEN PLACE $5,000,000 7/16/07
166 CLINTON STREET $3,184,250 3/26/07
39 WILLOW PLACE $3,500,000 7/5/07

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:19 PM

3:12 etc here. the broker at BHS I work with told me that they had gotten the listing for 135 joralemon & it was going up on their site soon. I asked her as soon as I saw it was gone b/c I suspected it had not sold. have been watching it for awhile with curiousity (I can't go quite that high) and as a market indicator.

I am only outraged by these asking prices b/c the anecdotal evidence I have is that sellers want to lower prices but the brokers are pushing them to hold. I just want the price adjustments to happen already. We are all just in a stalemate which isn't helping sellers OR buyers.

the market was totally distorted by easy credit in this bubble...now let's see where it really is.

I am holding off making offers on places because I am told that sellers would find my offers insulting, even though I am willing to pay 2007 prices, just not bullshit fantasy prices. that's not really helpful to anyone, now is it?

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:20 PM

and what 4:11 does, everyone must do.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:21 PM

Now that the brokers have been routed, this site isn't half as much fun.

I'll bet anyone a Benjie this goes in the twos.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:22 PM

don't throw facts around here, 4:19! we're all about anecdata!

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:23 PM

to 4:19. north heights and garden place are most prime heights (willow place very questionable). please post size measurements & number of stories, plus condition to these posts. those are not comps for 47 willow. not even.

if I weren't trying to also listen to a conference call at work, I would do it all myself. this site is a productivity killer.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:26 PM

4:19, that's exactly what people are talking about. You've got 10 listings there, and all but two of them were recorded six months ago or longer ago than that (which means they were actually bought, what, at least eight or nine months or longer ago). That chart suggests the market peaked quite a while ago, which means that raising prices today is unlikely to work. Which is exactly what people here have been saying.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:28 PM

4:19 here and city data doesn't list condition, etc. Just posting that people here are going on and on about certain places not selling when indeed there have been sales recorded at higher prices. And people here are saying they peaked in 06, when at least the most current sale available looks good

Also, 12 and 39 willow Place are somewhat similar at least about location as they are on the same block. And I remember everyone here bashing the 12 willow place asking too.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:37 PM

4:19 here. I just checked the willow place listings above...the north heights and garden place listings have no bearing in my mind - esp willow street in north heights.

39 willow place is a 25 x 44 house. big difference.

12 willow is 22.83 x 42 and is 5 stories (including garden) whereas this current listing is barely 3 and I think something like 21 x 35. the fact that house went for $3.5 and they are asking nearly that much for 47 willow place NOW is just nuts.

4:28, agree with you that it has peaked, but those listings can't really show the price declines purely on the basis of chronology...have to look at more specifics of the houses, which I am sad to say I have studied more closely than I'd like to admit.

last summer was the peak in heights & cobble hill...at least based on trulia graphs(which I think come from jonathan miller, who is nyc's top appraiser).

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:37 PM

oh wait - 4:37 here - I am actually 4:20. sorry, 4:19!

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:39 PM

also 4:19 - have to go to propertyshark to get real info. if you are seriously looking you read: trulia, streeteasy, propertyshark, therealdeal, brownstoner, curbed, nyc finance dept.

Any I am forgetting?

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 4:48 PM

This house is drab, boring, uninspiring and small.

Move on. Hope tomorrow's HOTD is better.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 5:07 PM

ADDRESS SF PSF
------- -- ---
26 GARDEN PLACE 4,500 $1,088.89
71 WILLOW STREET 5,600 $1,428.57
104 WILLOW STREET 4,540 $ 725.77
147 WILLOW STREET 3,600 $ 958.33
152 HICKS STREET 4,480 $ 982.14
111 JORALEMON STREET 7,235 $ 621.98
12 WILLOW PLACE 3,570 $ 966.39
29 GARDEN PLACE 4,500 $1,111.11
166 CLINTON STREET 4,676 $ 680.98
39 WILLOW PLACE 4,400 $ 795.45
7 COLUMBIA PLACE 1,820 $1,043.96
42 WILLOW PLACE 2,577 $ 717.89

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 5:24 PM

So, optimistically speaking, this place should go for 2m.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 5:29 PM

The garage is going condo - already announced

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 5:36 PM

this will sell around 3.2 million.

which will be an excellent price for both buyers and sellers.

in 2020, these homes will be selling for 10 million.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 5:46 PM

5:46, you got me. when i first read it, i thought you were saying $3.2mn in 2020. i think that's about right. 10mn. right...

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 5:56 PM

property shark is often wrong on sq ft -- but better than curbed etc.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 6:05 PM

12 Willow Place was a POS tho. This is renovated

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 6:06 PM

renovated, but really only 2 1/2 floors. that top floor is like a scene right out of that being john malkovich movie (or the one after) I forget.

seriously, those rooms are just not rooms in my book. a room has windows, and a human-height ceiling.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 6:13 PM

3.2 million in 2020.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 6:13 PM

These houses are not only heartbreakingly beautiful, they are famous. They are described in almost every book on NYC architecture. Many on this blog are all about quantity rather than quality. All about cost per square foot rather than the beauty and amenity of a building that is supposed to be a home. If I had the money I would buy this house tomorrow. It is exquisite.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 7:10 PM

It's all about price per sq ft here at Brownstoner.

I love how all the nay-saying and know-it-alls compare this building to one on Orange and says nothing is getting high prices. And then when someone posts come 3mm and beyong sales, everyone says that DIFFERENT someone. Location is different (altho it's not and Orange is North Heights too), info is old (most recent), and it's all abuot PRICE PER SQ FT!

Well no wonder you're all still looking. Buying a house is like falling in love. Either you do, or you're so busy checking out the girl's dental records that you miss out.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 8:48 PM

real estate professionals always size things up by dollars per square feet. they do this for several reasons: 1)to seem smart; 2) to confuse people a little; 3) to manipulate things by overstating the square footage; 4) by breaking it down to the least common denominator for clients who don't know anything about quality or finishes or even location.
When a realtor starts talking dollars per square feet about a home, I tune them out and write them off. they are either idiots or they are hiding something.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 8:55 PM

Brooklyn Heights is OK. It's old money, so the rich people there do not make me angry like Park Slope, Carroll Gardens rich people.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 9:01 PM

8:48 - that is the most inane thing I've read on this board (and that's saying something). Is dollars per square foot the ONLY measure by which to judge a property? No, of course not. But I don't go around making million dollar decisions based on my gut either, and dollars per square foot IS in fact a decent way to draw a rough comparison between properties which are by their nature relatively unique. To say buying a house is like falling in love is only true to the extent you pour a large portion of your life savings into love. Oh, wait, is that you Eliot?

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 9:01 PM

dollars per square foot is a meaningless, useless, self-serving and mendacious measure of commerical property. For residential property it is beyond meaningless unless you are buying a whorehouse.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 9:09 PM

Get over it, Slopers! Obama would live in PLG!

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 9:19 PM

I never heard of price per sq ft until I came to brownstoner. For apartments, yes. For commercial leases, yes. For brownstones? Never. Especially since floors are valued differently. Parlor and 2nd are expensive, then third, then garden, then fourth, fifth. PPSQ overall? meaningless

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 9:45 PM

Obama would live in the Upper East Side.
He went to elite schools in Jakarta, Princeton, and Cambridge. I don't think he is moving into a Black neighborhood in Brooklyn at this stage in his life.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 10:07 PM

Thanks to all the brokers for an entertaining set of whiny posts complaining about buyers who actually look at comps when considering a purchase.

We know that you only need one poor (or should I say rich) sap to fall in love and put in a high bid. So why not give it the old college try. Get over it.

We also know that for every sold listing, there are 2 or 3 that languished before getting pulled. And a dozen homes sold for the entire neighborhood in a year is not exactly a great sample size.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 10:09 PM

If Monticello were for sale some idiot realtor would be looking at comps for a new McMansion in a swamp down the hill.
Comps are not always comps when dealing with unique historic properties like the famous colonnade row on Willow Place in Brooklyn Heights.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 10:15 PM

Amusing, since Obama actually lived in Brooklyn Heights for a time

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 10:16 PM

Thanks, James, for that nugget. Or is it Leslie?

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 10:18 PM

Obama in Brooklyn Heights? I don't think so.
He lived (for a litle while)in a walk-up in the Upper East Side.

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 10:30 PM

Maybe some Bear Sterns employees can come to the open house. LMMFAO!

See this is the thinking among the fucking clueless. Asset prices are getting ready to CRASH! The FED has been trying to prevent DEFLATION, Got it!. Thats why shit is so high now (Food, Gas, Rent and Mortgage payments).

Pay attention to Bear Sterns, people are losing their jobs left and fucking right! If people don't have any money or jobs, how can they afford buying your overpriced piece of shit!

A depression is coming! You have to pay for a fucked up war (3 Trillion)! A Mutant Real Estate Bubble (6.5 Trillion)! Plus golden parachutes for the BIG BOYS!

You retards got assraped during the Bush administration! Yep you thought you was rich but, you are in debt. Fuck all of the specuvestors. Oh BTW you see ALL THOSE FUCKING CONDOS around you, they will become future homeless shelters. LMMFAO!!!

The What (I said 2008 is going to be a fuck you year assfuck)

Someday this war is gonna end....

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 11:25 PM

I think 10 3mm and over deals in a year is pretty good for BH (and half are over 4mm). It's not that big a neighborhood

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 11:25 PM

I love this blog. Obama. Real Estate. The What. The End.

Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 12:11 AM

On another note -- we are in a recession. The big guys are hanging on till after the election. After that -- my guess is a return to 2001 prices. Unless, of course, the falling dollar leaves NYC a value for our European friends and they boost up the high end NYC real estate for a tad more. But we are running out of time and the dollar can only go down so far. Hang on. Buy only if you need and if the price makes sense for your life.

Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 12:17 AM

Brooklyn is like Manhattan's mildly retarded sister who gives everyone hand jobs.

Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 5:39 AM

10:15 - you have to be kidding. I grant that some historic properties can get a premium, but this house is just fugly. There's nothing historic about a poorly done greek revival style that is more reminiscent of white trash just add water neighborhoods than the trophy homes of Brooklyn Heights. No way this place gets $1600+ per square foot. If you have $3.5m to spend, there are MUCH nicer homes in this neighborhood.

Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 7:27 AM

Most inane comment of the year: Buying a house is like falling in love. Out of the mouths of brokers.

Second most inane comment: This will be worth X in X years. Anyone who hands this out as "advice" is a complete charlatan, and knows nothing about the economics of pricing.

Bottom line: Recession, deleveraging, rising long rates, ugly house, it sits....and sits....and sits. Your problem, broker, not mine.

Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 8:38 AM

Brooklyn Heights would be so much nicer if they hadn't let those multi-storey developments in. Your house can only be so nice when you can see a 15 storey behemeoth at the end of the block.

BTW "East Orange lexicon" and "anecdata".
love it.

Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 8:55 AM

Please. Obama would certainly live in Lefferts. I'm not talking about his background. I'm talking about his strategy... OK, so maybe Ditmas.

Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 12:48 PM

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/29/30_29obamamania.html

July 28, 2007
Barack and roll: Obamamania hits Brooklyn Heights
By Dana Rubinstein
The Brooklyn Paper

[...]

Perhaps, but Obama has one vital credential that Clinton does not: he actually lived in Brooklyn.

Tuesday’s fundraiser was apparently Obama’s first visit to the Heights since he moved to the borough after graduating from Columbia University in 1983.

“I did [live in Park Slope] and a little in Brooklyn Heights,” said Obama, strolling down the street from the direction of the Promenade, an entourage of security and staff in tow.

“I don’t remember the exact address,” he added, referring to his Park Slope home, where he is believed to have lived for about a year-and-a-half. “Then, I subletted for about three months in Brooklyn Heights, near the Promenade. On Sunday mornings, there was a bagel shop near the subway station, and I would go there and pick up a coffee and New York Times.”

Obama would then eat breakfast on the Promenade, according to an NYPD intelligence officer who accompanied him along the waterfront walk and listened to his reminiscences. Apparently, he also liked to jog there.

“He said the last time he was on the Promenade, he could see the Twin Towers,” she said.

Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 5:44 PM

Price per square foot is irrelevant. Just buy what you love.

$1600 psf is roughly 4 times what it would cost to duplicate this house.

You are paying about $800k for the lot, $800k for the house, and $2m for authenticity. After all, this one is real, and the new alternatives are ... new.

Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 7:00 PM

These inane broker posts about "buy what you love" are grating. Do you really think people loved these houses twice as much in 2006 vs. 2001 because prices had doubled? It was a bubble, you morons, and it will be deflating, even in brownstone Brooklyn.

Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 10:46 PM

PRICE DROP! Now down 7.5% to $3.2M. LOOK OUT BELOW!

Posted by: guest at May 2, 2008 4:06 PM