Co-op of the Day: 164 Columbia Heights

That is sweet!!!

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 1:20 PM

Wonder if the coop would allow three dogs...

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 1:33 PM

heaven.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 1:39 PM

i wish i could afford that! gosh darn it, i make a measley 200k a year and can't afford a decent place to live in bk. what i'm i doing wrong!!

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 1:46 PM

yeah, that's one sweet pad.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 1:48 PM

i make 30k. but I rent in prospect heights.

stfu

if I made 200k Id be alright and have a night place.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 1:53 PM

1:53: why the venom? perhaps you have suggestions about how one who makes 200k and has excellent credit can buy a place in bk although one has over 150k in student loans, no old money, just started making 200k 2 yrs ago so no, high taxes, little deductions, blah blah blah.

i'm not complaining about my salary. i'm just saying that one would think it would be a lot easier than it is!

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:00 PM

1:46 - you need to either:

1) Make more money
2) Readjust your definition of "decent"
3) Spend more of you money on housing
4) Move somewhere where housing is cheaper
5) Find a sugarmama/sugardaddy

You'd think you'd have the brains to figure that much out.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:02 PM

The second bedroom is a joke, and the maintenance is obscene for a building with no services.

The garden could be sweet though.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:06 PM

will get asking or above. at a per sq. foot on par w/manhattan appartments in nabes w/no character, no garden, and no view, this is a slam dunk.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:09 PM

"There is a second bedroom that has the flexibility to be an office or lovely guest room."

Translation: It is too small to be considered an a actual functioning bedroom by any sane person buying an apartment at this price point.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:10 PM

1:46 here -
Do people like 1:53 and 2:02 really get off on making sarcastic and mean anonymous comments on blogs? What's the point of that?

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:10 PM

Look little whiny, what did you think you were doing when you took out all those student loans to study for your chosen work? I borrowed a whole lot for school, then rented for years before I could buy an apartment. Had to refinance those student loans multiple times. Recognize that you already have a $150,000 mortgage. Big deal, in the scheme of things. Why do you think you should be able to buy in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the country so soon after starting to make money?

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:10 PM

fabulous. hope there are no hyperactive 3 year olds living upstairs :-p

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:11 PM

this place was for sale a couple of years ago for -- I forget -- 700? 800? it needed EVERYTHING, but could have been done for not too too much. I seriously thought about it, but with 2 kids couldn't see a way.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:15 PM

wait -- 2:15 again -- it wasn't this place, it was down the block. but same set-up (garden, views, etc)

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:18 PM

1:46 -- or wait for the market to readjust to the reality that a 200k salary is a lot of money, and normally enough to sustain a mortgage of 500 or 600k -- not $2m.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:19 PM

The kitchen looks pretty well crappy.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:20 PM

How can they ask so much when the market, esp for coops/condos, is softening? I'd be shocked if they get this price...

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:20 PM

"with 2 kids couldn't see a way"

Garden shed? Heated tent?

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:21 PM

not hating, it's a great place

but what is up with the sky-high maintenance. . . for a brownstone coop. huge underlying mortgage or soemthing?

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:22 PM

1:46 -- 200k is a LOT of salary -- four times the national median. That's why you, quite rightly, think that you should be able to afford a one BR in a nice neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Wait, and you will be. There aren't enough people making double what you do to keep 1 BR apts at over $1m.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:26 PM

They had me on the 4th picture with the back door open to the patio and city views. Sweetness.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:27 PM

since when is 1.20 psf "sky high". sorry to say, but $1 psf is not really the norm anymore. not with property tax hike, water cost hike and heating cost hike.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:29 PM

"with 2 kids couldn't see a way"

The under the sink cabinet is traditional among the million dollar apt set.

In the tennis rack container also works pretty well for a while, and after that, there is always boarding school.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:30 PM

Whenever I read here about BH being so boring, I think of apartments like this. Nights out at literary award dinners or some such in manhattan, evenings in apartments with views like this and weekends in bermuda. I mean, sure, there's no Tea Lounge, but pfffffffftt -- who needs it?

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:38 PM

but boarding school doesn't start til the kid is FIVE!

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:42 PM

just you wait till that bikini car wash opens up on montague every sunday afternoon. (brought to you by the sweet old ladies at st. ann's parish)

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:47 PM

Snce when is 1.20 psf "sky high"? Since there ain't no services to go with it.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 2:52 PM

aaaah, the relaxing sounds of 2 million tourists on the public walkway behind your backyard fence ... No thanks.

It's got the views but the interior is crap (both space and design) and those "coveted" backyards can get very loud.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 3:15 PM

1.20 psf is the norm in 2008.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 3:18 PM

I don't get down that way often so I don't really know, but is it right under the BQE? It looks that way on the map.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 3:25 PM

2:19 & 2:26,

I hope you're right. I actually need at least a 2BR cuz we have kids. Thanks for the sensible response! Hopefully we will be able to find a nice 2br condo/coop for 500-600k where the neighborhood schools are decent.
-1:46

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 3:29 PM

For the condition, and the view, and the garden, not overpriced.

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

Actually, 3:29, unless your income rises quickly, $200K is going to seem like less and less over time.

A nice 2-bdrm coop or condo for 500-600K where the neighborhood scools are decent will be in the suburbs.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 4:01 PM

"So is the garden and view worth $425,000? Just asking..."

YES

(how big is the garden? sorry, but the garden alone is worth 2000 psf at this location)

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 4:35 PM

1.20 psf is the norm in 2008? Really? Seems like the maintenance in recently covered FULL SERVICE buildings in BH were lower than this.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 4:40 PM

yes, it's a good chance you will be living around screaming kids. brooklyn heights is one big playground.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 4:50 PM

"the garden alone is worth 2000 psf at this location"

Only if it's full of opium poppies.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 4:54 PM

^^^ a park sloper wants an apt in Brooklyn Heights...made my day.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 5:36 PM

"1:46 here -
Do people like 1:53 and 2:02 really get off on making sarcastic and mean anonymous comments on blogs? What's the point of that?"

Clearly, you are new to this blog.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 5:56 PM

1:46 - I'm guessing that you're a 3rd year associate with $150k in debt from law school. The starting salary looks good until you find out the number of hours you work. You take home $10k a month or so after taxes. No way you can afford a $1mm mortgage and $1300 maintenance if you plan to eat. It seems only the partners lived in Brooklyn Heights. Had the same problem so I got out of law. Now I'm the client and those same old partners who used to grind me down work for me (though in truth the work I send flows down to some poor (relatively) sap like you who actually does the work. My advice, get out of law too. You will either make more money and buy that decent place whatever that may mean to you or you won't make a ton of money but you will be happier with what you have. Otherwise you will be surrounded by too many people who seem to have it all and you wonder why you don't.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 6:24 PM

Definitely factor-in the noise and air pollution from the BQE. I live on Remsen about half a block from the promenade and there's all kinds of gunk in the air that settles on every horizontal surface... not just your typical NYC pollution.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 6:30 PM

6:24 - you nailed it. I was going to, having been there myself, but thought it was just too obvious.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 7:25 PM

The point is, it's fun - it's sport, it's like sitting around joshing, it is good for some laughs (some good ones today, some folks are funny and entertain us all, even if somewhat sarcastic - "opium poppies!"), it gets out agression that talk of real estate in NYC gets going in us all, and we all like to give advice, some of it factual and quite useful. Get with the program.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 7:29 PM

I agree with 6.24. Get out of the firm and get a good in house gig after a couple more years, or leave it altogether and make some real coin.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 8:22 PM

Sorry, but 1000 psf is very prime cost for very prime apt - check out comps and you will see. To ask so much more, garden or no, in this market, is crazy. Brownstoner, please follow up in a few months on this one, since it would be truly shocking if they get anywhere near this price.

Posted by: guest at July 8, 2008 9:28 PM

Here's the math for the $200K whiner. The interest payments on the mortgage are deductible. If you finance 80%, you'll be deducting fully $80,000 in the first year of the mortgage. (More if you put less down.) That leaves a taxable income of $120K - and that's before any other deductions. Even if you pay tax at 40%, your tax bill is therefor $3972/month. Your gross income is $16,667/month. What's the problem?

Posted by: guest at July 9, 2008 10:45 AM

I think the layout is suboptimal. The kitchen's a galley and to open it up you'd have to move a bathroom. the "dining room" doesn't seem to have any windows, and the second bedroom is a hallway/mudroom. but the garden is gorgeous.

Posted by: guest at July 9, 2008 10:53 AM

10:45 - the deduction will be capped and s/he'll have to pay AMT. Throw in the student loan payment and you'll understand what the problem is.

Posted by: guest at July 9, 2008 12:51 PM

10:45 - I hope you are not a financial planner; your math is a bit off, and you miss many other considerations. Nobody with $150K of debt and making $200K should be buying a $1M-plus home.

Posted by: guest at July 9, 2008 1:06 PM

10:45 here -

12:51, the student loan payment can't be more than $1500. The mortgage interest deduction cap is relatively insignificant here, since the financed amount will be right about $1MM. Still, we're talking about a difference between gross income and expenses that we've covered (student loan + taxes) of over $10K/month. Tight? Maybe. Do-able? Quite possibly.

1:06, nope, not a financial planner, but a top-5 MBA and an undergraduate degree in mathematics. Yourself? The point is, I'm not trying to do an exhaustive analysis, merely pointing out that it's possible given what we know for the person in question to purchase this home.

To both - I thought that the "woe is me, I only make $200,000 a year" complaint is a bit - uh - obnoxious, and wanted to point out that $200K can buy plenty.

Posted by: guest at July 9, 2008 8:44 PM

10:45 - not to dismiss your B-school pedigree, but my co-op (I am on board) would never approve a guy who makes $200K, with that much debt already and a $1Million mortagage (if he can get one for that much!). Monthly after tax mortgage/maint. payments will exceed $5000, which is more than 50% of monthly net income. Finance pros weve talked to have advised us that someone with that income shouldnt be financing more than $650,000 (essentially an $800,000 apartment) unless he has some major savings to back the debt up..

Posted by: guest at July 10, 2008 1:33 PM