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July 22, 2008

House of the Day: 708 President Street

708-President-Street-0708.jpg
It's always a difficult task to discuss a listing which fails to include a single interior photo, a strategy that only makes potential buyers assume the worst. In the case of 708 President Street in Park Slope, we'd really like to know what "unfinished" looks like. Is it beautiful original wordwork that just has a few layers of paint on it, or is it charmless mess? Since the asking price is $1,950,000, we're going to assume the two-family house needs some work in either event. Can anyone speak to the condition of the interiors? Think this is priced right?
708 President Street [Edward Tully/NYT] GMAP P*Shark




Posted by Brownstoner at 1:17 PM | Comments (25)
Categories: HOTD, Park Slope

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Yes needs substantial work. It is missing whole floors, etc.

The selling broker has said the sellers turned down a $1,825,000 offer.

Posted by: Anav at July 22, 2008 1:33 PM

Looks purdy from the outside.

Posted by: This Aint No Disco at July 22, 2008 1:41 PM

This place has been on market for a while, initially with another broker. Owners started renovating and then decided they didn't want to finish (older couple too much work) so it's partially started and lots left to do, plus who knows how well they did what's been so far (hard to tell). Second floor has no floors, walls are raw, etc. Garden level renovation is a bit strange since frig is in hallway away from kitchen cabinets. Garden in back is all concrete. Sure, looks nice from outside but it's a big job and so far, it's lingering which I think means they need to come down.

Posted by: Miss Muffett at July 22, 2008 1:47 PM

Missing whole floors??? Prob in the Triplex.
Garden level is finished and rented.
'Mechanically and structurally cared for' - well at least you don't have to do that.

It probably needs 500k - 1m in renovation. depending what you want...so is it worth it?

Posted by: bayridgegirl at July 22, 2008 1:50 PM

can someone tell me why people use these random, tiny brokers? smaller commissions? personal connections? i can't speak from experience b/c I've only purchased here, but that was from some small-time yahoo who had zilch marketing experience and could barely manage email. it's just weird....if you have (or think you have) a $2m property, don't you want someone who's professional and well known, relatively?

Posted by: new2hood at July 22, 2008 1:56 PM

Rhymes with "honey fit."

Posted by: SnarkSlope at July 22, 2008 1:58 PM

John McCain apparently can't manage email but he is being picked by half the country for a much bigger job...

Posted by: Colonel at July 22, 2008 2:12 PM

And Obama was emailing Scarlett Johansson, so he wins!

Posted by: Biff Champion at July 22, 2008 2:22 PM

I'm guessing that there are a lot of people that consider anyone who has SJ's email a winner....

Posted by: new2hood at July 22, 2008 2:28 PM

This place is a wreck inside -- currently configured as a nicely-renovated garden rental with an upper triplex that is just a disaster area. The entire floor has been ripped out on the upper level, so you have to walk on the beams to see the rooms. It's also a very narrow house (as are many in Park Slope).

It was previously listed with a Manhattan agent, who obviously over-priced it. The sellers are just unreasonable, and apparently are refusing to take below $1.9, because that's what they were told they could get.

Supposedly the mechanicals are all sound and recent, but I would agree with at least $500,000 more needing to be done. At $1.3 or even $1.5 it would a good deal.

Posted by: babs at July 22, 2008 2:33 PM

Can we stay on topic folks and talk about the house?

Posted by: Miss Muffett at July 22, 2008 2:36 PM

"The selling broker has said the sellers turned down a $1,825,000 offer."


That sounds like a very unwise move.

I don't understand some of these people. If this is an older couple who's lived here a while, they probably got this place for a song. 1.825 million is an incredible offer for a home in this condition in Park Slope. They were very, very foolish to not take that, in my opinion.

Posted by: 11217 at July 22, 2008 2:38 PM

evidently, it's a dump with a decent garden apartment with disillusioned owners.

Posted by: new2hood at July 22, 2008 2:38 PM

Back to the Obama/McCain discussion but more on topic about the "unreasonable seller"... hope they realize that capital gains taxes are currently the lowest ever and likely to go up!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at July 22, 2008 2:51 PM

Would someone buying this house also have to worry about whether or not the project had plans filed with DoB and a valid building permit in place? Clearing up someone else's permit problems could become a huge and expensive headache, right?

Posted by: BrooklynButler at July 22, 2008 3:00 PM

Listing Broker: "The upper triplex has been left unfinished - you could easily keep the unfinished look or re-do your own dream house."

yeah, the "unfinished look" ... (also known as no floors!) is all the rage these days.

Maybe they can find a rich pirate who wants to walk the planks in his triplex?

Posted by: Mr Joist at July 22, 2008 3:02 PM

Also, the market is certainly not going up anytime soon - if these people want some nice retirement money, I'd take a reasonable offer now and not hold out - the offers may just get lower... Oh, and they better hope whoever offers has lots of cash.

Posted by: Miss Muffett at July 22, 2008 3:03 PM

Would it be hard to get a mortgage on a building without floors?

Posted by: SnarkSlope at July 22, 2008 3:37 PM

I saw this house when it was listed with the Manhattan broker. He showed up about a half an hour late for our appointment. The owners ended up showing me the house and the husband seemed rather annoyed (as he should be) that his broker was late. I suspect the current "listing broker" is really the owner. No real broker would tell the amount of a previous offer. The place is very very rough with virtually nothing interesting left in the house. I was shocked the couple could live in the place in the current condition. I think the husband said that any work that had been done, which I recall an electrical overhaul, he did himself and I'm not sure what qualifications he has if any. The block is nice but the house is too narrow and priced too high imo. I wouldn't even pay 1.8 for it.

Posted by: Nobrokersplease at July 22, 2008 3:51 PM

Ed Tully (the listing broker) is not the owner, he's an agent with Coldwell Banker. But if the owner did the work himself, that's even more of a red flag. I think I heard the owner hurt himself during the renovation though, so I bet that's right that he was doing the work himself. Hmmm, the more I hear, the less attractive this place seems. The only thing the sellers have going for them is low inventory, but even that's not enough these days.

Posted by: Miss Muffett at July 22, 2008 3:57 PM

I saw it a while back and agree with most of the above sentiments.

I think either the husband or some amateur was doing the work and just gave up.
I believe I also saw "notched" joists to accommodate wiring. Yikes! That's a big no no.

That said, It has a ton of potential--after 2 tons of work.

I threw out a low offer and was told (kindly) to go jump in a lake.

Posted by: manofelt at July 22, 2008 4:21 PM

That asking price is lunacy given the state the house appears to be in. Definitely some more realistic thinking will be needed to get that sold.

Posted by: wasder at July 22, 2008 4:29 PM

Nothing has been filed with the DOB....GULP!

Posted by: bayridgegirl at July 22, 2008 6:03 PM

Zero filings with the DOB is meaningless. Take comparable sale prices in the neighborhood less estimated cost to renovate to get an appraisal value. This, of course would be a developer's calculation, and probably the type of buyer the sellers are looking for.

Posted by: tamt at July 22, 2008 7:41 PM

Saw the place, and to say it needs a lot of work is an understatement.

Also, the garden apartment didn't have a stove and only had an electric range, which suggests to me it hasn't been linked to the house's gas supply.

It also felt narrow (hard to tell, with the missing floor), and I thought that while the parlor level ceilings were fantastic, the top two levels were noticeably lower (not claustrophobic, just not ten feet).

I heard about the $1.8 offer, too, which I thought was insane. This place could be really beautiful someday, but it's for someone with a huge amount of cash to burn, or real know-how in rehabbing. And as is, I can't imagine $1.8 million.

Posted by: lookin fer stuff at July 22, 2008 10:05 PM

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