« Inside Third & Bond: Week 48 House of the Day: 440 Henry Street »

August 7, 2008

Condo of the Day: 1405 8th Avenue

This 715-square-foot two-bedroom condo at 1405 8th Avenue looks nice—and photographs well—but we'll be surprise if it's able to sell for the asking price of $629,000. That would translate into a valuation of almost $900 a foot which sounds like a lot for a ground-floor apartment, even one that's just one block from Prospect Park and has monthly carrying costs of just $440. What do you think?
1405 8th Avenue [Brooklyn Heights RE] GMAP P*Shark

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Comments

ouch -- those blurry, low-resolution photos are giving me a headache!

Posted by: z at August 7, 2008 1:00 PM

I think they used a Kodak point, shoot and toss camera.
Nice kitchen.
Prolly go for 35-40K under ask.

Posted by: Nokilissa at August 7, 2008 1:07 PM

I'm REALLY diggin this place.

Posted by: 11217 at August 7, 2008 1:10 PM

I think the "Photo Tour" was taken with a cell phone. That had been dropped in a vat of vaseline.

This apartment seems great -- but if it's on the street side, loudness. #4A sold for $699 in Dec. '07, so maybe this price isn't such a reach.

Posted by: y00phemism at August 7, 2008 1:12 PM

No floor plan. This appears to be a chopped up, albeit large, one bedroom. Low maintenance but no services. Pretty but price is nuts.

Posted by: BH76 at August 7, 2008 1:35 PM

i like this place. solid location, near park and subway. 629k is prob a little high for what appears to be a large BR + office type situation. I say if a buyer could snag this for 550-570k, it would be a good deal.

Posted by: bktycoon at August 7, 2008 1:49 PM

I want to know how this is a "Frank Lloyd Wright" inspired kitchen. If I remember correctly, didn't FLW hate the idea of a kitchen?

Posted by: BrooklynButler at August 7, 2008 1:50 PM

The clean, minimalist design is nice. No floor plan though (Lord only knows how BH76 surmised that it's "a chopped up, albeit large, one bedroom") and you've got to be some kind of fool to put blurry photos on the listing page; one wonders what goes through the heads of some brokers or who(m)ever it is that handles the Web stuff for them.

I don't see $629K to be too unreasonable a price; probably priced a wee bit high for the square footage, but if for a true 2BR in south Slope, they should get pretty close to ask. $599K seems more reasonable.

Posted by: Fjorder at August 7, 2008 1:52 PM

Would rent for $2800 at best? It's pretty small.

Posted by: Heather at August 7, 2008 1:57 PM

fjorder, 715sf + 2BR + no floorplan = cause for concern that rooms are small and/or layout is cramped. the photos do seem to suggest the contrary, but a wide-angle lens can give a false impression of space (even at fuzzy low-res).

Posted by: z at August 7, 2008 2:08 PM

Heather,

While 2800 sounds about right for a 2 bedroom in this part of Park Slope, what you aren't taking into consideration are the much higher end finishes that were most likely involved with renovating this apartment.

No 2800 rental is going to have a kitchen like that.

We have to at least be able to take the cost of upgrading these places into their sales prices when comparing them side by side to rentals.

This place would rent for MUCH more than 2800, were it a rental. Someone would pay more to have it done up so nicely.

Posted by: 11217 at August 7, 2008 2:10 PM

Ok, maybe not MUCH more. But the point is, is that this place is not a rental, it's a home that has clearly been renovated well.

Posted by: 11217 at August 7, 2008 2:12 PM

z, got it...I was just thinking that 715sf is really small for a 2BR and remembering that I looked at the 832sf 2 BR condos at the Modern Post and felt that the BR were teeny. There's a valid, sound argument that one can make that says small bedrooms are just fine and dandy if the LR, kitchen is (somewhat) spacious; at least i think there may be.

Posted by: Fjorder at August 7, 2008 2:25 PM

Let's just say the kitchen cost $50,000 to renovate. At a 6% rate, that would equate to about $250 a month in rent. So, it's not that much more.

Anyway, the proximity of the Armory and the Theater would kill the deal for me. You're also in definitive F train hell, which is a real drag.

Posted by: Polemicist at August 7, 2008 2:58 PM

I went to see this at their open house this weekend. I too thought it looked great in the pictures. But I didn't like it at all. The kitchen looks better in the pictures, the bedrooms felt very cramped (but we prefer one bigger master bedroom and a smaller bedroom, these felt about the same size), and the entire thing seemed dark. In fact it is the first apartment in a long time that both my boyfriend and I agreed on - we both disliked it.

Posted by: verovee at August 7, 2008 3:06 PM

The kitchen is clearly the nicest element. But 715sqft is small and the streets around the Armor/shelter can be creepy at night for a ground floor apartment. I can see why another unit in that building (not on the ground floor) went for $699k. Funny they didn't mention the school across the street -- it's a good one. I guess they figure no one would raise school age children in such a small space. Also, I'm flabbergasted that owners who are inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright would not notice how awful the web photos are. $575k is a more reasonable price for the space.

Posted by: lifeofreilly at August 7, 2008 3:10 PM

small small small small small

Posted by: ontheparkway at August 7, 2008 3:17 PM

11217, I may be a maverick, but square footage over appliances anyday. I actually wonder if this would do better marketed as a 1 bedroom? The location is good, and some people like ground floor. If you're working all day, light isn't really an issue. Also, my rental has nice finishings too. It is also larger and cheaper.

Posted by: Heather at August 7, 2008 3:23 PM

$50K to renovate a kitchen? As long as you do it yourself.

Posted by: FatLenny at August 7, 2008 3:45 PM

What's wrong with being near the theater? It's not *that* close that you would get crowds wandering by.

And I don't think many people would pay more than 2800 for this rental. Granted, I actually like sun and high ceilings. But I pay less than that - just under 2700 - for a much larger (but not recently renovated) brownstone floor-through on 8th in the N. Slope, with outdoor space and very near the 2/3 train. I know opinions differ greatly on the matter, but I think our location on a nice leafy street is better than this location. Also, I wandered into the Armory to ask a question and the women there were seriously nasty to me.

Posted by: verovee at August 7, 2008 4:14 PM

There's no way it cost $50k to renovate that "kitchen". It's only one short wall! Just saying.

Posted by: jwald at August 7, 2008 4:14 PM

This place has been on the market on and off for almost a year, with the same renovated kitchen, same plain vanilla bathroom, same small dark bedrooms on the ground floor on the street. Actually, the rental metric is valid, and you will find kitchens of this caliber in small two bedroom apartments for 2800 or thereabouts, and slightly larger, on side streets even, that are quiet. We can argue the price until it sells, and then we'll know, but so far it hasn't sold. Speaking of which, mortgage rates just ticked up today by 1/4 point, which isn't going to sell this particular place any faster. Oh, by the way, if 50k is a good deal to renovate that kitchen, then I have a bridge to sell you...

Posted by: raphael9 at August 7, 2008 4:23 PM

Is it a Bosch bridge?

Posted by: Heather at August 7, 2008 5:32 PM

Is the bridge granite, and does it have recessed lighting?

Posted by: SnarkSlope at August 7, 2008 5:57 PM

jwald:

Was just for the sake of argument. I really have no idea how much it costs to renovate a kitchen.

Posted by: Polemicist at August 7, 2008 6:13 PM