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September 19, 2008

Open House Picks

house Cobble Hill
28 Verandah Place
Brown Harris Stevens
Sat 12-2, Sun 12-2
$3,100,000
GMAP P*Shark

house Prospect Heights
129 Prospect Place
Brooklyn Properties
Sunday 12-1:30
$2,650,000
GMAP P*Shark

house Victorian Flatbush
2117 Albemarle Terrace
Brown Harris Stevens
Sat 1-3, Sun 1-4
$979,000
GMAP P*Shark

house Ditmas Park
493 Stratford Road
Ditmas Estates
Sunday 3-5
$899,000
GMAP P*Shark

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Comments

I love that Albemarle house! Ihave no idea if it's well priced or not though

Posted by: This Aint No Disco at September 19, 2008 1:17 PM

The Albemarle Terrace terrace house is on a reallycute block that is unfortunately surrounded by a very dense, undesireable, and not very safe neighborhood

google map it with street view

Posted by: blackstoner at September 19, 2008 1:21 PM

I have not heard that that was not a safe neighborhood blackstoner. That might explain what otherwise looks like a really decent asking price. The block itself looks really nice and the house looks nice too. Looks like a winner to me unless there is something wrong with the neighborhood. Subway is a little hike but not too bad and on an express line.

Posted by: wasder at September 19, 2008 1:28 PM

Stratford Road house needs work, but looks promising. Good location.

Posted by: blackstoner at September 19, 2008 1:29 PM

I just walked around the Albemarle Terrace neighborhood and it looks fine to me. Blackstoner what info are using to say this is a bad neighborhood?

Posted by: wasder at September 19, 2008 1:34 PM

I wouldn't buy any of those... they all look dumb.

Posted by: tybur6 at September 19, 2008 1:36 PM

I should say I walked around digitally via Google map!

Posted by: wasder at September 19, 2008 1:37 PM

its on the "wrong side" of the train tracks, not the "Victorian Flatbush" one might think of. That block is lanndmarked and is a bit of an anomaly...everything else around it is apartment builings, some very sketchy looking...when I went to an open house for another place on that block, i didnt like the vibe of the hood at all...

Not to say that this wont sell.

Posted by: blackstoner at September 19, 2008 1:37 PM

I live in and love Prospect Heights, but $2.6 is insane for that house (especially that location, which is not the most prime).

Posted by: PHer at September 19, 2008 1:41 PM

i wonder if nowadays seller ask for "no mortgage contingency" when accepting an offer

Posted by: blackstoner at September 19, 2008 1:44 PM

then very few sellers will actually become sellers blackstoner!!!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 19, 2008 1:51 PM

I agree re: Albemarle (and Kenmore) Terrace. Absolutely picture-perfect blocks with gorgeous, easy-to-live-in homes. However, although it is technically part of Victorian Flatbush, it is not contiguous with the other Victorian Flatbush neighborhoods. It is surrounded by very densely populated apartment buildings, near Flatbush and Church Avenues, and is very isolated from the large wood-frame houses people usually associate with Victorian Flatbush. It is, however, wonderfully located for the popular PopCorn Pre-School.

I hear the block associations are very active and people are very neighborly on these blocks, which is nice if true. It's just very isolated from, say, Cortelyou Road.

Posted by: Architerrorist at September 19, 2008 2:00 PM

So, carriage houses in Cobble Hill are now fetching $2000/sf?

Posted by: SnarkSlope at September 19, 2008 2:04 PM

Not yet Snark. They are asking $1500 sq ft ($3.1m / 2070 sq ft).
What's the problem? can't afford it or math not your best subject?

Posted by: Petebklyn at September 19, 2008 2:19 PM

How doew the RTC figure into the What's doomsday scenario???

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 19, 2008 2:27 PM

My bad.

So - the abridged question remains - carriage houses in Cobble Hill are now fetching $1500/sf?

Posted by: SnarkSlope at September 19, 2008 2:27 PM

Its a pretty nice carriage house though and it looks like they did a great job. I'd love to see a pic of that master bathroom. Taxes @ $3,100 aren't bad either but $1,500 psf is way too high

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 19, 2008 2:34 PM

the albemarle house is smack in the middle of the "hood." go there on a warm night and see if you can handle it.

Posted by: wine lover at September 19, 2008 2:36 PM

Wine Lover--it just doesn't look so "hood" like (whatever that actually means to you). Looks like a reasonable middle-class neighborhood.

Posted by: wasder at September 19, 2008 2:41 PM

I know the area around the Albemarle Terrace house very well. Church and Flatbush is a terrible intersection --very busy, very crowded, very dirty. THe commercial is terrible -- bad chains, crappy stores, loud music blaring. It isn't safe there at night. It is not a middle class neighborhood.

Posted by: Flatbushdemata at September 19, 2008 2:56 PM

wasder, feel free to check the open house, and hang around the area for a while

report back to us

Posted by: blackstoner at September 19, 2008 3:19 PM

Anyone see this house on CNN.com? My jaw dropped literally!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/09/18/ike.last.house.standing/index.html

Posted by: TownhouseLady at September 19, 2008 3:33 PM

and you thought the neighborhood surrounding the Albemarle house was bad!

Posted by: TownhouseLady at September 19, 2008 3:39 PM

Wasder its really amusing are you using Google maps to make strong assumptions about neighborhoods :) Very very unreliable my friend. I love the Albemarle house too and wish it was in FG but make no mistake it is NOT in a middle class hood. See Flatbushdemata's post above it is an accurate characterization IMHO.
Does anyone really have any idea how Brooklyn Properties price "their" homes ? I mean is Corcoranism that contagious? Des vrai voleurs si tu me demande mes amies!
Now that Brooklyn Heights place is simply fantastic but thats exactly where it will remain for me in Fantasy Land (with such a price tag). But then again you never know NY State Lottery to the rescue wish me luck folks. LOL

Posted by: pierre de taille at September 19, 2008 3:41 PM

that was truly amazing THL

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 19, 2008 3:42 PM

Dave, you are truly a horse's ass. Do you realize that the US government has now effectively nationalized the banking system? That the global financial system is still hovering on the abyss? That the taxpayer could be on the hook for a trillion dollars? And you think you have the standing to tease The What? Could someone please just come out and say it: while you all were hyping Europeans shopping for pied-a-terres and Upper West Siders, with their "two bedroom I just sold for eight million," the nutter from Lodi was right on the money?

I really feel sorry for you, facing a life as an undercapitalized slumlord. If you think the world come Monday looks like it did even a week ago, you are one sorry case.

Oh, by the way: Dave, Biff --you set the date. When should we all meet on the blog again, in October, to laugh at The What? You tell me; because I'll be here, without fail.

Posted by: Whuh at September 19, 2008 4:30 PM

hey Whuh(at)

Yes you predicted it, yes you were right.
You would have looked like a real genius if you had just let it rest.
But your insessent fucken "i told you so's" just turn you back into the same lame ass.
You want to get back to gether on Oct and re-visit it all over again.....???

You really have nothing better to do

Posted by: CobbleHilller at September 19, 2008 4:42 PM

Flatbushdemata - what do you consider not safe at night?
I get out of a cab at Flatbush $ Caton drunk at 3 in the morning to walk home and have never had a problem.
I don't think a couple of blocks down it can be that different.

Oh wait - there are people that don't look like me on the streets so it must be scary.

Different doesn't have to mean bad people - get over it.
Not everyone can afford to live in the suburbs that many 'choice' Brooklyn areas are becoming. Having lived in Flatbush for over a year I've not had a single issue - yet hear about muggings and such in 'Almost Prime' over priced areas like Clinton Hill all the time.

Posted by: Flatbushrising at September 19, 2008 4:49 PM

Oh, I will be so sad to see if the house on ablermarle is really in a terrible location. It's just beautiful. But - as I have learned in the real estate market in NY - it will never be perfect unless you have over $3mm to spend (at least).

Posted by: ks8000 at September 19, 2008 4:52 PM

Flatbushrising:

I am glad you have had no bad experiences in your neighborhood. Can you defend your neighborhood without having to trash others in comparison?

Posted by: Schultz at September 19, 2008 5:04 PM

Hey, CobbleHiller --I'll no doubt return once or twice to rub it in --and maybe that's a topic for me and my God (or shrink). But really, all you posters who came on here year after year to hype houses and neighborhoods --and insult some shut-in from New Jersey --it was you who let your unconscious fears of loss in the face of an improbable bubble rule your life. I, who am not in fact The What, prepared for this rainy day, and am planning to buy, with cash, a lovely house in Cobble Hill. Who is the real loser here?

Posted by: Whuh at September 19, 2008 5:08 PM

Yeah, but where's he going to send his kids to school? I suppose he'll have enough stashed away for private, too.

Posted by: Architerrorist at September 19, 2008 5:26 PM

Wow---such frazzled nerves around here today.

Pierre: I didn't make any kind of strong assumptions based on Google maps. I just looked around at the pictures and it looked to me like a perfectly typical Brooklyn neighborhood. I have driven through that area before and it hasn't seemed dangerous to me. But I am sure that other people have different assessments.

Whuh--you are the real loser here. Like the Twat you are prone to hyperbolic statements that imagine all of the readers of this blog a monolithic bloc of yuppie aggressors. Such a juvenile, two dimensional way to look at the world. Not much else to say about somebody who is so shallow and lame.

Posted by: wasder at September 19, 2008 7:30 PM

Just for the record...not sure why I haven't seen any posts on this unless I missed them...the "what" and the old guest(s) signing as "The What" are not the same person. The old "The What" seems never took a signon name when Blownsteiner left the land of anonymous posting. The young guy who took up the moniker under the name "what" was not ye olde The What of yesteryear. The new "what" was not The What simply taking his meds. T'was a different person.

Kind of too bad. I miss some of The What's stuff. The new "what" guy was too reasonable and thoughtful for the most part. I mean, could have been the same person but it's highly unlikely if you compare the syntax, grammar, typing, thought patterns.

Oh, well. The sky IS falling...'what'ever...we may all just have to escape to the country and leave landmarked Brooklyn behind us. It was a good run though.

Posted by: BrooklynGreene at September 19, 2008 8:42 PM

Albemarle Terrace home sold for 460K in October 2005. Beautiful place, amazing gem of a block, but tough neighborhood. My grandmother owned two homes in the neighborhood until a decade ago, and I've spent a lot of time there over the years. It has not changed that much in the past twenty years. I'd think twice about walking around the neighborhood drunk at 3am.

Posted by: buttermilk channel at September 19, 2008 9:09 PM

Ditto, Buttermilk Channel.

The tiny Abelmarle Terrace Historic District is beyond charming--my husband and I made an offer on a house there some years ago. While we were in contract, I went back and forth to the house a number of times at different times of day and realized I wouldn't feel safe much after dark walking by myself. And I've lived in some less than stellar neighborhoods.

In addition, the neighborhood could be unspeakably noisy--shops blocks away blaring music invaded our potential backyard to be.

We ended up reneging on the contract and lost a few bucks, but it was the right thing for us to do.

I've gone to open houses there over the years because I adore the houses, but it's a tough sell. The folks in the Historic District seem to be a great tight-knit group, but the surrounding area is not Victorian Flatbush.

As a side note, the "walking around drunk" test is never a good one, in any neighborhood. You are a victim waiting to happen.

Posted by: tinarina at September 19, 2008 9:47 PM

Tinarina...

I know what you mean. This has always been one of my favorite blocks, in all of New York. Nothing like it will ever be built again, and within the scope of Brooklyn's history, this enclave is not that old.

I've known it since the late 60s, and have a nice memory of attending the wedding of one of my uncles at Dutch Reform in the md 70s, right up the block. My mother, aunt and uncle all attended Erasmus.

I had looked at this particular house the last time it was for sale, mainly out of curiosity. The new renovation looks quite nice. Just needs the right buyer.

BTW, the 'walking around drunk' comment referred to an earlier post. I wouldn't try that one anywhere.

Posted by: buttermilk channel at September 19, 2008 10:37 PM

Well there you have some people who actually know the area. Interesting to read your history with the place Buttermilk. Surprised its as rough as it is but certainly don't doubt you.

Posted by: wasder at September 19, 2008 10:48 PM

I have read these comments with interest. We own a house on kenmore terrace--the big one on the corner, which we bought 2.5 years ago and renovated. When we moved I was pregnant, and really worried about the neighborhood and its safety. After visiting many times, I was convinced it was ok and indeed it has been. Upscale, it is not--but after having lived here a few years, I can honestly say it really is a solid, safe working-class ethnically-diverse neighborhood. For those uncomfortable with diversity, it is not for you. But I have a two year old, and I also come back from work late many nights a week and I have NEVER felt unsafe even a little bit. It's just different. there is a lot of hubbub on church ave always but people are not threatening in any way, and in fact are very warm. We've made lots of friends with jamaican shopkeepers. I do feel like I look differnt from the locals, but that's ok. For an outsider used to gentrified neighborhoods, it might make you feel uneasy (as it did me) but living here is totally safe. We host a weekly toddler playgroup here and all the moms love these houses and they've never felt unsafe. There are many families and kids in the neighborhood and the neighbors are warm, lovely and generous. There are a ton of kid-related activities close by and cortelyou is a 15 min. walk away. Also soho is a 20 min subway ride away, park slope a 5 min ride--and the park is 5 blocks away. We also can be at the beach in 15 minutes--it's a great compromise between urban and suburban living (we have a garden and a 6 bedroom house for what it would have cost to buy a nice 2 bedroom apt in park slope). the comments about the unsafety of the nieghborhood have an undertone of racism to me; As a resident and parent I can speak to the nabe's safety--poor and solid middle class does not equal dangerous.

Posted by: sarahshoshana at September 20, 2008 2:47 PM

sarahshosana--thanks for writing about your neighborhood. Its always better to hear from somebody who lives there rather than make assumptions based on conjecture etc. Sounds pretty nice actually. Hope you keep enjoying your house.

Posted by: wasder at September 20, 2008 5:32 PM

Yes, thanks sarahshoshana, you said what I suspected (and hoped). I'm going to check out the Albemarle house.

Posted by: andyx at September 20, 2008 8:50 PM

The Albermarle house is lovely. I've been in similar houses and like the layout.

Plus the upside to neighborhoods that don't attract the uptight paranoid types is you get much cooler more progressive neighbors who are more fun to hang out with :)

Posted by: traditionalmod at September 21, 2008 1:22 PM

Saw the Albermarle House. It's nice, but other than the kitchen, they did very little work on the place and it is hard to justify the $500,000 they intend to earn from reselling it (bought at 450,000 in 2005). The place needs a major, say 100,000+, dose of what folks in the biz like to euphemistically call TLC.

Posted by: househunt at September 21, 2008 9:17 PM

I have also read these comments with interest. We just moved to the area.
First-I want to say it is incredibly quiet here- you can hear crickets. It is a pleasant change from loud, noisy Park Slope. In Park Slope you have to drown out the sounds of drunken white folks loitering in the streets as they stumble home from the many bars and restaurants. In many ways this neighborhood is much more traditional. People dress for church each weekend; send their kids to school in uniform; and commute to work much earlier each morning. Strangers often say good morning and good evening to me in the street, even though I look different from them. Cops patrol the streets. Fish, poultry, and produce are a bargain. You can quit the food coop! The B/Q trains are very reliable. You are really close to the southern end of the Park and can enjoy the lake, the zoo, the drummer's circle and Jamaican food.
There is at least one highly regarded public elementary school in district 22- and the kids don't even have to huddle in construction trailers. I am not sure what is so off-putting to the other posters here. I realize it is not a gated suburban tract development-but if you want that why even bother looking for homes in NYC.

Posted by: bk1 at September 21, 2008 10:23 PM

Wow, I'm really shocked at the prices of the Cobble Hill and Propect Heights houses. That CH house looks like the rooms are small and the ceilings look really low. It sure is cute, but for $3.1M I'm looking more for "spectacular" rather than "charming" (aka small). For $1500 psf, not to menion $1.5M per bathroom? Verandah Park is charming, but not nearly enough to warrant those prices in my opionion. Sheesh.

Posted by: Gravy at September 22, 2008 11:38 AM

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