House of the Day: 156 Hicks Street

Turning a multi-unit brownstone back into a single-family house is a snap as long as the renters are gone. The expensive problems are human, not architectural. This seems like a great opportunity to buy low in the best neighborhood. Renovating the house yourself means you will get exactly what you want. The real idea behind being a brownstoner is not necessarily to buy a house in move-in condition but rather to oversee the work yourself and be a hero.
How about offering 2 million, buying for 2.3, putting in another 500,000? Then you end up with a 5-story Heights brownstone for 2.8- 2.9 million. With no tenants or hassles to deal with. Not bad really.

Posted by: sam at October 14, 2008 1:57 PM

Whatever it will cost you to renovate, it will cost the existing owners who naturally will put a large surcharge over that. I think that spending 120,000 on a kitchen is pure folly. I am talking about sensible renovations. What I like about doing a house completely over like this is that you can put in central a.c and new wiring while you have a lot of it opened up anyway. Half a million dollars will get you a great renovation here. I'm not talking about turning this into a minimalist-style Bauhaus loft and taking out every stick of old structure, that seems to be an alarming trend now. I would work with the house and keep a lot of old fabric. Gutting and throwing out everything old ,even the joists, (something I see happening in the Heights)is not my idea of the right way to renovate an historic brownstone. Believe me, 500,000 will buy you a lot if you do it right.

Posted by: sam at October 14, 2008 2:29 PM

Knowledge is power, that is absolutely true. Knowing what to repair and what to replace is something one gains with experence. Getting rid of an overly anal-retentive architect -ditto! This house looks good to me, the most expensive renovations are things like rear additions and rooftop additions and excavations for basement lap pools(like the one proposed for Lincoln Place). Cornices and stoops can be expensive too (especially ironwork). But structural issues are surprisingly not that big a deal. Jacking a house up a bit and sistering a bunch of joist? No biggie. Having your architect fly to Turkey to buy those hand painted tiles you saw in the bazaar? Biggie. It's where you draw the line. A 17-foot wide house that is plenty big without have to add or excavate for more space, that already has a stoop and a cornice and that looks like it has good floors and stair? A snap! Really. Hire a good (cheap) brownstone architect and GC and keep an eagle-eye on them.

Posted by: sam at October 14, 2008 3:04 PM

Oh my God you guys have me all frightened now. Fixing up an old house sounds so SCAAARY. I better figure out my costs per square foot (as if I were renovating a fatory building) cuz there are all sorts of scary unknowable contingencies and large men with power tools who will make me nervous. woo hooo.
I better just buy a new loft at One BBP.

Posted by: sam at October 14, 2008 3:31 PM

I am always suprised by people dissing perfetly nice properties like this because they are on a "busy street"
or because there is an apartment building nearby. Hello? This is Brooklyn Heights. Do you want to live in the best neighborhood in Brooklyn or do you want to live in the middle of nowhere?
Anyway, this is a pretty prime house. If I were still in the buy/rehab business I would consider it, especially now when you can really negotiate. I love these 17-foot wide center-stair houses. The folks who will not touch anything less than 20-feet don't know what they're talking about. They really don't. Other posters can't even see the house for the kithen. It seems like appliances and countertops are how they judge real estate? what is that about?
PS: being concerned about the cost of expediter's fees when rehabbing a house is like being concerned with the cost of pacifiers when having a baby.

Posted by: sam at October 14, 2008 4:18 PM

Oh my gosh BRG, you and I are on opposite spectrums. There is nothing easier than replacing risers when you do it all at one time. If you have the house open and can do it from top to bottom it is so not a biggie. I have had new risers put in for an entire house in a day. The finishes are the biggie. And the custom stuff. piping venting and hvac are expenseive when you have to open up walls that would otherwise not need opening, but when you are doing a big renovation, it's no big deal. By the way in a house like this, I would try to live on the fourth and fifth floors while the rest of the house was being done, then I would move below and finish up with the two top floors. I would not live in the Waldorf Astoria while the work was being done. Although the kids would go live with their grandma when the demolition dust etc was at its worst (usually just the first two weeks) Sistering joists and that sort of thing is child's play. These houses have such simple structures it is not rocket science.

Posted by: sam at October 14, 2008 4:39 PM

Alright, well if you all think it would cost a million dollars to redo this narrow brownstone, which judging by the pictures, looks like I could move into it tomorrow, maybe you are rght. I have not done this in a while. I just cannot imagine what you could spend the money on without going overboard and ruining the house. I never renovated a house on a dollar-per-square-foot basis, I would never let a contractor or architect bamboozle me with that. I would say what will this cost, this, this, this, and I got unit costs if we were not sure how many square feet of plaster would need to be replaced or flooring etc. If the house's facades are a mess, then yes, the cost goes up. I will say this, if it really costs a million dollars to renovate this house then I pass. Cheerio all!

Posted by: sam at October 14, 2008 5:34 PM

He says he is spending 35K on appliances and 60k on cabinets
and 5K on a.c. for the kitchen. OK. This makes me feel a bit better about my initial estimate of 500,000 for the house. This boy thinks he is part of the gang on "Entourage"
or "Dirty Sexy Money". He is in TV-loser land. I hate to seem smug, but whew! for a minute, I thought I was losing my debate with grown-ups! Silly me!

Posted by: sam at October 14, 2008 10:31 PM