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November 3, 2008

Back to Brooklyn (Thanks, in Part, to Brownstoner)

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In "The Hunt" column in this Sunday's NY Times, a couple leaves Boerum Hill for the 'burbs when their family expands. Upon arrival in Maplewood, where they bought a 1920 colonial for $930,000 after selling their Bergen Street row house for $2.075 million, they miss the borough of kings. And it turns out the price tag might have been cheaper, but not the upkeep. "Their Brooklyn taxes were around $3,500 annually, but in Maplewood they were paying around $23,000," they write. The couple decides to return, just as the market is tanking, and have to put their house on the market for $35,000 below what they paid for it, even as prices hold strong and high in Brooklyn. So how'd they find the right house here? "In midsummer, she spotted an open house listing on Brownstoner.com for a detached Victorian in the Prospect Park South Historic District." It was a five-bed, three-bath and they got it for $1.26 million. Happy ending.
Photo from Mary Kay Gallagher Web site.




Posted by lisa at 9:17 AM | Comments (19)
Categories: Ditmas Park, Real Estate

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Comments

The old saw: have one kid, stay in the city and pay for private school; have two (or more) kids, go to the 'burbs and get school for free but pay more property taxes.

Posted by: infinitejester at November 3, 2008 9:22 AM

There is no other place like Brooklyn.

Posted by: cb6 at November 3, 2008 9:26 AM

It's really silly to speak of moving back to "Brooklyn" as if it is a homogeneous neighborhood. Prospect Park South is a short bike ride away from Park Slope, Bed Stuy, Windsor Terrace etc., but they are all very different neighborhoods. I love certain areas of Brooklyn but would not choose to live in Prospect Park South. The detached Victorians are beautiful but a pain to maintain and heat, there is no street life, and it feels like the suburbs. If they wanted to move back to "city life" they ain't gonna get it there.

Posted by: Brooklynnative at November 3, 2008 9:46 AM

But they're going to be close to 'city life' - a quick subway or cab ride away as opposed to 1 hour away by car. It's the best of all worlds for them - if they make the schools work that is.

Posted by: HmmWhichNeighborhood at November 3, 2008 9:52 AM

The one thing with the whole propery tax issue that everyone forgets is in NYC you have to pay extra income tax to the city and the NYS tax is also slightly higher then NJ. So if you're making a lot of money the increase in property taxes will be offset by the decrease in income taxes. And NJ allows you to deduct property tax paid from your state taxes. That being said property taxes in NJ are still pretty extreme right now.

Posted by: setancre at November 3, 2008 10:14 AM

Yeah! It's never too late to correct a mistake!

Posted by: slopenick at November 3, 2008 10:19 AM

setancre - they weren't they still working in the city?

Posted by: dittoburg at November 3, 2008 10:22 AM

Awww. Welcome back, Kotter (or whatever their name is).

Posted by: I_haz_TWO_toilets at November 3, 2008 10:37 AM

I am one half of the couple profiled in the Times piece, and it's really just a rudimentary outline of some of the issues that caused us to reconsider our move to the burbs. Ever increasing property taxes (20% increase in the 2 years that we lived there) were really what tipped the scales in favor of a move back to Brooklyn where I had first planted roots in 1990. I have never considered Brooklyn a homogenous neighborhood - I have always loved the many and varied neigbhorhoods that make up this borough, and even when living in downtown Brooklyn, my husband and I spent weekends going all over. I'm actually really loving where we are right now in PPS. True it has more of a suburban vibe, but as noted above, in 10 minutes I can be on Atlantic Avenue in one direction, at Difara's 10 minutes in another direction, and 15 minutes from Floyd Bennett Field if I want to take my kid for a great bike ride. I can get a Jamaican patty two blocks away. We're close to really good friends. What wasn't clear in the article, and what has half of Maplewood apoplectic at the moment, is that several of the children who were adopted from the orphanage when we adopted our daughter live close by. So nothing against the adoptive community out there- it's great, but some of the girls our daughter shares an important part of her history with, are a mere 10 minutes away which makes for great spontaneous playdates. The gist of the story is that we tried the burbs,but for a variety of reasons it just didn't feel like the right fit for us, and thanks to Brownstoner's Open House pick back in July, we feel incredibly lucky to be back.

Posted by: brooklyny at November 3, 2008 10:50 AM

Congratulations brooklyny! I remember that open house listing and thinking what a beautiful home it was. Enjoy it!

Posted by: TownhouseLady at November 3, 2008 11:17 AM

dittoburg--you only pay NYC income tax if you live in NYC. If you work here but live outside of the city you do not have to pay it.

Brooklynny--welcome back.

Posted by: shillstoner at November 3, 2008 11:29 AM

You don't pay NYC income tax if you reside outside of NYC. You pay taxes in the location you live, not where you work. Taxing wages where one works is called a "wage tax" they used to do this in Philly, not sure if that's still the case.

Posted by: setancre at November 3, 2008 11:31 AM

thanks.

Posted by: dittoburg at November 3, 2008 11:34 AM

brooklynny - i went to that open house when i saw it on brownstoner. i think you definetly made a great move (sorry you had to sell for a lose but at least it sold). i love that area and like that it is suburbish but still so close to the city. i would never leave bk but i would leave my brownstone for a victorian house. the elementary schools over there are pretty good also.

good luck and welcome back!

Posted by: bkny at November 3, 2008 11:35 AM

love the new place!

Posted by: Ringo at November 3, 2008 11:37 AM

When you love Brooklyn and NYC, no place else will do!

Welcome back. Nice house, Love the porch!

Posted by: bayridgegirl at November 3, 2008 11:59 AM

Welcome to Flatbush, the Heart of Brooklyn. It is literally the center of Brooklyn making access to any place else in the borough very easy. Although we don't have the foot traffic and amenities of the downtown neighborhoods, there is enough going on locally to make the area nice but not too noisy which is the point.

Posted by: Chaka at November 3, 2008 3:05 PM

It seems as though no thread on the big homes in this area is ever complete without a mention of the high maintenace and heating bills. I can tell you from experience that the cost of maintenance is about the same as maintaining a Brownstone if you exclude landscaping. However, it does take more to heat a free standing wood frame but the trade off is more space. When I lived in my brownstone I had to pay a garage monthly to park my car so that I could avoid the headache of alternate side parking and I paid for a storage unit to keep camping equipment and other seasonal items that I didn't have the space to keep in the house. I also use to rent spaces for children's parties and other entertaining which I no longer have to do. All of those things add up to more than the extra $50-$75 a month that I pay for heating my home. Not to mention that these houses are cheaper to purchase so the mortgages would be lower.

Posted by: Chaka at November 3, 2008 3:14 PM

I have lived in a Victorian Flatbush house for the last 28 years, after living in Cobble Hill. We have excellent schools, easy subway access, a growing restaurant row on Cortelyou Road, and lots of nice neighbors. I used to spend up to 1/2 hour finding a legal parking spot in Cobble Hill, now I have a driveway and garage. We can get to Park Slope in 10 minutes, to a variety of ethnic restaurants in Kensington, Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay, etc. in 10 minutes. On the Q it's 25 minutes to Union Square, 35 minutes to Carnegie Hall. Granted, it is more suburban than the brownstone nabes, and street life is minimal, but the trade offs in convenience and quality of life more than make up for it.

Posted by: evfred at November 3, 2008 5:57 PM

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