« Work Begins on 132 2nd Place Garden of the Day: King of Dirt in Bburg »

December 11, 2008

A Sale for Victorian Flatbush

335-Rugby-Road-1208.jpgHere's one that won't make our weekly Top 5 Sales post but should nonetheless be of interest: After originally being listed last April for $1,375,000, the five-bedroom Victorian house at 335 Rugby Road in Beverley Square West closed on December 1 for $1,187,000. Total haircut? 13.6 percent. You can see the former listing here.




Posted by Brownstoner at 10:18 AM | Comments (24)
Categories: Sales, Victorian Flatbush

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/7562

Comments

A far lower haircut than seen elsewhere throughout the U.S. Brooklyn property rocks.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at December 11, 2008 10:21 AM

Lovely home and nicely updated. Glad it did well.

Posted by: Ozymandius at December 11, 2008 10:31 AM

It's alright, I guess. But let's be honest. This is a mediocre house. I don't think I'll ever get over the fact that what'd be a stretch at $300,000 in any mid-size Midwestern city goes for over a million here, in Flatbush, an hour's commute from Midtown. Ah, city living. I honestly think I'd prefer a smaller co-op/condo for that price so it at least feels a bit more like city living.

Posted by: alsawo at December 11, 2008 10:49 AM

I do business in the midwest in WI and in Chicago. Try this house in some of the downtown areas of Madison, Milwaukee, or Chicago where older historic homes are found and it will run you at least 700K. Even more in some of the desirable n'hoods. Then you have to update...

How do I know? I just got through looking for something and that was the going price. I also couldn't get over the 1/4 bath under the stair thing either. That's where they put just a toilet because so many of these homes don't have a powder room on the first floor. I guess you do your business and then walk to the kitchen to wash your hands.

Posted by: Ozymandius at December 11, 2008 11:01 AM

Also note that the original asking price was completely unrealistic, even based on peak prices, so the true haircut was much smaller. Prices have remained relatively strong in this area, perhaps because inventory is even lower than most brownstone neighborhoods.

Also, I know this topic has been done to death, but unless you're wearing lead shoes, the commute to midtown is under 45 minutes door-to-door.

Posted by: westminster at December 11, 2008 11:08 AM

This was an open house pick 9/5
www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2008/09/open_house_pick_201.php

And yes - I do the commute from around there to midtown in 45 minutes every day. Maybe an hour to the upper east side.

Posted by: Bklnite at December 11, 2008 11:20 AM

We just built a rather large house in Bay Ridge...everything is brand new for 1.4m...same commute...safer area.

Posted by: nybk01 at December 11, 2008 11:30 AM

We don't want brand new.

Posted by: dittoburg at December 11, 2008 11:42 AM

Is it that one that's pictured a few threads above????

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at December 11, 2008 12:00 PM

I like Bay Ridge a lot, but have a hard time believing the commute on the R train, making all those local stops or hoping for a timely connection to an express at 59th or 36th, is as fast as coming from Church or Newkirk on the Brighton line. Third Ave in Bay Ridge does have a very nice selection of restaurants.

Posted by: Sparafucile at December 11, 2008 12:11 PM

Maybe no as fast...but at least you dont have to look over your shoulder every second when waing for the train at Church or Newkirk.

Posted by: nybk01 at December 11, 2008 12:17 PM

45 minutes to Midtown? Hmm... maybe if you live right by the subway, and you have amazing luck and a train always comes immediately.

But my morning commute from Brooklyn Heights to Midtown takes 40 minutes--sometimes more--so I find 45 minutes from Flatbush hard to believe.

Posted by: alsawo at December 11, 2008 12:20 PM

The trains from Flatbush go over the bridge, so they bypass all those Downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan stops. So I believe it.

Posted by: Sparafucile at December 11, 2008 12:24 PM

That's why the A train and living in Bed Stuy is so great...15 minutes or less to Manhattan...about 25 to 34th street. It's a delight.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at December 11, 2008 12:25 PM

The decoration is not to my taste but this kind of property does give you the best of both worlds - traditional style and craftsmanship combined with modern conveniences.

I'll be shooting for something like this when the price is right.

Posted by: the chicken at December 11, 2008 12:29 PM

Express bus from there to Wall Street is 15-20 mins in the morning - which would matter if that's where you work...

Posted by: the chicken at December 11, 2008 12:32 PM

No, I'm talking under 45 minutes with a walk on both ends and a wait. I used to live in Brooklyn Heights as well, and I was pleasantly surprised by how quick the commute is on the B and Q. There are more stops in Brooklyn, but they don't get bogged down in downtown Manhattan like the 2/3/4/5/A/C do. Being above ground to the park and then over the bridge is also refreshing.

The comment about looking over your shoulder doesn't justify a response, but I do wonder why anytime someone says something positive about Flatbush/Ditmas Park, someone always has to chime in touting Bay Ridge and putting down Ditmas Park with negative, often inaccurate comments. Seems telling to me.

Posted by: westminster at December 11, 2008 12:57 PM

Commute from Bay Ridge to midtown with a likely express connection is 45 minutes.

I'm not going to tout my neighborhood, I'm starting to see it decline.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at December 11, 2008 1:07 PM

This seems to have been fair price for this house. I don't think it would have gone for much more a year or two ago. Mary Kay Gallagher seems to set prices a little more accurately in this neighborhood than do some of the other brokers. She's had several closings since October. I went along with friends who are looking in the area and it only took us an additional 5 minutes from the Park Slope stop on B/Q to get to Beverley Road. So I would say that the commute into Manhattan is probably only 5-10 minutes more than a commute from Park Slope. Bay Ridge does have a couple of good places to eat, but very few intact Victorian frame style homes or limestones and the commute into the city on the R train is dreadful. For this and other reasons, living there is just not an option for them.

Posted by: Bailmeout2 at December 11, 2008 1:53 PM

I may be unpopular for saying this - but I firmly believe that this house would have gone for $100K more a year ago. It actually sold for less than the neighboring Tudor did, which has significantly less square footage. This house did start to high, I agree, but the ultimate selling price was less than they would have pocketed had they priced a bit lower at the start, and therefore sold it more quickly. Overpricing is always a mistake, unless you know you're going to take less and are hoping that's where people actually bid.

Posted by: Architerrorist at December 11, 2008 2:24 PM

Once something costs more than a million dollars, I stop listening and my eyes just get those cartoon spirals in them. So this sounds fine to me.

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at December 11, 2008 6:19 PM

In 98 you could buy one of these as a fixer up for 500k, and mint for 750. By 2010 we should be back to those prices, maybe a little higher to adjust for inflation and all the new restaurants and such... So 13% so far, another 37 to go. Hope all the recent buyers were buying to live, not as a short term investment, because there are going to be a lot of underwater mortgages in our fine borough pretty soon.

Posted by: lalaland at December 11, 2008 7:13 PM

The "look over my shoulder" comment is typical of the comments I get from Park Slopers and Brooklyn Heightsers. Because not everyone in Victorian Flatbush is blond, the assumption is that it is dangerous. When I moved here in 1980, it was. It is not now. My neighborhood used to have a paid security patrol. Haven't had it in years. Read the "Police Blotter" in the Park Slope Paper and tell me how dangerous my neighborhood is...

Posted by: evfred at December 11, 2008 9:24 PM

Victorian Flatbush will not drop to 98 prices precisely due to gentrification. As long as restaurants remain and services improve, mint homes should sell around the million mark. That's a more accurate reflection of inflation and gentrification adjustment. Lalaland is off the mark on how much gentrification fundamentally boosts housing prices. And I'm talking about bog-standard Flatbush homes. Not PPS. I predict mint PPS houses will go for 1.25.

Posted by: Architerrorist at December 12, 2008 7:51 AM

Post a comment

Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.

Latest Restaurant Additions