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December 16, 2008

House of the Day: 37 Wolcott Street

37-Wolcott-Street-1208.jpg
This four-story house at 37 Wolcott Street has some old-school charm on the outside but, man, is it hurting on the inside. Currently configured as a lower owner's duplex topped by two floor-through rentals, the house's interiors are a mix of vinyl floors, dropped ceilings and baseboard heating, not exactly value enhancers in this or any market. The house is also located across the street from the Red Hook Houses and these two beauties next door at 41 and 43 Wolcott Street. On the more positive side, there aren't that many brick and brownstone houses in the area that have their original facades intact. Given the rough shape it's in and the less-than-stellar location, the asking price of $969,000 seems unrealistic right now. What do you think?
37 Wolcott Street [Fillmore] GMAP P*Shark




Posted by Brownstoner at 1:17 PM | Comments (34)
Categories: HOTD, Red Hook

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Comments

"...unrealistic right now."

Grossly understated. How 'bout downright asinine. Laugh Of The Day.

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at December 16, 2008 1:26 PM

hahahahahahaha.

Posted by: gkw at December 16, 2008 1:26 PM

Thats a pie in the sky asking price. Clearly not serious about selling - so why even put it on the market?

Posted by: dittoburg at December 16, 2008 1:26 PM

Short answer: I think's it's overpriced.

Fillmore text: (emphasis and comments added by me.)
Red Hook 3 family built on turn-of-the-century brick/brownstone craftsmanship. This is the tallest building on the block boosting 4 levels of living space. Currently it is set-up up as owners duplex plus two rental units above. Live and own for the price of rent in a VIVE RANT neighborhood which recently added the coveted Fairway Supermarket and Ikea store. Please call listing agents to make appointments to view. SHOULD NOT LAST AT THIS PRICE.

1) I wanna live in a VIVE RANT neighborhood.
2) "Should not last at this price." NO, the price will fall.

Snarky comments and hideous distressed aside, I kind of like it.

Posted by: Minmin at December 16, 2008 1:26 PM

I'm sure this is the seller's fantasy and not coming from the broker - no broker is this clueless at this point.

Posted by: gkw at December 16, 2008 1:26 PM

unrealistic price Mr.B'stoner? but the agents say it wont last at this price, and its in a "vive rant" neighborhood. not sure what that means, but urbandictionary says this:

vivrant:
A word coined by the MC Q-Tip that is a cross between vibrant (Pulsing or throbbing with energy or activity) and vivacious (Full of animation and spirit; lively).
Ain't that girl a vivrant thing?

Q-tip and these agents can't be wrong.


Posted by: goldie at December 16, 2008 1:27 PM

Red Hook needs more subway and less flooding. I can't imagine paying close to a million bucks for a total gut-job townhouse in that area. Not when I can buy basically the same building on 5th Ave and 2nd St. in Park Slope, right now (I went and toured it two weekends ago), for $1.12mm negotiable.

Posted by: cwbuecheler at December 16, 2008 1:31 PM

Why would someone coin that term, vibrant applies to the inanimate, vivacious to living things.

Posted by: dittoburg at December 16, 2008 1:32 PM

I love the "Viverant" text
oy
they are asking way too much on this
sorry but that's way overpriced for that building

Posted by: gemini10 at December 16, 2008 1:33 PM

The nicest thing about the interior is the two sofas.

This listing is hysterical:

"This is the tallest building on the block"
Yahoo...you can live in the skyscraper of the nabe.

"Live and own for the price of rent in a vive rant neighborhood"
According to the defination that 'goldie' provided I'll agree that the nabe is full of 'animation'.

"coveted Fairway Supermarket" and "Ikea store."
Though shall not covet they neighbors super stores!

"Should not last at this price."
But will!

Posted by: bayridgegirl at December 16, 2008 1:39 PM

This looks like a classic tenement building to me, not a house. This was never a house. It was probably always a four unit apartment building, don't you think?

Posted by: Inigo at December 16, 2008 1:40 PM

"no broker is this clueless at this point."

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...when do I stop laughing?

Posted by: bayridgegirl at December 16, 2008 1:41 PM

BRG - I would bet you money that if you spoke to the broker "off the record" as it were, they would say the seller insisted on this high price.

Posted by: gkw at December 16, 2008 1:45 PM

650, I can't justify more than that

Posted by: binnyG at December 16, 2008 1:49 PM

Wow, shameless. I guess it costs a lot for all those hallucinogenics they must be chugging back.

The only good thing about this house is it made me pull up the song Vivrant Thing. I hadn't listened to in a good long while. Killer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFBerCHGNRc

Posted by: TownhouseLady at December 16, 2008 1:52 PM

I'm glad to see Red Hook is getting some love on Brownstoner but I not sure about the price. It would be nice if the US govt would force the US auto industry to pay us back by putting the trolley system or today light rail back in these areas that need public better public transportation. The US auto industry got rid of the trolley system in the 1950s they should help put them back with light rail today. I am sure Red Hook had a trolley cars pre- WWII. I know Bedford Stuyvesant and Crown Heights had trolleys and when they uprooted the trolleys it was the start of the down turn of Bedford Stuyvesant and Crown Heights.

Posted by: Amzi Hill at December 16, 2008 1:52 PM

Even discussing this price at all is giving it more credibility than it deserves. It is an interesting facade and that's about it. Probably the lot would be worth more without the building.

Posted by: wasder at December 16, 2008 1:52 PM

I like the building and wonder how cheap it could actually go. $700K? $600K?

The interior is seriously old-school Brooklyn. What is that thing in the kitchen with the stovepipe?

Posted by: Heather at December 16, 2008 1:57 PM

THL - I haven't heard that song in years....thanks!

Posted by: bayridgegirl at December 16, 2008 2:00 PM

The interior is old alright. Problem is it isn't old enough.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at December 16, 2008 2:03 PM

Gut reno.

Posted by: FatLenny at December 16, 2008 2:26 PM

what *is* that on the walls that looks like paneling? is it wallpaper?

this might be one of those listings that would have been better off without interior shots.

Posted by: geekspice at December 16, 2008 2:43 PM

Amzi Hill;

The trolleys in NYC were owned by the city government, and it was they who decided to remove them in favor of the buses. The auto companies did not factor into this change. In other towns, notably Los Angeles, where the trolley lines were privately-owned, it is true that the auto companies bought them and removed them. In NYC, the government removed the trolleys, and replaced them with bus lines.

I think it is a bit of hyperbole to state that the removal of the trolley system was the start of the downturn in Bed Stuy and Crown Heights. As I mentioned above, the trolleys were replaced with another form of mass tranportation: buses. Moreover, compared to such factors as the decline of manufacturing, the rise in crime and the rise of the suburbs, I would say that the removal of the trolleys was an insignificant factor.

Posted by: benson at December 16, 2008 2:46 PM

they are out of their mind...if they could move it at $650000 they would be lucky..

Posted by: eman1234 at December 16, 2008 2:50 PM

The most laughable listing I've seen in 10 years!!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at December 16, 2008 2:55 PM

Would it be wrong of me to contact the agent and seller and to get their connection for whatever they are smoking? My *smoke* contact joined AA and it seems like this agent/seller has the hook-up to end all hook-ups! Almost a mill for vinyl, dropped ceilings and wallpaper across from the p.j.'s? Oh, to have access to that quality smoke.

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at December 16, 2008 2:57 PM

no inigo - tenement buildings have staircases up the middle with two windows on each side of the door.

Posted by: gkw at December 16, 2008 3:12 PM

How much did Babs Corcoran buy that house on Van Brunt for? As I recall that one was in pretty good shape and had retail space.

Posted by: A Guest at December 16, 2008 3:31 PM

no inigo - tenement buildings have staircases up the middle with two windows on each side of the door.

...It ain't necessarily so....

Posted by: Inigo at December 16, 2008 3:51 PM

Ahh delusions of grandeur combined with a hefty dose of visual hallucinations are well represented in this listing. Wonder if the broker / owner is off of his thorazine or is it Zyprexa?

Laughable is another accurate description on the pricing and Wasder we agree the only thing going for this place is the facade. House is in a terrible location, interior is horrendous, no subway, school district sucks, etc.
Paying $500K for this is being generous today.

THL that Q-tip video was classic, thanks.

Posted by: pierre de taille at December 16, 2008 4:54 PM

Was I the only one who noticed their use of "boosting"?

"This is the tallest building on the block boosting 4 levels of living space"

I suppose they mean "boasting"...

Posted by: BrooklynGreene at December 16, 2008 5:41 PM

fillmore has always been the realtor of last resort...but this is surprising even for them

Posted by: eman1234 at December 16, 2008 7:26 PM

I don't want to beat a dead horse but there is no way this building was built as a single-family house. Houses did not have that pop-up piece in the center of the cornice. That is a commercial device used to advertise the building's name or builder. A large house would have had a grander entrance. There is not a single fragment of the interior that looks like it could have ever been a house. The private houses built in the area looked like the ones next door. This building was probably built as a walk-up tenement with two apartments per floor with a shared bath. later, it was changed to one apartment per floor and later someone decided to combine the lower two apartments to make an owner's unit.

Posted by: Inigo at December 16, 2008 8:46 PM

LOL! This place is next door to another joint that is for sale at about $200K less, iirc.

It is also on the track between the two 24hr deli WINDOWS (no one would dare stay open 24hrs on that block - or in red hook in general). Nice foot traffic out front at 2am...

Posted by: DenghisCon at December 17, 2008 3:13 PM

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