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December 12, 2008

Open House Picks

house Park Slope
266 Berkeley Place
Brown Harris Stevens
Sunday 12-1:30
$2,750,000 (was $3,250,000)
GMAP P*Shark

house Fort Greene
166 Washington Park
Brooklyn Properties
Sunday 12-1:30
$2,575,000 (was $2,750,000)
GMAP P*Shark

house Prospect Heights
370 Park Place
Corcoran
Sunday 2:30-4
$1,395,000 (was $1,850,000)
GMAP P*Shark

house Windsor Terrace
247 Windsor Place
Brooklyn Properties
Sunday 12-2
$995,000 (was $1,250,000 then $1,150,000)
GMAP P*Shark

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Comments

Quite the price cut on Park Place.

Posted by: wasder at December 12, 2008 1:10 PM

Windsor Terrace for under a million!!! The swirly spirals in my eyeballs can start...just a teeny bit...slowing down and turning back into regular pupils and corneas! This is not a bloody McMansion in the Hamptons; is the sort of house a nice young working couple should be able to buy and raise a family in; until not long ago, so it was. Poor little sucker doesn't even have a parking space. Before anyone starts doom-and-glooming, look at this sweet little house. It is still ALMOST a million dollars. (Swirly spirals re-forming in eyes.) A...million...dollars. It would be out of reach of most folks at half that, in a community that for decades was a bastion of solid working- and middle-class folks. Those who thought they'd cash out on a jackpot will now have to deal with...a slightly smaller jackpot. Personally, I am loving the silver lining in this so-called downturn: a halting movement back to sanity and the prospect of more (angel choirs start singing): AFFORDABLE housing! Just think...the price only has to drop by another three-quarters of a million dollars to be affordable to one of the hard-working teachers at Holy Name School across the street (if they could somehow rustle up a downpayment for a $250K house)!

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at December 12, 2008 1:23 PM

I find the kitchen stuck into the back parlor of the FG house really depressing...a grand room home-depotized.

Posted by: tinarina at December 12, 2008 1:26 PM

the park place house is a squat. easily a few 100k to make it livable

Posted by: supreme at December 12, 2008 1:27 PM

I'm with Brenda, the price cuts need to continue. Brownstoner, you already listed this house a couple of months ago. Did anyone visit? Why didn't it sell? Looking for worthy OHs in the NYT is like looking for a needle in the haystack. Seems sellers are hoping to sit this recession out, if they can. Inventory is thinning out even further. Brokers better get their act together and stop pretending that (as I read one some Corcoran listing)selling a property in 2008 for 2005 prices is a bargain.

Posted by: househunt at December 12, 2008 1:31 PM

All these houses were overpriced, and probably still are.

Posted by: billyboomer at December 12, 2008 1:35 PM

Brenda - I saw your comment on the McGovern Weir glasshouse on another site. Totally agree.

Posted by: dittoburg at December 12, 2008 1:38 PM

The floor plan on the Park Place house is really bizarre -- upper floor is a tiny 1 BR w/ kitchenette and a studio w/ kitchenette? Are those even legally rentable?

I'd probably want to turn it into a duplex/duplex 2-family, or a 3-floor + garden rental. Would be a significant cost to do either, given how much you'd have to tear down.

Posted by: cwbuecheler at December 12, 2008 1:40 PM

"Seller says bring your best offer"

Now that says something about the state of things.

Posted by: shillstoner at December 12, 2008 1:51 PM

supreme - a squat, as in people are actually squatting there?

Posted by: i disagree at December 12, 2008 2:18 PM

I need a place to squat.

I'll go check it out

Posted by: Santa at December 12, 2008 2:27 PM

"$2,750,000 (was $3,250,000)"

Nice addition, brownstoner. I appreciate the transparency.

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at December 12, 2008 2:38 PM

What other site, dittoburg?

Posted by: househunt at December 12, 2008 2:39 PM

A sure sign times are tough.

Return of the Sq'What

Someday this esprit de corps is gonna end...

Posted by: Biff Champion at December 12, 2008 2:41 PM

Yes Biff...we've all been on topic today, more or less. I got a little off topic on the Domino's Pizza thread. I'm just really scared that 11217 is lurking, ready to scratch my eyes out.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at December 12, 2008 2:46 PM

I wouldn't expect a thread about Domino's to stay on-topic for too long. I assumed it would follow the cycle of people saying how crappy it is, wondering why anyone would eat there/order it with so many great pizza places all over New York and then quickly run off-topic (although I was a bit surprised it turned to the high quality of steaks at Outback!)

Anyhoo, staying on topic and behaving...was looking at the 247 Windsor Place with the pink bathroom fit for a little princess and started wondering, do people still wallpaper these days? And what about wall-to-wall carpetting? Is it generally limited to certain areas, i.e., Dyker Heights / Mill Basin? Just curious...

Posted by: Biff Champion at December 12, 2008 2:57 PM

the berkeley place house has my ideal layout. i love it - wish i could afford it. nokilissa, you should be all over that!

Posted by: bkny at December 12, 2008 2:58 PM

bkny, I agree. Nokilissa should have a gander at that one. It mentions it can be a two family and I noticed the second kitchen on the top floor. Would be interesting to see it in person.

Posted by: Biff Champion at December 12, 2008 3:04 PM

Biff...I did a nice toile wallpaper in a bedroom in the country. I also have wall-to-wall carpetting in those bedrooms because I just like to be able to not have to walk on cold wood floors in a room where I'm not wearing shoes or socks.

I actually thought about the carpetting for the master bedroom here in the brownstone and then said no. It just isn't right!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at December 12, 2008 3:10 PM

Thanks DIBS. It was a sincere question based on the fact I rarely see those in any of the nicer brownstones featured here that have been renovated in the recent past. I don't have any in my place (in fact I had the wallpaper all stripped and the carpetting pulled up when I moved in) but think that wallpapering can be done tastefully - unlike the stuff I took down. As for wall-to-wall carpets, I personally don't like it in a brownstone, but understand the comfort people take in walking on it when the temperature drops.

Posted by: Biff Champion at December 12, 2008 3:18 PM

wallpaper is very hot these days. not all wallpaper is the same.

Posted by: Ringo at December 12, 2008 3:40 PM

To see some mighty fine victorian wallpaper go to
Bradbury & Bradbury

www.bradbury.com

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at December 12, 2008 3:52 PM

I love the wallpaper in the WT house. Especially that green.

The thing about wallpaper is, it's hard to do it yourself. Trust me. I am doing a terrible job of it and trying to make it artistic.

Posted by: Heather at December 12, 2008 3:56 PM

The Park Place a squat ?
It looks pretty clean and updated.
Am i wrong ?

Posted by: dutchman at December 12, 2008 4:01 PM

househound - its gowanus lounge - see here:
http://www.gowanuslounge.com/2008/12/11/urban-environmentalist-nyc-brooklyn-business-history-revealed/

Posted by: dittoburg at December 12, 2008 4:09 PM

It's very telling that practically nobody is seriously discussing these open houses.

It's like they're a complete joke -- which in fact they are!

50% further price chops MIGHT get these houses sold.

Posted by: IronBalls at December 12, 2008 4:11 PM

Overpriced
Overpriced
Overpriced
and
Overpriced

Brokers: Cut the Bull and Cut the Prices, already!

Posted by: bayridgegirl at December 12, 2008 4:21 PM

Cracking up, Biff, re wallpaper comment. No fair, I have to WORK today and you are not helping.

Nicely put, Brenda in Flatbush.

Posted by: mopar at December 12, 2008 4:49 PM

Sheesh, I can't win. Nobody ever thinks I'm funny and the ONE day I try to stay serious and not make jokes, I crack mopar up. :-)

Posted by: Biff Champion at December 12, 2008 5:05 PM

Brokers are not going to cut prices until they unload most of the junk they own personally. A good sign to start buying is when a big real estate firm that pumped prices, Cocorean is a good example, goes bankrupt. The way the housing market is collapsing it should not be long. No one believed Madoff going bankrupt well he is in the slammer. Greedy dishonest real estate agents are next.

Posted by: hannible at December 12, 2008 5:10 PM

Prices fall, Are you buying?
All the while, brokers lying
The bubble has burst
The What wants the worst
Living in a Credit Bubbleland

Gone away is the money
Outlook feels less than sunny
The market's full stop, The prices will drop
Dropping in a Credit Bubbleland

In the ghetto we can sell some brownstones
Fleecing all the asshats one by one
They'll ask: Is it safe here?
We'll say: Yes man
It's a really up and coming part of town.

Days go by, things get dire
Time to buy razor fire
Economy's crashed,
Our hopes now are dashed,
Crushed beneath the Credit Bubbleland...

Posted by: SnarkSlope at December 12, 2008 5:13 PM

Posted by: hannible at December 12, 2008 5:14 PM

SnarkSlope, that was hysterical (and I like how you cross-threaded the Winter Wonderland post into this....genius). Perfect way to end another rollercoaster Brownstoner week! Thank you for that.

Posted by: Biff Champion at December 12, 2008 5:20 PM

I was singing it, Snark!
Brilliant

Posted by: bayridgegirl at December 12, 2008 5:33 PM

And no, BRG, that's NOT a limerick. :-)

Posted by: Biff Champion at December 12, 2008 5:37 PM

Dang, "Time to buy razor fire" should be "Time to buy razor wire". Anyway, happy weekend and holidays, folks.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at December 12, 2008 5:39 PM

Snark...Let's go caroling this weekend.

We'll go to the open houses.

Sing it....

"Prices fall, Are you buying?
All the while, brokers lying
The bubble has burst
The What wants the worst
Living in a Credit Bubbleland"

Posted by: bayridgegirl at December 12, 2008 5:50 PM

Snark, that was really, really well done, and very funny. I was singing it too.

Holiday Cheers!

Montrose Morris, EPBA, Dramatic Soprano

Posted by: Montrose Morris at December 12, 2008 6:04 PM

Snarkslope is back!!! Yay! Just yesterday people were lamenting your absence snark.

Posted by: wasder at December 12, 2008 6:05 PM

Welcome back Snark, you were missed!

Posted by: TownhouseLady at December 12, 2008 6:15 PM

snarkslope- I laughed so hard! You need to do this for a living! Start a specialized Brooklyn Christmas event- all Brooklyn, all brownstones, all the time! I'm up for caroling- I've got the Victorian coat, the fluffy scarf, and accoutremonts. Anyone got a sleigh and horses?

Posted by: bxgrl at December 12, 2008 6:56 PM

Another clear sign of the imminent demise of NYC real estate is that the majority of the commenters on this real estate blog don't even discuss real estate anymore. It's become a high school chat room run by daveinbedstuy and biff.

All these stupid personal conversations are ruining this website for folks like myself who are here because we have an interest in real estate, construction, Brooklyn, and brownstones.

Go to Facebook if you want to gossip about unrelated personal issues.

Posted by: IronBalls at December 13, 2008 12:21 AM

Don't worry Ironballs people like me have such an interest in Brooklyn real estate you have got no idea. The thing is that while you wait for signs that prices are increasing so you can unload your place and make a profit or raise someones rent so you can live like a parasite. People like me want to see prices fall faster and faster and smell blood from people that chased elders out of the neighborhoods because they were too "poor" for the new "homeowners"

Posted by: hannible at December 13, 2008 8:04 AM

Hannible,

Most of the real estate investors I personally know don't have large mortgages on most of their properties and have substantial cash savings that they're waiting to deploy if things get cheaper.

Small wannabe investors won't be able get lending or won't have enough savings to pay all cash or 50% down if necessary when the market really tanks.

Sounds like you don't like landlords too much, but thanks for talking real estate, dude.

Posted by: IronBalls at December 13, 2008 9:39 AM

Well I hope you don't have money invested with Madoff. The jerk lost billions for alot of people. I am waiting too but I want to wait say until homes go down by another 70-80 percent. I see you are from the west coast because you call peolple dude. On the east coast we say bro.You are right I don't like real estate brokers I equate them to parisites.

Posted by: hannible at December 13, 2008 7:36 PM

70-80%? dream on, hannible. dream on.

also, consider the fact that many neighborhood "elders" still own their homes and would lose a huge amount of equity from a 70-80% decline in prices. if anyone is a "parasite" here, it is you.

Posted by: z at December 13, 2008 8:57 PM

While a 70-80% decline would mean utter devastation for many people, is highly unlikely, and the federal government is trying to lower lending rates and stimulate the economy, if you consider that in many areas of NYC, particularly the more desirable parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, property prices have tripled in the last eight years, it's definitely not out of the realm of possibility.

I used to dislike brokers too, especially the well known ones making insane commissions when times were good in return for so little work.

Now that the housing market has slowed drastically, and brokers have to actually work to get a listing sold, I don't harbor any ill will towards them.

Posted by: IronBalls at December 14, 2008 8:51 AM

Ironballs,
I know an "elder" in Fort Greene, who had worked in the NYC schools first as a teacher, then as an assistant pricipal prior to retiring. She recently sold her house to one of those undesirable people who paid between $1,500,000 - $2,000,000 for her house. She moved to Florida, bought a three bedroom house with an in ground swimming pool in a 55+ community, travels and is really enjoying herself. The new owners will raise their family in that house, and maybe someday sell it. Sounds like a good ending to me.

Posted by: chase at December 14, 2008 9:35 AM

The Haves and the Have Nots. Same old song and dance.

Boring

Posted by: Adam Dahill at December 15, 2008 8:06 AM

Not the haves and have nots, not the same old s and d, and not boring. The animus on the board comes from a set of highly charged anxieties about the shape of the urban middle class, in Manhattan and Brooklyn, period. The idea that you could move to Brooklyn and live a decent life on a decent non-banker salary, in a fairly safe neighborhood, with adequate space to raise a family, and without mortgaging your future, or entering a speculative vortex --all of it's up for grabs. The notion that this board is about some snooty high achievers looking down on half-assed slackers is nonsense. It gets its nastiness from the fact that many posters are in roughly the same financial boat (with outliers, of course) and struggling with identical decisions. If I didn't hear the words "bitter renter" in my own head it wouldn't bother me when some idiot broker typed it; if you didn't hear "overleveraged d-bag" in your head, you wouldn't bother to respond when I wrote it. IMHO.

Posted by: Whuh at December 15, 2008 10:03 AM

Whuh--best post I have read from you to date. Totally spot on. Nothing like one's own insecurities spelled out on a web blog to make one cranky and immature.

Posted by: wasder at December 15, 2008 11:59 AM

Adding to the animus, obviously, is the inherently highly charged nature of real estate. The idea of "home" touches on so many big issues, an when you add money to the equation, it's no wonder it's such an obsession.

Posted by: Miss Muffett at December 15, 2008 1:17 PM

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December 12, 2008

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