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March 25, 2009

House of the Day: 442 State Street

Run down but not lacking in charm and potential, 442 State Street was on the market last fall with Halstead for $1,200,000 before getting yanked in early February. It has now resurfaced with Brooklyn Heights Real Estate with a significantly lower price tag of $999,000. The place is pretty beat up and isn't on the ritziest street in Boerum Hill, but we could see it coming to life in the right hands. You gotta figure it'll take several hundred grand to get things back in order. What's the magic price that gets this place to sell?
442 State Street [Brooklyn Heights RE] GMAP P*Shark

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Comments

That seems like a lot of $$$ for a gut job.

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at March 25, 2009 1:22 PM

Knock another $300k off for being next to that POS new construction with the balconies.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at March 25, 2009 1:25 PM

"Bring your hard hat!"

Posted by: SnarkSlope at March 25, 2009 1:26 PM

And technically it's not Boreum Hill. It's Downtown Brooklyn.

Boreum starts south of Atlantic.

Posted by: christopher at March 25, 2009 1:27 PM

yes, christopher...I was about to say that its "on the wrong side of the tracks."

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at March 25, 2009 1:31 PM

Christopher-

The Boerum Hill Association, Brooklyn Community Board 2 and wikipedia all disagree.
And so do I.

State St is part of Boerum Hill.

Signed,
Boerum Hill resident

Posted by: Prodigal_Son at March 25, 2009 1:32 PM

hmmm - my favorite part of this listing is:
"..Buy a wreck"
Gee- what a lure!

Offer $695K - spend $300K if you have it and U can make it reallly nice

Also - do they have tinfoil over the baseboards in that photo?

Posted by: gemini10 at March 25, 2009 1:34 PM

"And technically it's not Boreum Hill" - is not in historic district true...but is in area that generally is called Boerum Hill. But downtown Brooklyn is fine too.
Sounds like good price.

Posted by: Petebklyn at March 25, 2009 1:50 PM

Those agents are funny huh? I guess the "elbow prop" photo is mandatory at BHRE!

Also, don't you love that someone can stand on the balcony and look into your windows? That's a GREAT selling point huh?

Posted by: TownhouseLady at March 25, 2009 1:53 PM

Also, this house is tiny. The price is laughable. Fully renovated, I don't think this house if worth more than 1 million.

Posted by: Miss Muffett at March 25, 2009 1:54 PM

mama mia! forget the foil insulation....don't you think they should have cropped out the collapsing ceiling (second from top, right side..) or was the water damage on the wall not enough information?

Posted by: bowl of dicks at March 25, 2009 1:58 PM

Lighten up people! I think it looks great. I'd rather buy a fixer than something that had been home-depoted.

Posted by: cottontop at March 25, 2009 2:01 PM

Cottontop, that's all good and well but they need to price it that way. They'd originally listed for 1.2 then pulled it and relisted for 1?

The owners seem like they're not being realistic.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at March 25, 2009 2:03 PM

is 785 the magic number?

Posted by: chrishavens at March 25, 2009 2:09 PM

the silve baseboard looks like a baseboard heater NOT baseboards that someone covered up with alfoil.

Posted by: deancollins at March 25, 2009 2:11 PM

deancollins
uhhhh.... - sorry but thats TINFOIL SOMEONE TAPED ON TOP OF THE BASEBOARD WITH MOVING/PACKING TAPE
Look again

hmmm - I think 695K Chris Havens - I would offer that

Posted by: gemini10 at March 25, 2009 2:16 PM

uhhhh sorr gemini, it is not tin foil. it is foil wrapped fiberglass insulation that someone shoved between the wall and the baseboard.

Posted by: bowl of dicks at March 25, 2009 2:30 PM

hmmmm I told you I would be able to get a bh townhouse for less than one million...

Posted by: HOBOKENROCKS at March 25, 2009 2:33 PM

Good try, HOBOKEN. :)

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at March 25, 2009 2:37 PM

$1M for what looks like a crack den!?!?!?!

Posted by: bayridgegirl at March 25, 2009 2:38 PM

BOD, your idea makes sense, but I think Gemini is closer to it. Except that I think that tape is of the masking variety.

Has anyone seen this li'l charmer? Know its sad, derelict history?

Posted by: Brooklyn Chicken at March 25, 2009 2:44 PM

"START FROM SCRATCH!"

That's a lot of scratch to start from scratch.

Posted by: Biff Champion at March 25, 2009 2:45 PM

chicken, or anyone, can you tell me what the purpose is of putting tin foil over the baseboard like this? insulation i can understand. bare tin foil, i'm at a loss.

Posted by: bowl of dicks at March 25, 2009 2:50 PM

It's an attempt to get the tinfoil (with insulation on the back if you look close) BEHIND the radiator so that it will reflect outwards. Obviously it was a poor attempt, similar to the roof repairs and the rest of the house.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at March 25, 2009 2:55 PM

yikes.

Posted by: bowl of dicks at March 25, 2009 2:58 PM

What a catastrophe.

But, um, I have to admit I like the cabinets in the kitchen--that classic face-frame cabinet with the inset door is nice. Of course, I'd have painted the doors the same color as the frames...

Posted by: lookin fer stuff at March 25, 2009 3:17 PM

I think that a million dollars for a ramshackle little house, in a non-prime block, in the midst of one of the worst economic downturns in memeory, is not a real hot deal.

I hesitate to guess what this little house is worth today. I doubt a bank would give you a mortgage. I don't know if even $300,000 would be viable. I mean these are hard times and this is a hard sell. The parcel would be more valuable without the house than with it.

Posted by: sam at March 25, 2009 3:18 PM

Miss Muffet,

Please tell me about any fully renovated townhouses in this neighbordhood that sold/are selling for $1.0 mm or less. If there's one for sale, I'm very interested in buying it.

Posted by: Boerum Hill at March 25, 2009 3:21 PM

Boerum Hill,

Miss Muffet is laughable and delusional. I read her comments only for laughs. You are right, there are no full renovated houses in Boerum Hill selling for that price. Only wrecks. That said, this house is a mess and too narrow to be worth the work.

Posted by: boroughbred at March 25, 2009 3:42 PM

Check out this one.
http://www.century21.com/property/index.jsp?id=34877291

Saw it this weekend... reminded me of the set from the movie Seven.

Posted by: RaginCajun at March 25, 2009 3:50 PM

I have no idea the right price for this house. That said, this is just the kind of place I'd love IF I wanted to live through another reno again. A small, blank-space house where you're free to do whatever... I'd keep the facade, knock off the back wall and put in glass...

Of course, I'm never going to do it. But I bet I hope somebody with patience and good dieas scores a great deal on this place.

Posted by: basementalist at March 25, 2009 4:08 PM

When was the last time any townhouse in Boerum Hill (and it is Boerum Hill) went for less than a million? And it doesn't have to cost 300K to renovate (smaller the house, the cheaper the fix-up!) And that's actually a good family block. Wish it was wider, true, and that that disgusting social services or rehab place on Nevins with its sidewalk denizens wasn't there (or anywhere in the universe), but I think the building is cute and has huge potential and someone will be lucky to get it for whatever they eventually get it for. Better than an apartment for half the price.

Posted by: casacara at March 25, 2009 4:13 PM

so many nice apartments on the market now.
Has anyone checked out some of the older neighborhoods in Manhattan? Prices have really dropped.
I know things are topsy-turby now, but you can get a nice 2-bedroom in the Upper East Side for less than they are asking for this POS in felon-corners, Brooklyn.

Posted by: sam at March 25, 2009 4:28 PM

Did not know that Boreum Hill went to the other side of atlantic. Either way I would not want to own on that side of Atlantic even if technically Boreum Hill. Though I do suppose it is better than a few blocks over next to the Jail.

Posted by: Redwes25 at March 25, 2009 4:38 PM

Maybe they marked up the price because it's worth so much as a set rental for horror films.

Posted by: mopar at March 25, 2009 4:59 PM

Redwes25 --

Actually the block near the jail (between Smith and Hoyt) is really great -- beautiful landmarked buildings line the south side of the block and the north side has the wonderful 14 townhouse development; lots of families -- a great feel. The problem with that block isn't the jail, but rather that the block is now sandwiched between 75 smith on the south side and all the tall ugly new condos on livingston and schemerhorn on the north side, causing shadows, etc. The crazy person quotient is much higher by Nevins than by Smith.

Posted by: aishling at March 25, 2009 5:09 PM

"The parcel would be more valuable without the house than with it."

Sam, are you exaggerating, or do you really think this?

Posted by: Nomi at March 25, 2009 6:20 PM

It's a nice neighborhood. We've lived on State between Nevins and 3rd for 10+ years. Never had a problem. Super-convenient WRT walking to other Brooklyn nabes and public transportation. It's probably safer than the other side of Atlantic which is closer to the PJ's. The halfway house at Nevins and State, while unsightly, is not an issue. Parking does suck - alternate side 4x a week but we don't own a car.

The house in question is very odd. It has no stoop. I don't know what happened to the old lady who owned it - perhaps she died - but ever since we bought our house on State Street in 1996, the stoop stairs of that house have been in an unfinished condition. My next-door neighbor told me that the old lady kept hiring and then firing contractors to fix the stoop. It's not surprising that the inside is a mess.

Posted by: bobby joe at March 25, 2009 6:42 PM

Wowza this same junk is being offered by another broker for $850K... David Rivera All Points Real Estate.
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/reb/1088087025.html
Could you imagine Halstead had the chruzpa to price this @ $1.2m just a few months ago? Yep prices are falling fast but this one was pure insanity.
Place is not worth a penny over $600K in our opinion given its tiny size and horrendous condition. The location though is satisfactory with good access to mass transit.

Posted by: pierre de taille at March 25, 2009 10:11 PM

I saw this place and it's a MESS! Worst part is floors are dipping all over, i'm no expert but it looks to me like this will take a lot of money to put right, and at the end of all that you're left with a very small and dark house with a small and narrow garden. (there's highish rise buildings from atlantic blocking a lot of light at the back, so you also have lots of windows looking directly into the back of the place)

Posted by: gavolivia at March 26, 2009 11:25 AM

I lived on State Street for years and it is Boerum Hill. Sure, it's the dividing line between downtown BK and BH, but TRUST me, State Street is NOT Fulton Mall. It's Boerum Hill and a very lovely street. I miss living there.

Posted by: Nanook at March 26, 2009 11:33 AM

We were told this house was appraised at $700,000. We went to see it and think that's a bit high: the house is small and in really, really bad condition. There have apparently been several offers on it ranging from about $550K to $600K, which seems about right but the seller wants no less than $700K. We felt it needs at least $300K of work, easily. You would basically be buying a plot of land with a facade and some walls, it needs everything else - roof, some beams, ceilings/floors, etc. Also, it could be tough to get a mortgage for it because of how much work it needs.

I don't think it's hopeless though - seems as though "the market" has spoken and it could sell for $600K very, very quickly.

Posted by: lilu at April 15, 2009 10:06 AM

« Big Fire on 9th Street? StreetLevel: New Falafel Joint for Union »

March 25, 2009

House of the Day: 442 State Street

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