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April 22, 2009

House of the Day: 65 Prospect Park West

Why oh why do some brokers persist in putting up a listing with no interior photos?Especially when you are asking close to $3 million, it's an insult to potential buyers not to include at least four or five views of the inside of the house. It wastes everyone's time and only creates suspicion in the minds of buyers. In the case of this house at 65 Prospect Park West (in this case, the broker also doesn't disclose the address either), we hope there's some original detail that's intact but given that the house hasn't changed hands in decades (and without any photographic evidence to the contrary) it's a reasonable assumption that the interior's not in tip-top shape. The house is asking $2,899,000. Has anyone been inside this place?
65 Prospect Park West [Awaye Realty] GMAP P*Shark

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"Preserving its original character and charm, this property awaits the right buyer to gut it and create a dream home."

That statement + no interior shots + no floorplan = you are likely right that this joint is shot to all hell. So, is a gut job on PPW worth 3 large?

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at April 22, 2009 1:22 PM

This jackass didn't even remove the trash buckets out front on pickup day!!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at April 22, 2009 1:22 PM

a driveway on PPW - has to worth at least 1M alone ;)

Posted by: bkny at April 22, 2009 1:26 PM

This is such a letdown after the COTD porn.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at April 22, 2009 1:26 PM

I've walked by this place and it looks very run down. Also, anyone remember that Corco listing very similar to this (another house like this on PPW) which started above 3 (pre-crash) and had many price cuts before selling way way below (low 2's, I think?) and again, pre-Lehman. I can't believe the broker/seller is serious about selling - kind of reminds me of yesterday's HOTD in that respect, verging on a joke.

Posted by: Miss Muffett at April 22, 2009 1:28 PM

Sometimes it seems like it is just a time lag between a listing appearing on a broker's website and the floorplans and interior photos being added.
I have no interest in defending brokers, and but in some cases I think it's just a time lag while they sort out the staging.
That said sometimes it's just a bad attempt to hide something, and this one looks suspicious.

Posted by: etson at April 22, 2009 1:29 PM

I vote that you (Mr. B.) no longer give press and publicity to the properties for sale that don't bother to give interior photos and/or a floor plan. Lazy ass brokers don't deserve the views and clicks generated by this site.

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at April 22, 2009 1:32 PM

i think it would be amazing to live on this block with a driveway. if i had the money and means of renovating this house i would buy it. location is worth plenty here - how much, i'm not sure.

Posted by: bkny at April 22, 2009 1:33 PM

I always quite liked this little pair of buildings. Sort of reminds me of Leon Krier drawings. Great little balconies on the front! It would be a shame for someone maximize the FAR on a single.

I think I saw one of these house listed under another broker. From those pics it looked to be in pretty sad shape inside. I also remember walking by several times last summer seeing folks having a yard sale of stuff that looked like it hadn't ever been cleaned and then went through a flood. That may have more to do with the condition of the garage than anything else.

I think if you buy a $3M house you're going to want to redo everything to your personal taste, no?

Posted by: bessie2 at April 22, 2009 1:36 PM

I always liked this wacky little house.
Love the fact it has a driveway and garage and love those windows
I can't see this going for anywhere close to 3 million if we are assuming it needs major work inside

Posted by: gemini10 at April 22, 2009 1:40 PM

A listing for a small and homely $3 million dollar should not contain the phrase "gut it and create a dream home."

Posted by: SnarkSlope at April 22, 2009 1:40 PM

Okay, so this is a sincere question: do interior photos really matter?

I mean, I love to look at them but they rarely tell the whole story -- sure the floors look shiny, but is that linoleum or some high end parquet work? Can't tell from the photos.

No one is posting photos of janky wiring, water damage or sinks dangling by a thread, which are the things you really want to know about before you bother to look at a place. So if you're in the market for a 5 bedroom townhouse in the general vicinity, aren't you just going to call Awaye and take a look at the place?

I'd be generally curious to know whether brokers have a take on this, like that at some price points, interior photos don't seem to make a difference.

Posted by: serpentor at April 22, 2009 1:41 PM

Is this on a landmarked lot? Otherwise at 26' wide and a generous zoning FAR of 4 one could imagine a quick tear down and a 9 story glass finger building over looking Prospect Park...

Posted by: IMBY at April 22, 2009 1:42 PM

The listing does say "... waiting for a buyer to gut it and create a dream home"

So at least the broker is somewhat honest about the interior, brokers don't often use the "gut" word unless absolutely necessary.

I love the "driveway" and "garage". Technically they are those things, but from those photos it looks like you'd have a tough time wedging a Honda Civic down the driveway into the garage.

But hell, the curb cut alone is worth $ 1 mil.

Posted by: christopher at April 22, 2009 1:42 PM

Christopher
let's just hope either A. that driveway is grandfathered or B. it has enough space to be a legal driveway - am curious b/c of the bustop that sits right in front of the house might be an issue if that driveway was never legalized.

Posted by: gemini10 at April 22, 2009 1:45 PM

If I were to live on PPW, I'd much prefer an apartment on a nice high floor with a great view. This house has all the disadvantages of being on PPW, and none of the advantages.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at April 22, 2009 1:47 PM

Serpentor, point taken wrt the interior photos, but they do at least give you somewhat of a clue as to what's going on in there. In a situation like this where the broker is admitting that a gut may be needed, the photos are all the more important. For me though, lack of a floorplan is the real killer. Layout is so important. It's one thing to look at photos and say, 'yeah, I need to replace the cabinets, etc.' and another to have a floorplan available and know if you are going to want to be moving walls, adding new bathrooms where there once was none, etc.

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at April 22, 2009 1:48 PM

wasn't this a HOTD about 6 months ago?

Posted by: new2hood at April 22, 2009 1:48 PM

I walked by this the other day...very "dark lot" because of the looming apt. building next door, casts shadows over the front recessed area. That explains the photoshopping "over exposed" look. Anyways, I'm sure it's rather run down inside...but I'd offer 1.95 mill...parking would be awesome.

Posted by: ppw_girlz at April 22, 2009 1:56 PM

Like gemini10, I also have a soft spot for these weird little houses! I'm not sure why, to tell you the truth. They're twins BTW, and it seems to me they share the driveway. But I don't know for sure.

I'm pretty sure this is landmarked, so no high rise, IMBY.

Posted by: Kris at April 22, 2009 1:57 PM

saved by the widget cutoff else would've guessed lower than that.

Posted by: more4less at April 22, 2009 2:02 PM

I have looked at properties with Awaye before. I don't know all their brokers but the guy I dealt with was not really on the up and up about the details of the property. There was also some issue with him and the landlord about whether they were really supposed to be listing the property at the price the broker advertised. There is a chance the listing price is inflated.

Posted by: WTerraceGirl at April 22, 2009 2:06 PM

T-E-A-R-D-O-W-N

Posted by: ontheparkway at April 22, 2009 2:09 PM

Both houses have driveways to the right and the similar but different house between them and the one on the corner to the right does not have a driveway or garage.

Posted by: SJ at April 22, 2009 2:09 PM

Yeah baby, I'm for one of those 9 story mid'l finger glass building w/ a shelf load of balconies complete w/ rooftop garden oasis and 24hr doorman.

Posted by: Magilla Monsoon at April 22, 2009 2:19 PM

The most laughably bad experience we had when buying and looking was with a pair of Awaye brokers at a condo in PS. One was rude (real smart when trying to sell a million dollar property) and the other was clueless about the neighborhood and had the school district wrong.

Posted by: traditionalmod at April 22, 2009 2:27 PM

Serpentor, photos are crucial to see if there is original detail. If the walls have been sheetrocked and the doors replaced, why bother hauling my ass out there and wasting the broker's time? It's also often easy to tell the floor plan from photos, especially in NYC, where so many row houses follow a predictable pattern.

At the low price levels I'm looking at, hilariously, if there are any interior shots, frequently it is of a random piece of furniture and the boiler. Thanks to my house hunt, I've developed a new appreciation for boilers.

Posted by: mopar at April 22, 2009 2:29 PM

These houses are a joke. They should be demolished and replaced with a large apartment building. I've always thought these places were constructed in the 1930s after the depression... There must have been a vacant development site there that went unused after the crash.

The only thing these houses have going for them is the fact they front Prospect Park.

Posted by: Polemicist at April 22, 2009 2:53 PM

I'm taking the opposite position. These houses (if in decent shape) are kinda nice. Driveway a big plus in Slope.

The negative is the location - yes they're close to the park but they're feet away from the 3-lane road. And this one abuts a very large apt building that hinders light in front and back.

Posted by: Johnny at April 22, 2009 2:56 PM

A similar sized place a couple of blocks away at #31 away was HOTD. Similar size, and also has that million dollar curb cut, but didn't need a gut. I'd guess this one goes closer to $2 than $3 mil.

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2008/07/house_of_the_da_538.php

StreetEasy History
04/17/2008 Listed in StreetEasy by Corcoran at $3,250,000.
Subsequent price decreases by 8% then by 3 % ... then 07/11/2008 Price decreased by 7% to $2,600,000.
09/27/2008 Listing entered contract.
11/09/2008 Listing sold.

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/218179-house-31-prospect-park-west-brooklyn-brooklyn

Posted by: Bklnite at April 22, 2009 4:05 PM

Its been a long time since Ive been in one of these but I love these houses. Because there is so few of them, it makes them special somehow.

Having nothing to do with what a broker SHOULD do, I wish all of them would put in more photos so I could lurk :)

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at April 22, 2009 4:26 PM

Not really a Park Slope house in character. Parking is nice to have, but I think the alley access to garage is shared with neighbor. Nothing special about this property. 2 large ones.

Posted by: bel886 at April 22, 2009 6:26 PM

A bank that would loan a dime over 300K for this POS shouldn't get a cent of bailout money. What would this go for in 1999 money?

Posted by: williamsburgguy at April 22, 2009 6:34 PM

I actually saw the interior. It is a total wreck and hard to believe the former owner could live in such squalor. The only thing going for the house is the address. Everything needs to be done to this house from the guts to the outside and every interior space nothing is really worth saving. I think it is grossly overpriced even for a "diamond in the rough". I don't think the previous owners put one cent into the upkeep.

Posted by: drbrooklyn at April 22, 2009 10:17 PM

Wow, based on drbrooklyn's post, I wouldn't touch it for a penny above 1.5 and even that's a stretch if it really needs that much work. Frankly, the huge building next door, the traffic on PPW, and it's overall unappealing condition would probably keep me away at any price.

Posted by: Miss Muffett at April 22, 2009 10:26 PM

Brooklyn Real Estate Brokers. Get real, stop taking listings when you know you will not be able to sell them at that price or even closer to the asking price. A fool would pay this price to live next to an apartment building, with trash in front. Perhaps they think it's like Central Park West. Are you kidding yourself? Fools are not buying just to be buying. Brooklyn brokers get real with your prices and if the seller does not want to get real, don't waste people's time, you will look like a big fool. Otherwise, you will have listings that will last for over 6 months or a year. A smart person knows that a property that is a decent price will sell, not a ridiculous price. Today's market is different and will continue to change.

Posted by: CECILIA at April 22, 2009 10:38 PM

Some people are not in a hurry to sell, they can afford to let it sit. Or it's an estate sale. Not everything on the market has to sell!right!now!

Posted by: pattunia at April 23, 2009 2:39 AM

I believe it is an estate sale.

There is also a bus stop right in front of the house.

Posted by: drbrooklyn at April 27, 2009 11:03 PM

« Condo of the Day: One Main Street, #9B Streetlevel: Falafel-Pizza Combo Coming to Myrtle »

April 22, 2009

House of the Day: 65 Prospect Park West

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