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June 18, 2009

House of the Day: 78 Douglass Street

After picking up this three-story house at 78 Douglass Street in 2006 for $425,000, the owner renovated it (with so-so results) and then put it on the market in 2007 with Corcoran for $1,500,000. After a couple of months, it was pulled from the market. It re-emerged with Aguayo & Huebener this April and recently underwent a price trim that brought the ask down to $1,659,000. Realistic?
78 Douglass Street [Aguayo & Huebener] GMAP P*Shark

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Comments

I really like the look of this house. I think the renovation looks terrific, personally.

But you say the price was 1,500,00 with Corcoran and now it's 1,659,000...?

Posted by: 11217 at June 18, 2009 1:22 PM

I think you made a mistake with your wording
going from 1.5 to 1.659 is hardly a "trim"

I think they did a pretty good job - interesting details with regards to installing a brick oven!

I think it will sell though at about 1.3mil

Posted by: gemini10 at June 18, 2009 1:24 PM

Exposed brick is **so** 1993.

Posted by: Park Sloper at June 18, 2009 1:25 PM

I LOVE exposed brick. But to each his/her own.

Posted by: 11217 at June 18, 2009 1:26 PM

Whoops! I added an extra zero. I DON'T think it will go for 14 million!!!

Posted by: Carol Gardens at June 18, 2009 1:27 PM

They went nuts with the bricks... walls, backsplash, ceiling.. this house needs a makeover before it sells.

Posted by: oe at June 18, 2009 1:30 PM

A pizza oven would be great, but the ugly kitchen cabinets mounted on the brick wall look heinous. And good luck keeping a brick backsplash clean.

Posted by: tinarina at June 18, 2009 1:31 PM

There goes Mr. B ranking on developers again :-)

I take it this is a flip.

Posted by: denton at June 18, 2009 1:35 PM

I hate the cabinets too
but love exposed bricks
am still trying to figure out though did they use bricks as a ceiling in that room or is it wood?

Posted by: gemini10 at June 18, 2009 1:35 PM

Yeah, can't fathom somebody upping the price from 2007 (the peak) til now (escalator going down). Another one of those "what are they thinking" asks. Certainly looks like a decent house and some of the renovation issues could be fairly easily remedied. At 1.2 they will have a deal I would think. Seeing as how they bought for 425 and couldn't have spent more than 300 renovating they will still turn a very tidy profit on this house.

Posted by: wasder at June 18, 2009 1:37 PM

Maybe the bricks fell off the back of a truck.

Posted by: DeLepp at June 18, 2009 1:38 PM

Hmmm bad school district. One block from a housing project. Near the height of the market it went for under $500,000. I guess if you put up a ridiculous asking price, coming down $400 or $500,000 makes you think you got a bargain. 1.2 million isn't a bargain to me, but perhaps there's a buyer out there somewhere who thinks it is.

Posted by: CGfan at June 18, 2009 1:46 PM

CGfan--in no way am I saying that 1.2 is a bargain. I am just saying I bet they would find a buyer at that price.

Posted by: wasder at June 18, 2009 1:51 PM

Avtually Park Sloper, exposed brick is **so** 1969.

I liked it then but hate it now.

Posted by: Bob Marvin at June 18, 2009 1:53 PM

I infer from the written description that there is only one bathroom and a "hook-up" for a second bath in the garden level? That's a minus. The brick-vaulted rear porch is deeply disturbing. Who built that and when -and why?
If you love brick and don't use the bathroom much, this house is for you.
I say they get 1.2 million for the house. It is on a nice quiet block. The re-do itself is just odd.

Posted by: sam at June 18, 2009 1:53 PM

No floor plan? They suck.

Gorgeous 3 story 1 fam (zero rental but mucho tental income) with the PJ factor. Crash support @ $750K to $1M. Think real hard about the 2006 price paid. Yeah, comps were a little more but is a renovation worth THAT much?

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at June 18, 2009 1:55 PM

wasder, I didn't mean to imply you did think it was a bargain. I just find it ridiculous to think anyone would want to pay even 1.2 million for this house. That's still a housing bubble price for a 3 story on this block.

Posted by: CGfan at June 18, 2009 1:59 PM

BHO-Given that you can renovate for about 100G a floor (ballpark) you are right that this house's 2006 value would have been around 700G, which sounds pretty low to me compared to what I understood houses were going for there at the time. But you are right, given that info this house would still be a money maker for these sellers at 800 or 900.

Posted by: wasder at June 18, 2009 2:00 PM

hey folks, ya gotta dig a little deeper and don't take little bit of info and make it fact. You're supposed to be a discerning and sophisticated lot.
There was a deed transfer in 2006 for $425k - but it was not a real sale. Was to a LLC of which the owner is the partner.
And do you really think someone is going to sell a renovated house of this sq footage around there for brownstoner appraised price of < $1.3m? Yeah, right.

Posted by: Petebklyn at June 18, 2009 2:04 PM

Can you build up? The surrounding buildings are taller by at least a story.

Hard to tell with the inadequate listing, but there's something weird about this.

Posted by: Brooklyn Chicken at June 18, 2009 2:12 PM

Exposed Brick
Ugly Kitchen cabinets
So so details
Overpriced

'I really can't stand it'
- Tell me Why

Posted by: Expert Textpert at June 18, 2009 2:18 PM

What happened to yesterday's HOTD on Grand Ave? Went to take a closer look today and it has disappeared.

Posted by: grand army at June 18, 2009 2:23 PM

I think Petebklyn is right to suspect the reality of the 2006 $425K sale price. Shells were going for a mot more than that in 2006, even on a block that close to the Gowanus Houses.

Posted by: Boerum Hill at June 18, 2009 2:26 PM

I dug a little deeper, Pete, and this is what I came up with...

From "Petebklyn's Profile"...

"Neighborhood: Carroll Gardens...
...Abode: House"

Ohhhhhh...that's why < $1.3M can't be fathomed.

You're right about the deed transfer though. But still, these comps were going for about $250K to $300K late 90's. Halfway to ask is sub mil. What do you love more, your home or your burning paper equity?

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at June 18, 2009 2:33 PM

I think late 80's not 90's at that price. I bought 1986.

And my reason not for such a cheap price is because this house 1 block east 1 block north went into contract pretty quickly and listed at $3.2m
http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=1544457&ohDat=
So I would put the Douglass street prop at about 1/2 $1.5 or so.

also, if I were serious about 'trading up' --- it would be much easier for me do so if prices were 1/2 off. Difference of $500k to trade up would be down to $250k. Much easier since have no mortgage.
But I haven't seen happen. If it did - I'd be very tempted.

Posted by: Petebklyn at June 18, 2009 3:15 PM

Petebklyn, I have to admit I'm surprised that any house on that block of Baltic would get $3 million in today's market. Although that one does look like an extremely high end renovation, and is certainly nearly twice as big as this one at over 4000 square feet. I wonder what the selling price was on that one.

Posted by: CGfan at June 18, 2009 3:49 PM

there is something definitely off about this. brick walls, I get. brick backsplash? ok. brick ceiling? not used to that, but ok. but how many times do I have to say: NO BRICK DECKS PLEASE.

Posted by: joe_the_bummer at June 18, 2009 4:14 PM

That's not a brick ceiling. It's wood. I don't mind the exposed brick, but I suspect it woulnd't be too hard to cover with drywall. (plaster might need lathing).

The kitchen is really gross. I'd have to rip out those cabs and start again.

Good location, price doesn't feel that out of whack. I haven't seen too many move in condition homes in prime CG for less.

Posted by: Bolder at June 18, 2009 4:52 PM

Bid half off peak bricks.

Posted by: Nomi at June 18, 2009 4:54 PM

Another greedy flipper who hopefully lands in foreclosure. I bought this POS for $425, added $1000 worth of paint, and now want to hit the lottery for over a million. Any appraiser who values this over 500K should have his license revoked, and any bank who would loan over that should have their bailout money rescinded immediately for trying to keep the greed bubble blowing.

Posted by: williamsburgguy at June 18, 2009 5:13 PM

Bolder, the problem is that this block, while perfectly fine, isn't "prime CG". It's not just that it's a block from the Gowanus Houses, it's that it also isn't zoned for PS 58 or PS 29, which many CG blocks are.

Posted by: CGfan at June 18, 2009 5:13 PM

I hate to be impolitic or a snob; but this house sucks. I mean, it just sucks. Do the math, think about how much money someone buying it at or near ask would have to make annually to afford it; then forget all trees, see only forest, and realize: you're asking someone to be a high-end workaholic wage slave --and to live like this? A stone's throw from a project, in this misshapen dwarf of a building? Upon which they need to spend more money, to un-do the crappy, greedy renovation of a flipper? I mean, really. This is what, above all, makes me think the music really has stopped. Who with any remaining dram of self-respect is going to sign on that dotted line?

Posted by: Whuh at June 18, 2009 6:03 PM

whuh, you said it. I am a high-end workaholic wage slave (well was until the crash) and I'm just not going to do this. not gonna do it. fuck it, I'll rent forever. I don't need to be glued to a piece of shit like this while some greedy flipper runs away with my cash and I pay the bank and my kids end up smoking crack, and I can't move and I can't quit my crap job, and I just get squeezed year after year in this scummy NYC nightmare, and it takes me an hour to get to work, and some asshole gets the same place for free on welfare, and takes my seat on the subway, and some bitch with a stroller knocks my shins and thinks its justified by her motherhood and doesn't even say excuse me. no fucking way. not gonna do it.

Posted by: joe_the_bummer at June 18, 2009 6:26 PM

"If you love brick and don't use the bathroom much, this house is for you."

Good one.

Posted by: mopar at June 18, 2009 6:42 PM

Though you all should get a clue, this house will sell for whatever is normal in this area, and the buyers will re-do it themselves. Location determines price, as long as the inside is clean and neat, which this is. Except for maybe the irrevocable brick factor -- that could throw a brick into the works.

Also, any of you actually been to this area? Anything off Smith St. is golden, doesn't matter a bit that there's a project down the street.

Posted by: mopar at June 18, 2009 6:45 PM

Mopar, I live right around here, though in a far nicer subsection of the neighborhood, and am looking to buy; and I can tell you, yes, the bubble continues only slightly deflated at the high end, but it is about to get mercilessly pricked for houses just such as this one. I mean, forget it --no one can get a loan on this POS, and no one NO ONE with that amount in cash is going to wager it on this crap-pile. But the larger point is a lifestyle one. The days of panic buying are over, and people see a house like this for what it really is. A NOTHING house. And ps --Smith Street is so played. And you're telling me to get a clue?

You tell me, since you're clued in --when do you think this sells by, and for what?

Posted by: Whuh at June 18, 2009 6:54 PM

Obviously this was not bought in 2006 for the price you mentioned. That was close to the height of the market and you're telling me they paid a !990's price for it? Yeah right. I don't think sites like Property Shark serve as legitimate resources all the time. This is one of those times.

Posted by: swade at June 18, 2009 7:27 PM

Whuh--gotta agree with you on this.

Joe--tell how you really feel!

Posted by: wasder at June 18, 2009 7:29 PM

We bid on this place soon after it came on the market. The research we did indicates a more muddled ownership scenario and perhaps some pressure to sell. It's a nice enough house, though incomplete: needs a real kitchen, closets, bathroom upgrades. The school district is a problem. Of course folks want PS 29, 58 or 261, and even PS 38 might be worth considering . PS 32, for which this place is zoned, is disastrous. All that said, we've been looking for ages, waiting for things to deflate, and know the neighborhood very well. Our bid of 1.2 (more than we thought it was "worth") was quickly rejected as "too low to even consider." We're not pining after this place, but it's pleasant to see it languish on the market.

Posted by: since88 at June 18, 2009 9:13 PM

Well, it could be just me, but I would go for yesterday's HOTD on Grand in a second (given that there are no disasters lurking in the lack of info) before this one. I know the location is better, but come on.......

Posted by: Schultz at June 18, 2009 10:17 PM

Just got back from dins at Henry's End, it is a cute scene.
I just need to say that no, that ceiling is not wood, it is brick. The term "vaulted" refers to an arched brick ceiling. This is ususally a good thing, but in this instance, I don't think so. It is just very weird.
I don't like the way this house has been messed with.
Of course a thousand clueless buyers will just LOVE the way it has been messed around with -"SO DIFFERENT"
but buyer best beware.

Posted by: sam at June 18, 2009 10:52 PM

since88 - take heart. We had offers rejected as "too low to consider" only to have owners come back to us later with their tails between their knees. But now that prices are so clearly headed downwards, we've gotten much more discriminating about what we're willing to pay. Be patient - time is on your side.

Posted by: Miss Muffett at June 18, 2009 11:19 PM

Sam, I remember Henry's End. Whuh, sadly, taste does not correlate strongly with price.

Posted by: mopar at June 18, 2009 11:25 PM

« Condo of the Day: 970 Kent Avenue, #107 Streetlevel: Knotting Slope Closes »

June 18, 2009

House of the Day: 78 Douglass Street

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