Sign up for the Brownstoner daily email
« Co-op of the Day: 1 Plaza Street West, #8C Streetlevel: Lily & Fig Opens on Franklin »

July 6, 2009

House of the Day: 113 Garfield Place Revisited

113-Garfield-Place-0409.jpg
The three-story brownstone at 113 Garfield Place in Park Slope was a House of the Day back in April when it hit the market with a price tag of $1,800,000; since then, the price has been reduced twice, most recently a couple of week ago to the current price of $1,675,000. The question is whether this will be enough: After all, 126 votes were submitted to the pricing widget at the time and the magic number that popped out was $1,524,906. Based on the comments, the layout and renovation choices may be holding it back. Has anyone been inside?
113 Garfield Place [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
House of the Day: 113 Garfield Place [Brownstoner]





Posted by Brownstoner at 1:10 PM | Comments (25)
Categories: HOTD, Park Slope

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/10445

Comments

I've been to this house, and it is a nice one.

A bit narrow if I had to pick on anything, and the living room space is a bit small because the parlor floor is split by the kitchen in the middle, but overall, a very nice single family home.

It's a bit west of the park as far as local goes.

Unlike most properties I see, while I think the prices of most things are a bit lofty if you compare to what average upper-middles can afford reasonably, this is one where I don;t walk out of the front door laughing at the asking price.

I think guessing prices here is just a bit foolish, but generally, I'm honestly skeptical of all prices at this point.

Read John Talbot's "Contagion" if you want an excellent read on the subject.

Posted by: MoneyForNothing at July 6, 2009 1:27 PM

Kitchen is in the wrong location.

No master bath = No deal!

Posted by: Expert Textpert at July 6, 2009 1:48 PM

That kitchen renovation is really underwhelming here at this price point. Ideally the kitchen could have been situated better maybe next to the deck plus the cabinetry, finishes & appliances are low grade for a million dollar house. Otherwise a nice house in a very good location...another ~$200K off is our guess.

Posted by: pierre de taille at July 6, 2009 1:55 PM

tiny, tiny, tiny.
The kitchen belongs in a one-bedroom rental apartment.
It would take at least $300,000 to reconfigure the layout to make this a gracious home, half a million to do it right.
It is cute but over-priced.

Posted by: sam at July 6, 2009 1:57 PM

I think the widget average here is ridiculous. 1.52 in April and now 1.35? Why? Seems knee jerk to me.

Some of the choices here are heavy for my personal taste, the exposed brick in particular. But there's nothing obviously egregious about the renovation. It's a sweet house that you don't have to do any major work on in a desirable neighborhood. The current asking price feels close to realistic, as far as guessing these things in these times is possible.

Posted by: Nomi at July 6, 2009 1:57 PM

I think it's a cute house - but agreed with the kitchen comments. what were they thinking? I suppose you can blow out that sitting area and open up walls and really have a nice kitchen, but to have to spend 1.6mil and then another 50-75K to have a top of the line kitchen is asking too much!

Posted by: gemini10 at July 6, 2009 2:00 PM

Eh, they made a choice. They wanted that huge dining room which is really nice. Mark Bittman can cook in a closet! And does, apparently .. . .

Posted by: Nomi at July 6, 2009 2:03 PM

The kitchen/dining area in this house should be downstairs and be open to the garden. The "library" should be moved to the parlor level and a small extra bedroom placed where the library is now. The bedroom floor has to be totally reconfigured. And the master suite crated on a new setback story with glass walls facing front and back. Then you would have something. This is just ordinary and certainly not worth the price.


Posted by: sam at July 6, 2009 2:09 PM

I follow Corcoran's website for CarGard, CobHill, BoerHill
and they have nothing in this price range now as all are in contract( $1.35 to $2m )- so surprised to see this in nearby area.
Looks very nice.

Posted by: Petebklyn at July 6, 2009 2:11 PM

This kitchen doubles as a hallway/corridor to dining room. Not ideal.

Posted by: Expert Textpert at July 6, 2009 2:14 PM

Or should I say this hallway/corridor doubles as a kitchen.

Posted by: Expert Textpert at July 6, 2009 2:14 PM

Just curious ...Exactly what is an "upper-middle" for a brownstoner? $500K/year and net worth of $3mm+?

Posted by: BH76 at July 6, 2009 2:27 PM

In Brooklyn one needs an extraoridnary income to buy an ordinary little hundred-year-old house.

go figure.


Posted by: sam at July 6, 2009 2:32 PM

"This kitchen doubles as a hallway/corridor to dining room" -- much preferable than the usual expensive condo where living room triples as dining room and kitchen.

Posted by: Petebklyn at July 6, 2009 2:42 PM

Agreed Petebklyn. There's nothing worse than a bad layout; regardless if it's a house, Condo or Co-op.

Posted by: Expert Textpert at July 6, 2009 2:58 PM

The kitchen doesn't bother me so much as the two bedrooms less than 7 foot wide and the suggestion that the big room on the garden floor is another bedroom.

Is this supposed to be a family home, a dormitory, or a flop house?

Posted by: northsloperenter at July 6, 2009 3:22 PM

I've seen it. You may take issue with the layout, but there are always compromises there.

For me, the issue was it doesn't look as good as the photos. The restoration/renovation is't clean. Mouldings painted too many times, gaps between floors and walls, painting withtout skimcoating, choice of materials, etc.

Also, the backyard is kind of unappealing, and has limited potential due to adjacent properties.

Location is great, however, if you like 5th.

Real issue, IMHO , may be the way the eccentric listing process - FSBO, non-exclusive listings, owner says he's a broker and may or may not be, step behind market reality in terms of price expectations. I think that's why it's gone stale.

I wouldn't read too much into the other factors, since worse places have sold faster.

Posted by: fuplease at July 6, 2009 3:56 PM

LOVELY LOVELY LOVELY!!!!
worth every penny

Posted by: mysideofstuy at July 6, 2009 4:05 PM

Unless things start to improve quickly, I honestly do not know who will be willing or able to spend this much money on a little house near Fifth Avenue. The economy is in shambles and even people with cash don't want to buy property that will continue to lose value indefinitely.
1.6 million dollars is a great deal of money for most Americans. And those who still have the resources are in a position to be very selective. There is no market for this type of house at his price point right now. Stop kidding yourself.


Posted by: Minard Lafever at July 6, 2009 4:37 PM

"1.6 million dollars is a great deal of money for most Americans"

Yes, but it's not Americans who buy houses in Brooklyn. It's New Yorkers that do.

Posted by: denton at July 6, 2009 5:04 PM

> Yes, but it's not Americans who buy houses in Brooklyn. It's New Yorkers that do.

huh?? New Yorkers aren't Americans?

Posted by: Expert Textpert at July 6, 2009 5:17 PM

I understand denton's point. New Yorkers are not Americans in the sense that most Americans do not earn the huge bonuses and large salaries that many New Yorkers enjoy in the financial, legal, and advertising industires. However those very industries are under siege at the moment. This and the fact that New Yorkers have to pay stratospheric taxes AND send their little children to incredibly expensive private schools is narrowing the gap quite a bit between New Yorkers and "continentals".

Posted by: Minard Lafever at July 6, 2009 5:28 PM

Not my cup of tea, but it looks just like every other brownstone. If the kitchen were downstairs in the original position, youd all be complaining it wasnt on the parlor floor. You cant have it both ways. I dont see why this place is any worse than any other, or why it shouldnt get whatever the going rate is.

Posted by: mopar at July 6, 2009 6:06 PM

Thanks ML, you get my point which is that New Yorkers are a unique subset of Americans. Nevertheless, property taxes are very low and the public schools in PS are really not that bad. My kid went and actually managed to graduate from college!

Posted by: denton at July 6, 2009 6:13 PM

"The kitchen/dining area in this house should be downstairs and be open to the garden. The "library" should be moved to the parlor level and a small extra bedroom placed where the library is now. The bedroom floor has to be totally reconfigured. And the master suite crated on a new setback story with glass walls facing front and back. Then you would have something. This is just ordinary and certainly not worth the price."

Sam, for real? You think doing all that would bring it up to the current asking price? Nah, you're joking, right?


Posted by: Nomi at July 6, 2009 10:01 PM

Post a comment

Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.

Latest Restaurant Additions