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August 20, 2009

House of the Day: 52 South Oxford, Reduced and Revisited

Fifteen months and a million dollars later, the seller of 52 South Oxford Street is finally getting real. When the 6,000-square-foot brownstone hit the market in April 2008 asking $2,500,000 we had the following to say: "Um, no. An unrenovated SRO, five stories or not, on South Oxford Street for $2,500,000 in this market? Don't think so." According to the current listing, the "property has obtained a permanent exemption regarding the Certificate of Non-Harassment" and will be delivered vacant, which is good news for both the seller and potential buyer. Based upon the video (which is a very effective tool in this case) that the current broker has made, it actually looks like an amazing project for someone with patience and money. Fantastic bones. Who's gonna go for it? The seller's motivated!
52 South Oxford Street [Burkesworks] GMAP P*Shark
House of the Day: 52 South Oxford Street [Brownstoner]

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Comments

OK I admit the doors are making me damp. But it probably has 16 bathrooms and requires a gut renovation.

Posted by: mopar at August 20, 2009 1:27 PM

"an amazing project for someone with patience and money"

did you say they've gotten real?

Charmless facade. There are pristine 2-family buildings in FG (albeit not Oxford Street) available for this price or close.

I'd add "and a high threshold for pain" to the ideal buyer description at this price.

Compare to, say, 190 and 202 Clermont, then let me know how real they've gotten.

Posted by: MoneyForNothing at August 20, 2009 1:28 PM

There's an ugly sister either side of this place. Poor Cinderella.

Posted by: dittoburg at August 20, 2009 1:29 PM

It doesn't look like a gut IMHO. But I guess there's no knowing about leaky pipes, bad wiring etc from the photos.

I think it looks dreamy... I would have wanted that 10 yrs ago...

Posted by: hooky at August 20, 2009 1:29 PM

I would seal any lead issues, make sure the plumbing, heating and electric weren't going to explode, and live in that glorious crumbling wreck as is. I worry that whoever renovates it will try too hard and lose a lot of that charm.

Posted by: Heather at August 20, 2009 1:35 PM

right ditto, people don't shell out over a million when something is surrounded by ugliness.

What's your take on this today, shillstoner???

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at August 20, 2009 1:37 PM

I love the place- work or no. If someone had the moeny to restore it, it would be gorgeous. And that includes the kitchen with beautiful wood cabinets, stainless appliances and granite countertops.

Posted by: bxgrl at August 20, 2009 1:42 PM

quote:
But it probably has 16 bathrooms

for some freaks that's an amenity. hopefully 8 of those are en suite tho

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at August 20, 2009 1:45 PM

It needs a ton of work!!!!

Posted by: A CrownHeightsLady at August 20, 2009 1:53 PM

I visited this house back when the price was $1.8M or so. It's huge, the house just goes on and on. The parlor floor has lovely details, and the stairs woodwork is simply gorgeous. The upstairs has been cut up cheaply with hot plate set ups in the closets. The cellar has spectacular stone arches, and would make an amazing jazz club/speakeasy (as a movie set, of course.)
The downside is that the facade is pretty charmless, and the neighboring buildings are pretty ugly. It has a great location otherwise.
Now it would be a fantastic mansion for someone who has millions in cash. But then, wouldn't they prefer to buy an already done house for 2.5M? In this credit environmentthe pool of potential buyers is quite narrow.

Posted by: Maly at August 20, 2009 1:55 PM

It is 5 stories... 16 bathrooms are pretty much required.

So, $1.5 million and taxes are $60/mo? Am I reading this right? I seriously wish I had money. I would move into this place in a heartbeat. Seriously.

I'd renovate a kitchen and a bathroom and rock this place.

Posted by: tybur6 at August 20, 2009 1:56 PM

tyburg6- probably with me and C Gar!

Shouldn't be impossible to put back some facade detail either.

Posted by: bxgrl at August 20, 2009 2:03 PM

Given where it's wedged, there's no way I'd restore it....you'd never get your money back. A Brooklyn brownstone apartment renter willing to pay a premium for the distinction aint gonna pay said premium to live sandwiched between shit that looks like queens. I'd renovate, chop and rent it out.

Posted by: moreteasir at August 20, 2009 2:08 PM

At this asking price, and the clear message the seller is motivated, this house is going to sell, and soon.

You could have an owner duplex, one floor-through and an upper duplex or three floor-through rentals. if I had 9 more lives, I might be tempted to take on this project.

I'm sure it will get a big renovation and look great!

Posted by: BrooklynGreene at August 20, 2009 2:08 PM

Ha ha ha ha, Rob!

Posted by: mopar at August 20, 2009 2:09 PM

Man it would be awesome, bxgrl. I think I'd definitely have to walk around in a smoking jacket.

Posted by: tybur6 at August 20, 2009 2:09 PM

"probably with me and C Gar"

'n sync yet again bxgrl. I'm more concerned about what needs to be done to the inside - and how much detail remains - than the facade. We can fix the facade later.

Posted by: CarrollGardened at August 20, 2009 2:13 PM

Posted by: Maly at August 20, 2009 2:13 PM

This will fly off the shelf at 1.5 while fools still last. The location is fuckin' golden (that's what you're paying for here)! But comps will eventually duck under a mil.

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at August 20, 2009 2:15 PM

I can already see what's going to happen given the cast of usual posters here. There will be a kitchen installed on the parlour level and it'll be done with granite and high end stainless fixtures. The upstairs rooms will be made into large bedrooms and each one will appropriately have its own bathroom, thus utterly destroying the historic fabric of this home.

You people have to realize that you are just caretakers. Anything done to incorporate modern amenities will make this house totally unsaleable after the mutant asset bubble crash is over and home prices begin to rise.

You are all obscene and tacky. You can take the suburbanites out of the suburbs....

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at August 20, 2009 2:20 PM

If I remember correctly, there is no kitchen to renovate. Everything has to be done, plumbing, electricity, kitchen(s), garden, facade, etc. You wouldn't want to do some cheap home depot job either, it would be criminal, when no-one has messed it up so far.
Having seen 190 and 202 Clermont, these are completely different animals. 190 is a horror show, everything that is wrong with a nasty reno. 202 is lovely if you like Federal style, it's also half the size of the Hotd.

Posted by: Maly at August 20, 2009 2:22 PM

Dave, when did my architect show you my plans? (And I'll have you know I'm an undertaker not a caretaker so the English basement will be the mortuary.)

Posted by: CarrollGardened at August 20, 2009 2:23 PM

Unfortunately, given its prior SRO-status the house is severely delapidated. The few remaining details are typically nice, but really not sufficient to warrant any signficant remodeling. What I would do is sell for salvage what remains, and make the place rent-worthy. This property is best served as a multiple-dwelling, as others have indicated.

Posted by: Zarathustra at August 20, 2009 2:26 PM

Is there visible water damage to the ceilings or do my eyes deceive me? Charmless facade, but...that can be an advantage, like a rich person dressing down. Way down.

Posted by: inky_penumbra at August 20, 2009 2:36 PM

Dave, you write it better than Shillstoner!

Posted by: mopar at August 20, 2009 2:44 PM

This is an FHA 203(k) loan waiting to happen. Keep it as a 4 unit property. Owner Duplex with garden and 3 floor through rentals. Max financing $1,403,400.

Put a couple hundred in and finance 6 months of payments while you do the work.

Posted by: Adam Dahill at August 20, 2009 2:48 PM

If they still have funding, this would be a great project to have funded by Community Preservation Corp...it must be NON-owner occupied though.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at August 20, 2009 2:53 PM

I don't remember any water damage. Now I saw it once, and it was months ago, and I have seen at least 40 or 50 houses, so I can't be completely sure.
It could work if you could buy it for under a million in an all cash deal. You wouldn't want to make it into a 4 family, your tax bill could jump very high, and it would be harder to refinance. An owner triplex and 2 floor through rentals, that's 3 kitchens, 5 or 6 bathrooms, new mechanicals, facade and garden work, careful renovations of the details, you're probably looking at another $800,000 to $1,200,000 depending on the level of workmanship and how many surprises along the way. It would take someone with deep pockets and I am not even sure it makes sense financially.

Posted by: Maly at August 20, 2009 2:55 PM

Maly- No difference in refinancing a 2 fam than a 4 fam other than you get higher loan limits on the 4 fam. Same Rates and Programs.

Posted by: Adam Dahill at August 20, 2009 2:57 PM

I must be talking to a bad mortgage broker then. She's been telling me to stay away from 4 families for both financing and tax reasons.

Posted by: Maly at August 20, 2009 3:21 PM

Why would the broker have any knowledge of your tax situation and advise against a 4 family because of it???

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at August 20, 2009 3:27 PM

4 fam may have higher property taxes but why does he/she get invloved in that?

Posted by: Adam Dahill at August 20, 2009 3:32 PM

She wasn't talking about income tax, but real estate taxes. At the time we were looking at a 5 story house in Clinton Hill, and she mentioned that 4 family houses are harder to finance and that changing the C of O to a 4 family after renovations could bump the property taxes by a very large amount.

Posted by: Maly at August 20, 2009 3:50 PM

David,
That was very funny. Listen, just move to Fort Greene already. You can get the same internet hook up in this neck of the woods so you can comment away your day from FG as well. This house might be a good project for you.

Posted by: BrooklynGreene at August 20, 2009 4:07 PM

Maly @ 3:50 is spot on. 4 fam C of O is a feeding frenzy for taxation. Another leg for home values. Is that why you haven't responded, DIBS and AD?

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at August 20, 2009 5:27 PM

This is a fantastic opportunity folks and as Adam has pointed out the 203K would work well here if one can muster about $250K in cash for closing costs and down payment. That facade is plain but spending about $20K on a roof cornice and palor floor ledges alone will dramatically improve it. We remember seeing it a while ago and true it will need a complete mechanical and electrical overhaul including a new roof but the bones are awesome. Modest renovation budget is however @ least $650K to bring things up to code.

The comparison to 190 and 202 Clermont is laughable given the size and location of this property. Much closer to transportation, the park, lots of amenities, and almost twice the size.....matters big time!

Posted by: pierre de taille at August 20, 2009 5:46 PM

What do you all think a comprable deal in PS, CH, CG, OR bklynHeights would draw?

Posted by: marybee at August 20, 2009 7:05 PM

btw no matter how motivated the seller is, it's hard to move if the brokers don't call you back (i made 4 attempts)

Posted by: jdlcnm at August 20, 2009 9:35 PM

5-storey houses in need of this much work can be problem. Too expensive for a gdn fl rental + 4 fls for owner. But cutting it up any other way would butcher the place. Lots to love here but lots o' work too: new windows (restored to the original size), new facade (I'm guessing $75-100k if done really well), wiring, plumbing, bathrooms, kitchens etc etc. So probably $750,000 - $1m all in. And then you're still left with the ugly neighbors. That's the deal breaker to me. Even if money were no issue, I'd be tempted just for the joy of bringing this old gal back to her former glory but I'd pass.

Posted by: grand army at August 20, 2009 10:02 PM

BHO are you an ass or do you just play one on the internet? I was making a comment on that financing is the same for 2 through 4 unit properties. ASS. 4 unit properties are not a field day for taxation. Taxes are random at best for properties in Brooklyn. Just opening a permit will affect your taxes.

Why don't you crawl under a rock and wait for your 50% off. I don't own a brownstone and I would love one but I'm smart enough to realize that blabbing about half off prices isn't going to affect the Real Estate market.

NEWS FLASH WALTER CRONCRITE.... You ain't going to move the market honey.

Peace

Posted by: Adam Dahill at August 20, 2009 10:38 PM

Ha ha ha, jdlcnm, good point.

Posted by: mopar at August 20, 2009 11:09 PM

I used to live in this building. I can tell you that no one has lived in the parlor floor for decades, which explains why the details are so well preserved. The owner, who inherited the house from her mother, lived in the garden level and the parlor floor was packed with furniture but unoccupied. The parlor ceiling may have had water damage long ago, but the place never leaked while I lived there (1993-ish). What's sad to me is that the coolest thing in the house is now missing-- it was a large (brass? bronze?) statue that was mounted on the newel post at the base of the stairs. If memory serves, it depicted Robert the Bruce and he was holding a large staff or spear that was topped with a light fixture.

Posted by: fruited_plain at August 26, 2009 10:22 PM

« Condo of the Day: 145 Park Place, #2G StreetLevel: Gowanus Will Pump You Up! »

August 20, 2009

House of the Day: 52 South Oxford, Reduced and Revisited

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