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August 25, 2009

Last Week's Biggest Sales

lwbs%2008-25-09.jpg
1. COBBLE HILL $1,518,000
202 Warren Street GMAP (left)
This house was pitched as follows: "Excellent investment or live in opportunity! This 4 story 4 family landmark house is located in the heart of historic Cobble Hill, on a beautiful tree lined street. The house offers original details, wood floors, a spacious backyard, new windows, a new roof and good mechanicals." According to StreetEasy, it was first listed for $1,995,000 in May '08. Entered into contract on 5/25/09; closed on 8/17/09; deed recorded on 8/20/09.

2. BOERUM HILL $1,516,500
238 Wyckoff Street GMAP (right)
When this 2,736-sf brownstone was an Open House Pick in March, it was listed for $1,700,000. StreetEasy shows the price being reduced to $1,625,000 in April. Entered into contract on 6/30/09; closed on 8/5/09; deed recorded on 8/17/09.

3. SOUTH SLOPE $1,475,000
465 13th Street GMAP
The price on this 3-story brownstone was cut a couple times: From $1,775,000 to $1,650,000 to $1,585,000 in April, when the appraisal widget clocked in at $1,293,276. The sellers bought it for $1,300,000 in 2006. Entered into contract on 5/26/09; closed on 8/10/09; deed recorded on 8/18/09.

4. SUNSET PARK $1,180,000
832 48th Street GMAP
This is a 3,000-square-foot, 4-fam, according to Property Shark. Entered into contract on 6/28/09; closed on 8/5/09; deed recorded on 8/17/09.

5. BATH BEACH $1,180,000
8669 Bay 16th Street GMAP
This is a 4,224-sf, 3-fam built in the late '90s, according to Property Shark. Entered into contract on 7/25/08; closed on 3/24/09; deed recorded on 8/20/09.

Pics from Property Shark.

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Comments

Warren Street hints very strongly of a rent-controlled tenant.
So $1.5m for 3 story (very nice) house on often derided block (between 2 projects) on Wyckoff.

Posted by: Petebklyn at August 25, 2009 11:42 AM

Well I was def wrong on the 13th street saying the price shouldn't go above 1.1 - but I still feel that way. the buyers SERIOUSLY overpaid - hands down. Yes it's a great lookign house on a great block etc - it's not worth 1.475mil where you will have to dump another $100K or more in to reno up to your liking...
dumb!

Posted by: gemini10 at August 25, 2009 11:45 AM

paying market price is so dumb. why would anyone want to own a home? doesn't everyone understand that prices are collapsing? the only price you should pay is 15-20% below the current prices.

this is what i learn reading 'stoner comments.

Posted by: antidope at August 25, 2009 11:59 AM

Isn't the Boerum Hill house the cave dwelling listing? With one duplex consisting of the garden level and basement. Anyone want to dig up what the widget predicted?

Posted by: CG_ups at August 25, 2009 12:09 PM

CG_ups, are you referring to that carroll garden house which advertised as double duplex but the lower one is duplex'd into basement?

Posted by: more4less at August 25, 2009 12:15 PM

Antidope, history (this recession) is still happening so whether someone is smart or dumb buying now is TBD. if 5 yrs later, they're up then they're smart. Down big, dumb.

Posted by: more4less at August 25, 2009 12:18 PM

"paying market price is so dumb. why would anyone want to own a home? doesn't everyone understand that prices are collapsing? the only price you should pay is 15-20% below the current prices.

this is what i learn reading 'stoner comments."

heehee

Posted by: Nomi at August 25, 2009 12:20 PM

Antidope:

sorry that 13th street house is not worth in this market the 1.475 they paid for it. But that's MY opinion, clearly the buyers thought that house was worth that much! If I were their friends, I would think they overpaid.

however if they have the cash and can afford that huge mortgage and have more cash to dump $100K in renovation and plan to stay there for the next 10 years than great!

Posted by: gemini10 at August 25, 2009 12:22 PM

"Antidope, history (this recession) is still happening"

Actually some are saying that we will find out later that the actual recession itself may have ended in June. We'll see.
The affects of the recession are still happening, that I will agree with.

Posted by: 11217 at August 25, 2009 12:23 PM

The whole notion that somebody else can decide whether a buyer is "dumb" is ludicrous on its face. CAn we please let people do what they want to do with their own money?

Posted by: wasder at August 25, 2009 12:24 PM

**the peanut gallery claps for Wasder** hooray!

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at August 25, 2009 12:28 PM

11217, was not referring to technical definition of recession but rather what the common man sees & believes is the case (recession-wise) in NYC (ie I don't give an F that some towns in California is seeing price appreciation, sales vol, etc)

Posted by: more4less at August 25, 2009 12:28 PM

"The whole notion that somebody else can decide whether a buyer is "dumb" is ludicrous on its face. CAn we please let people do what they want to do with their own money?"

Yeah, this is what bothers me about the "dumb" and "sucker" comments.

There is another factor involved in these decisions, one that we cannot know anything about and, as wasder implies, is none of our business.

Posted by: Nomi at August 25, 2009 12:29 PM

**the peanut gallery claps for Wasder** hooray!

Wow--I have them clapping all the way from southern France.

Posted by: wasder at August 25, 2009 12:32 PM

g10- your first comment reflected the glib bear view so common around this site in this last year (prob payback for flipside of prior years). it also reminds me of the loudest, screeching voices around hear that demand prices drop to meet their view of the world. which, as you confess in your later post, is nothing more than an opinion. but too many of your brethren are caught in their own echo chamber and are unable to comprehend that there is a market price...even today.

m4l- your comment at 1218p is appicable to any date in history or the future. it also applies to any market anywhere, stocks, bonds, commodities.

Posted by: antidope at August 25, 2009 12:33 PM

Wasder
who cares what I say about a particular property?
I know that area well and that fact that someone wanted to pony that money up for that property is crazytown to me

Posted by: gemini10 at August 25, 2009 12:35 PM

Leaving out the dumb labels - can see why some see it's inappropriate.

similar to how these labels can rub some people the wrong way, I find equally irritating why people continue to reference the "Need" to buy. That kind of talk can get some nieve people into buying in this clearly declining market and could wreck their finances for a long time. Can see someone who "HAS" to sell. But don't agree there's any circumstances that someone "HAS" to buy.

Posted by: more4less at August 25, 2009 12:35 PM

Antidope
are you kidding?!?!?! -I am ALMOST always a bull! but even I have to say WHOA NELLY sometimes!
I am selling my house right in Park Slope and you know what! I had to come down 18% off my asking price. I am not in a positon to wait and wait and wait some more until someone comes around and perhaps gives me close to ask.
Kudos to these sellers if they had that sorta time
but please I am usually pretty bullish on homes that are worthwhile in my opinon
I am a very live and let live type person but sometimes I am shocked by people's choices

Posted by: gemini10 at August 25, 2009 12:38 PM

Antidope, you know history declares winners & losers but they do so after the "event" is over. currently, the "event" is still playing out. Bottomline outcome dictates who's the winner & loser. even if someone made all the right decisions but somehow got the bad outcome vs. someone with all the bad decsions but got a stroke of massive good luck - there's your loser & winner.

so we can have opinions now but the label that sticks is the one rendered after the "event" is over.

Posted by: more4less at August 25, 2009 12:39 PM

I see absolutely NOTHING wrong with Gemini's comments. She has the right to voice her opinion over what a property is worth, just like everyone else here does.

My god...how many times do we hear from Miss Muffet over and over about how every single property in Brownstone Brooklyn is overpriced by 500k, even when she's been proven wrong time and time again.

Do you think you putting in 1.1. million on the widget for a 2.0 million dollar home isn't the same thing??

Gem knows this area and knows that the seller probably overpaid. So what?

Posted by: 11217 at August 25, 2009 12:44 PM

you're right more4less, i got the listings mixed up. cave dwelling was in carroll gardens.

Posted by: CG_ups at August 25, 2009 12:55 PM

What I see here is that prices in established areas are coming down, and prices in emerging neighborhoods (South Slope) are going up.

Of course, there could be other factors. For example, cherchez le rent controlled tenant.

Posted by: mopar at August 25, 2009 12:59 PM

btw, the house on 13th street is worth $1.475 if you believe in the market. (g10- this seller came down by 17% on your own metric.)

i'll take a wild guess and posit that the bears around here would declare themselves believers in free markets (here's looking at you BHO / BO / M4L / MM and various sundry MissMuppet acolytes). Yet the only defense they raise against these kind of data points is, "outlier", "dumb", "seriously overpriced", "stupid buyer", or some such adjective that belies there own free market views.

what if PT Barnum were right? There were a sucker born every day? Then the market is made up of suckers and we should get used to it.

Posted by: antidope at August 25, 2009 1:03 PM

11217 - thanks as always!
I wish I could limit my comments to only say positive things, but I thought this was a blog about RE where we all can comment on certain aspects.
please! My house was listed as one of those "open houses of the weekend and people made some negative comments about what was happening on the inside - I just had to deal with it.
But one thing is FOR SURE - no one said wow that POS is totally overpriced

Posted by: gemini10 at August 25, 2009 1:04 PM

With regard to South Slope, I think you are correct, Mopar.

Keep in mind also that South Slope is also rapidly improving with regard to retail/dining/bars etc. The area south of 9th Street has exploded over the last few years.

Just in the last year, South Slope now has Union Market, the new Mexican place Fonda which just opened last week is AMAZING if you haven't tried it, Cafe Grumpy is now on 7th in the South Slope and a host of other great stuff. Walk down 5th and 7th Avenues past 9th Street sometime if you haven't in a while....you will barely recognize some of the blocks they have changed so much in the past 5 years. New art gallery on 10th street and 5th, a new pub coming to 15th and 5th, Sidecar, a new bakery opening across from Eagle provisions, the second branch of Lucali on 6th Avenue coming soon, etc...

Posted by: 11217 at August 25, 2009 1:05 PM

11217 -OH GOD! having total sellers remorse right now!
but it's true - South Slope is doing well considering..

antidope -ok point taken. And I for one beleive if you have the money and you find the perfect house of your dreams, go for it - but just try to tow the line you know so you get a bit of a bargain.
Everyone in a deal wants to feel they came out the winner, but again mostly no one ever does!

Posted by: gemini10 at August 25, 2009 1:10 PM

antidope, now let's not get into same mess that got us hostile with each other. Don't lump me with them. I don't predict prices dropping to x level, x% off peak,.... I see & interpret facts in front of me. right now, prices are dropping so I maintain a bearish tone. let me say it one more time. When I see prices in NYC go up, I'll buy what I can afford and if I can't afford any, I'll rent.

Don't interpret me saying "I want to buy a nice PS house for <$1M" as me predicting prices will go there but rather it's a reflection of the fact I'm greedy and a massive bargain hunter. Similarly, I might not win today's 252M lotto drawing but that doesn't preclude me from wanting to win it.

Posted by: more4less at August 25, 2009 1:11 PM

Gem, you are staying nearby though, no??

Posted by: 11217 at August 25, 2009 1:22 PM

m4l- yes you've hit the nail on the head. i don't need to "interpret" any of your comments, you just called yourself greedy in public! LOL. might that influence your view of where the market is going? hmmm.

but let's also be honest. your "see & interpret facts" leads you to an opinion. nothing more and nothing less. and your opinion might be right but it also might be wrong. also, you may not be aware of this, but the rest of us six billion souls wandering the face of the earth "see & interpret facts" too.

gosh, i guess i'm fixin for a dust-up today.

Posted by: antidope at August 25, 2009 1:24 PM

BHO: Are we in a cave today?
Case/Shiller numbers show you are dead wrong.

Posted by: sebb at August 25, 2009 1:24 PM

kinda sorta...
remmeber am moving down to 1st street in a rental for a bit. But we are eyeing a condo back up in South Slope/Windsor Terrace area

Posted by: gemini10 at August 25, 2009 1:25 PM

But wait, M4L, didn't you recently buy an apt in Crown Heights? Not knocking it at all, but wondering was your strategy there different or has your strategy changed? (The strategy of waiting for prices to go back up, I mean.)

I feel in the areas I can afford prices are already down tremendously and very close to or already at bottom, and the recent uptick in interest rates means prices are already going up for me. So I am buying. But of course I realize the situation is different in other areas and for mostly cash buyers.

Posted by: mopar at August 25, 2009 1:33 PM

Sebb, did Case/Shiller change?

Posted by: mopar at August 25, 2009 1:36 PM

antidope, all buyers "want" to buy cheap and/or have a great bargain. he/she who doesn't "want" that is ficticious or is lying. Me wanting to buy a nice PS house for <$1M doesn't mean I won't buy anything unless it gets there. When prices go up, I'll look around to see what houses I can afford then buy.

on interpretting facts, I make an interpretation of today's facts and a guess of what's to come in the very near future (ie next 1-3 months). I don't go preaching here's the trend and what it means next yr, 2 yrs,....

Posted by: more4less at August 25, 2009 1:38 PM

mopar, I'll tell you what I paid for it at the next gathering and let you tell me if I've lived up to my super bargain hunter rep.

Posted by: more4less at August 25, 2009 1:41 PM

mopar: The only 2 declining markets were Detroit and las Vegas.

Posted by: sebb at August 25, 2009 1:44 PM

mopar : Here you go

National home prices declined once again in the second quarter of this year compared to the same three months last year, but the pace of decline appears to be slowing, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index data released today. Home prices nationwide dropped 14.9 percent year-over-year in the second quarter. But the year-over-year drop in the first quarter was 19.1 percent, according to the data. The report reveals "hints of an upward turn," said David Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee. In New York, the index recorded an 11.9 percent drop year-over-year. But it posted a 0.4 percent gain between May and June this year. Month-to-month, home prices have been improving overall nationwide. The index's 10-city and 20-city composites both posted their second consecutive monthly increases

Posted by: sebb at August 25, 2009 1:49 PM

Oh! Just posted about it in the OT Sebb.

What: But but but but those numbers are just a short term blip!

Someday this war is going to end....in Detroit.

Posted by: mopar at August 25, 2009 2:39 PM

i'm with the people who were still curious to try out der schwarze koelner (sp?). am free this thursday too!

Posted by: CG_ups at August 25, 2009 2:47 PM

CG_ups, you're off your game today. think you meant post that on the OT

Posted by: more4less at August 25, 2009 2:48 PM

"how many times do we hear from Miss Muffet over and over about how every single property in Brownstone Brooklyn is overpriced by 500k, even when she's been proven wrong time and time again."

*******
She's not wrong until we hit the bottom. Since we've seen nary a price uptick, we have not.

In a declining market (are we still really arguing if that's what we're in?), today's price is a short-lived phenomenon.

If you're willing to buy now and sit through it, good for you. Doesn't mean you won't owe more than your property is worth in a year or 2 like millions of other homeowners.

Good lord.

Posted by: MoneyForNothing at August 25, 2009 5:20 PM

gemini--sorry, wasn't trying to single you out. And yes this is a blog where one is supposed to express their opinion. That you think they overpaid is certainly a valid opinion but somehow to say that they are "dumb" is a different beast to me. Nobody knows the circumstances of the buyer and their finances. To them they made the deal they wanted to make and I just find it a bit presumptuous to say they are dumb. But really I think you are cool and I followed your sales process with fingers crossed for you so peace right?

Posted by: wasder at August 25, 2009 5:48 PM

« Kent Traffic Shifts to Wythe Greetings From The Big Island »

August 25, 2009

Last Week's Biggest Sales

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