Sign up for the Brownstoner daily email
« Open House Picks: Six Months Later StreetLevel: South, New 5th Avenue Bar, Opens »

November 20, 2009

Open House Picks

housePark Slope
289 Garfield Place
Corcoran
Sunday 2-3
$1,950,000
GMAP P*Shark

houseDitmas Park
664 Westminster Road
Douglas Elliman
Sunday 2:30-4:30
$800,000 (was $995,000)
GMAP P*Shark

houseGreenwood Heights
323 21st Street
Brown Harris Stevens
Sunday 1-3
$749,000
GMAP P*Shark

houseBedford Stuyvesant
509 Decatur Street
Fenwick Keats
Sunday 12-1:30
$525,000
GMAP P*Shark




Posted by Brownstoner at 1:04 PM | Comments (33)
Categories: Open Houses

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/12345

Comments

That Garfield place is cut up so weird. If you were to buy to live in it, I'm not sure which apartment you would pick. Would have to be either the fourth floor, with a decent kitchen and layout, or the Duplex, with a tiny kitchen and spiral staircase. Half of that apartment is a dark rec room.

Just like yesterday's HOTD, the economics don't work. You end up paying $400k down to be a landlord and pay much more net than you would to rent one of these apartments.

tybur6, where are you, buddy? I need some back-up.

Posted by: Brokedeveloper at November 20, 2009 1:11 PM

The Ditmas price seems very reasonable but only one bathroom? Am I reading the floorplans right? Great butler's pantry.

Posted by: BHS at November 20, 2009 1:15 PM

> The Ditmas price seems very reasonable but only one bathroom?

Seems pretty typical for the period, no?

Nice looking house.

Posted by: DitmasSnark at November 20, 2009 1:20 PM

It's a cute house but it needs at least two more bathrooms. I love the charm or the butler's pantry and the dining room.

Posted by: A CrownHeightsLady at November 20, 2009 1:30 PM

I absolutely LOVE the Greenwood Heights house (except for the high gloss kitchen cabinets). I WANT IT! Anybody got $748,999 I can have?

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at November 20, 2009 1:31 PM

Ditmas place is decent bones; needs a bunch of work. Problem is that the backyard almost fronts CIA, given the angle at which the house sits. Finish the basement, put in a coupla bathrooms and new windows to seal the place from CIA odor and you've got a bargain at the edge of a good 'hood.

Posted by: linkinplace at November 20, 2009 1:34 PM

snappy, agreed, but like a lot of the houses down there, it's pretty tiny. I wonder what it is on a psft basis.

Posted by: denton at November 20, 2009 1:36 PM

I'm here... Totally agree about the financials of the Garfield place. It doesn't have a clear "This is my awesome home -- oh, and I happen to have a rental" sort of thing going on to justify a $10,000/mo mortgage + taxes payment. You'll be subsidizing your renters living in the same conditions you are...

That being said, this is FINALLY an example of a tax rate in Brownstone Brooklyn that I have no problem with.

Also, are these really the Open House picks this week? Ugggh. Pretty depressing if you ask me. If $800,000 was my budget and you presented these 2 properties to me as top picks for this weekend -- aargh. I'd seriously have to start looking at moving to Buffalo.

Posted by: tybur6 at November 20, 2009 1:37 PM

By American standards, the Ditmas house needs at least five bathrooms, for each bedroom, no?

Posted by: nk at November 20, 2009 1:40 PM

NK, I think the required ratio is only 1.75 toilets per *potential* inhabitant (max # of sleeping spots) -- then it can be considered adequate. 2.00 per person to call it luxury.

Posted by: tybur6 at November 20, 2009 1:47 PM

I saw the Ditmas house last weekend. It is a nice house. Plenty of room, beautiful stained glass. Needs some upgrading in the kitchen, the floors need sanding, some carpet to rip up, etc., but it is certainly liveable (realtor said it needs a new roof, too). The biggest drawbacks I saw were a) one bath & the best place for a second bath is where that great butler pantry is; b) It is really close to some pretty busy areas and has some unpleasant views of gas stations out the back yard and all rear-facing windows; and c) the houses on its block are a bit worn, made me wonder how the area was in general (admittedly, I am not that familiar with Ditmas/Midwood as we've just started looking out there. Still, price-wise, it seems to have compensated a bit for those things.

Posted by: wishinone at November 20, 2009 1:49 PM

Denton, no matter...just me and two cats so plenty of space :)

This is the house I told you about on 18th that they are trying to sell for 1.5 mill...laughable (seems they just dropped the price to 1.1 - still laughable to me). And their claim that they are getting 5k a month in rent is the biggest lie I've heard in a long time. http://tinyurl.com/yfne7rl

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at November 20, 2009 1:51 PM

tyburg - there are other OH this weekend, just do a search on the NYT. That said, I think a lot of sellers are waiting til after January to put their places on the market, given the upcoming holidays. I suppose sellers are hoping they get a boost from bonuses, spring, etc. though it's also possible (and/or likely) there will be continuing troubling/uncertain signs about the economy and prices will continue to head further south.

Posted by: Miss Muffett at November 20, 2009 1:55 PM

"seal the place from CIA odor"

You don't like the smell of Pakistani food?

Posted by: Sparafucile at November 20, 2009 2:03 PM

Muffet - undoubtedly there are more open houses this weekend (even in the $800k range) -- but these are the Brownstoner picks of the week. Kinda sad.

I want to soften my comment though, the place on 21st Street is just borderline depressing. The back yard is nice and cheery looking. That wins points.

Posted by: tybur6 at November 20, 2009 2:07 PM

if sellers can wait til 2010 then they may have enough wherewithal to outlast the freefall. to get complete collapse you'd need another year or two of negative macroeconomic numbers, imo. i mean some people just don't change their tune. A+ for consistency.

otoh, some might even argue that prices have stabilized already and that we are seeing strong signals of a bottom forming. some also might argue the real freefall is not yet here. still others can imagine a real bounceback.

btw, i use that prior para to determine at any given point whether to buy a) gold, b) t bills, c) stocks, d) cdo's e) rmbs, f) alphabet soup, g) unimproved swampland in florida, h) condos in argentina, i) foreclosed homes in detroit or j) any effing asset class.

inside information (in most markets) is useful and illegal for a reason.

Posted by: antidope at November 20, 2009 2:14 PM

The Ditmas House is a standard little woodframe house that you find in every suburb for half the price.
The fact that it only has one bathroom seals the deal as overpriced POS of the day.

The Garfield House is a mess too. Chopped up poorly and yet rather expensively. A shame.

Posted by: Minard Lafever at November 20, 2009 2:15 PM

Miss Muffett, what do you think of moving to Ditmas Park? You get more bang for the buck there than Park Slope.

Posted by: stevieb at November 20, 2009 2:21 PM

"h) condos in argentina"

antidope, I saw some great condos in Buenos Aires last year. Good prices, too, but what do I know about the BA market?

As for the Garfield Place house, I was excited until I saw the floorplans. And the photos. And realized it was a terribly chopped up 4-family. I suppose an owner could reclaim the parlor floor studio apartment and live in a Parlor/Rec Room duplex, though that hardly seems worthwhile at that price and with all that work today and no detail. I agree that these aren't terribly great OH picks. I also agree that inventory will pick up after the holidays.

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

>>otoh, some might even argue that prices have stabilized already and that we are seeing strong signals of a bottom forming.

*eyes rolling*

Antidope, here you go again. I am sick of your shameless promoting of the park slope real estate market.

Posted by: stevieb at November 20, 2009 2:28 PM

i know a little about argentine real estate. i find the prices in prime areas of bbaa stubbornly high given the crisis they've lived through. further, unless you go to the closing with dollar bills, literally cash, then you won't get a deal done. people show up with duffels of cash. lovely city though.

Posted by: antidope at November 20, 2009 2:28 PM

Most DP houses lose the butler pantry to create a ground floor loo. Rare to find a house where this has not already happened. Some fo the exceptionally large DP houses had two pantries, so still have some original storage space.

Minard, you really don't seem to know much about the DP area.

Posted by: Architerrorist at November 20, 2009 2:31 PM

Although I agree this particular house is a) smaller than the average DP house, and b) is not in the most desirable location withint the nabe. I would think $699 in this market.

Posted by: Architerrorist at November 20, 2009 2:33 PM

I visited the Garfield Place Brownstone last weekend.
It's the first center staircase brownstone that I've seen chopped into 4 apts. I saw first-hand that center staircase brownstones do not chop up well.

I agree with Broke developer. The buyer will pay a lot of money to be a landlord. Unless, the buyer were to unchop the brownstone into two units; a garden apt under a triplex. But that would be a big expensive ordeal.

Posted by: Pigeon at November 20, 2009 3:02 PM

I think it's a shame to get rid of the beautiful pantry (and the storage it provides) for a powder room. Though convenient to have one on the main floor, I don't personally think it's a requirement. Kind of gross to have a toilet right off the living room, dining room or especially kitchen.

I would add something simple and functional in the basement for family use. And add one on the top floor for those bedrooms.

The kitchen on the DP house looks like it has close to the original layout--would be fun to convert it back to an old-style kitchen.

Posted by: BHS at November 20, 2009 3:16 PM

This particular Ditmas Park house doesn't excite me. The only thing I really like is the pantry, so I'd hate to have to tear it out to put in a second bath.

Posted by: CarrollGardened at November 20, 2009 4:10 PM

Yeah C_Gar, I think you want to be a little further into the neighborhood, away from CIA.

Posted by: DitmasSnark at November 20, 2009 4:27 PM

That Bed Stuy house sounds intriguing (no photos yet). I am pretty sure it's one block from the projects (on Bainbridge), but maybe that's not a problem.

Posted by: mopar at November 20, 2009 4:35 PM

think that the the 21st street house looks like a good renovation. to promote as a condo alternative is smart.

Posted by: wine lover at November 20, 2009 5:57 PM

The description of the Bed-Stuy house says "the beautiful Tompkins Park...in close proximity." This house is just about as far from Tompkins Park as you can be in Bed-Stuy. Other parks are a lot closer!

Posted by: rf at November 20, 2009 8:15 PM

You're right! Weird.

Posted by: mopar at November 20, 2009 11:11 PM

"The Ditmas House is a standard little woodframe house that you find in every suburb for half the price." (ML)

Little, really? It's a six bedroom house.

I would never put a bath in that lovely pantry. Put a half in one of the first floor closets and maybe another full on the third floor.

I just looked at the kitchen photo again. I kept thinking that orange is terrible. But, if you cover up the floor, the orange actually works. It's either reflected too much in the floor tiles, or the tiles themselves are just too orangey. Or the photo stinks.

Posted by: Nomi at November 21, 2009 12:02 PM

Also, ML, you could find anything in Brooklyn somewhere else for half price. Or less. What's that got to do with anything?

Posted by: Nomi at November 21, 2009 12:04 PM

Post a comment

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

Latest Restaurant Additions