November 19, 2009

House of the Day: 540 Bergen Street

540 Bergen Street (pdf flyer) has some redeeming features—nice location, pretty facade, some original details—but it's also been chopped up into three units and suffers from a bad case of crappy listing photography. All of which may explain why the price was just reduced after only a month on the market from $1,550,000 to $1,475,000. We don't think it'll be quite enough to get a deal done though. What about you?
540 Bergen Street [Mark-Roth] GMAP P*Shark

November 18, 2009

House of the Day: 22 Sidney Place

This charming house at 22 Sidney Place in Brooklyn Heights just hit the market with a price tag of $2,750,000. The 17-foot-wide house has lots of original details and the modernized, ground-floor kitchen is also quite attractive. We're liking both the location and feel of the house. (They've also got our coffee table!) What do you make of the asking price?
22 Sidney Place [Kevin Carberry] GMAP P*Shark

November 17, 2009

House of the Day: 121 Rapelye Street

There aren't a lot of interior photos provided in the new listing for 121 Rapelye Street, a four-story brownstone in Carroll Gardens. The three shots that are shown reveal a mix of nice original details and cheap rental-style finishes, so it's hard to develop a strong opinion about the $1,300,000 asking price. Given that this is a BQE block and not one of the neighborhood's most charming, we bet it'll be challenging unless there are some positive surprises on the inside.
121 Rapelye Street [Heights Berkeley] GMAP P*Shark

November 16, 2009

House of the Day: 685 St. Johns Place

This new brownstone listing at 685 St. Johns Place in Crown Heights is something of a time capsule--tons 'o details (even the skeleton keys still work!). The bathroom probably won't be to everyone's taste and the lack of a kitchen photo makes us nervous, so we're assuming whoever buys this is going to spend a little money on a tune-up. That, and the fact that it's only three-stories tall, make us skeptical that the seller will be able to fetch the asking price of $950,000. What think you?
685 St. Johns Place [Prospective Properties] GMAP P*Shark

November 12, 2009

House of the Day: 540 4th Street

We're digging all the original details in this new listing at 540 4th Street. The Park Slope limestone has plenty of old-school cred but it's gonna need to get some serious lovin' from its next owner, a fact the listing cops to. We're not so sure we agree that at $2,000,000, though, that it is "priced accordingly" (as the listing also claims). The house is on a park block, but it's only about 2,500 square feet. Thoughts?
540 4th Street [Orrichio Anderson] GMAP P*Shark

November 11, 2009

House of the Day: 75 New York Avenue

This house at 75 New York Avenue in Crown Heights has been on and off the market for more than three years; this latest effort comes courtesy of Douglas Elliman. The house gets big points for its mansionly size, architectural detail and four-car garage; the broker gets a big "boo-hiss" from us for touting its non-Landmark tear-down potential to developers. The American Second Empire house sits on a 50-by-100-foot lot at the corner of New York Avenue and Pacific Street. Great stuff—let's hope that someone who gives a crap steps up and buys it. The asking price is $1,425,000, a pretty penny in this part of town and seems rather unrealistic to us in this environment.
75 New York Avenue [Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark
House of the Day: 73 New York Avenue (Revisited) [Brownstoner]
House of the Day: 73 New York Avenue [Brownstoner]

November 10, 2009

House of the Day: 615 2nd Street Revisited

The owners of 615 2nd Street gave selling their Park Slope limestone a go last year but packed it in after six months when the $3,495,000 asking price proved to much for the market to bear. Now the house is back on the market with a new price tag of $2,950,000. It's a great house to be sure but, as we noted last time around, the kitchen finishes seem a little out of place. What do you think the market-clearing price is on this baby?
615 2nd Street [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
House of the Day: 615 2nd Street [Brownstoner]

November 9, 2009

House of the Day: 430 10th Street Revisited

This house at 430 10th Street has been on the market for-effing-ever. After selling for $1,200,000 in 2005, the new owners started out trying to get $1,865,000 last year. By August of this year, the ask was down to $1,650,000 and in September it was reduced further to $1,595,000. Since the broker doesn't even have his own website and only tiny photos are available on StreetEasy, it would be interesting to hear from someone who's actually seen the interiors.
430 10th Street [Timothy Norton] GMAP P*Shark
House of the Day: 430 10th Street [Brownstoner]

November 5, 2009

House of the Day: 119 Fort Greene Place

Other than the exposed brick on the parlor floor, this brownstone at 119 Fort Greene Place in Fort Greene has a nice feel to it. Plenty of original details, nice width (21 feet) and an extention; we'd be surprised if you could actually get $2,800 a month for the garden rental but it's probably not far off. The asking price is $1,995,000. Not insane if you factor in the expected 10% discount in this market.
119 Fort Greene Place [Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark

November 4, 2009

House of the Day: 238 Windsor Place

This two-family house at 238 Windsor Place in Windsor Terrace may have a slightly odd mix of old-school and 80s-contemporary aesthetics going on, but at its core it looks like a lovely old house and given that it's got over 3,000 square feet of living space, the price tag of $1,125,000 looks reasonable to us as well. Agree?
238 Windsor Place [Warren Lewis] GMAP P*Shark

November 3, 2009

House of the Day: 28 Middagh Street

42 Middagh Street is charming as all heck from the outside, and the modern renovation that was recently performed on it looks quite tastefully done as well. Still, the asking price of the Brooklyn Heights house seems pretty pricey at $4,200,000, especially when you consider the current owners paid only $1,280,000 back in 2004. We're sure they didn't scrimp on the makeover but we also doubt they dropped three million bucks on it. Thoughts?
28 Middagh Street [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark

November 2, 2009

House of the Day: 49 8th Avenue

Sweeeeeet! Check out this 25-foot-wide corner brownstone at 49 8th Avenue in Park Slope. While whoever can end up affording the $3,200,000 price tag will inevitably want to gussy it up a bit (even the listing says it's "in need of repair and renovation," we're loving what we can see of the house in its current unfancified state. It's got 42 windows and, on the parlor floor, a ballroom. Overall, there's more than 6,500 square feet of space. Ah, to dream.
49 8th Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark

October 29, 2009

House of the Day: 902 Union Street

This new brownstone listing at 902 Union Street has some nice old details but we suspect that the busy location and the condition of the house may make the $3,000,000 asking price a bit of a stretch. Don't get us wrong: We really like the original details and overall vibe of the house but the place doesn't sparkle the way a house at this price should. (Of course, much of that could be the way it was photographed, but that's part of the game here.) What do you think it'll sell for?
902 Union Street [AltaNYC] GMAP P*Shark

October 28, 2009

House of the Day: 136 Hawthorne Street

The folks who just put 136 Hawthorne Street on the market bought the house in rundown condition back in 2004 for $280,000 and then did a two-year painstaking renovation that maintained the historic details while modernizing the systems as well as the kitchen and bathrooms. Now they've put it on the market for $995,000. If this were in the Lefferts Manor historic district, we'd say they might have a shot, but since it's not and it's only 2,300 square feet, we'd be surprised if they get their asking price.
136 Hawthorne Street [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark

October 27, 2009

House of the Day: 42 Grace Court

This new listing at 42 Grace Court is not for the faint-of-wallet, but if you've got the dosh, you could do a lot worse. The five-story, 6,500-square-foot brownstone has been restored in an eco-friendly manner while retaining most of its old-school cred. Not that the eventual buyer will probably need it, but there's also a potential income stream from a second unit. As for the asking price of $5,950,000, who the heck knows. At those levels, it's anybody's guess.
42 Grace Court [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark

October 26, 2009

House of the Day: 291 8th Street

This house at 291 8th Street in Park Slope is a bit unusual in that it as a legal commercial space in the ground floor. We like the looks of the ground-floor space, which is fully built out on the lot and has a bunch of nice skylights installed. The renovation on the rest of the house, while thorough, isn't really floating our boat. In particular, all the light colored wood trim looks out of place to us. But that's easily fixable as is, we imagine, the asking price of $2,100,000, which seems quite high unless the rent on that commercial space is potentially much higher than we would imagine. Thoughts?
291 8th Street [Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark

October 22, 2009

House of the Day: 177 Rugby Road

This house at 177 Rugby Road in Prospect House South is a beauty (we're sold on the basis of that staircase alone!) but it's been on the market longer than just about any house in the borough that we can think of. We featured it has a House of the Day way back in 2006 when it was listed for $2,500,000; after a year off the market, the house just came back on again with an asking price of $1,800,000, but obviously they started too high and didn't cut fast enough. Now what? Where does it end?
Colonial Revival Home [Mary Kay Gallagher] GMAP P*Shark
House of the Day: Rugby Road Mansion [Brownstoner]

October 21, 2009

House of the Day: 544 Washington Avenue

The two-family house at 544 Washington was recently renovated and appears to be in move-in condition. The only catch is that they have to find a brownstone buyer who doesn't give a hoot about original details and is happy with a Home Depot-esque kitchen. Another negative is that this block of Washington has a lot of traffic on it. On the plus side, the taxes are quite low at $1,800. What do you make of the asking price of $1,375,000?
544 Washington Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark

October 20, 2009

House of the Day: 65 Prospect Park West, Reduced

We posted 65 Prospect Park West as a House of the Day last April when it hit the market asking $2,899,000. The price has just been reduced by a third, bringing it down to $1,950,000. The listing says that the "motivated seller MUST SELL" so there's probably some wiggle room even from here. Even if the interior is a disaster, the seller would be better served to include some interior photos: absence makes the heart grow suspicious. The listing does say that there's plenty of original charm left so at some price in here this has to be interesting. Last go round, the average widget price was $2,173,820. Let's see what people think six months later.
65 Prospect Park West [Awaye Realty] GMAP P*Shark
House of the Day: 65 Prospect Park West [Brownstoner]

October 19, 2009

House of the Day: 524 2nd Street

Here's a classic meat-and-potatoes Park Slope listing. The two family house at 524 2nd Street has a charming exterior, lots of interior details and a low-maintenance backyard. (It's also zoned for PS 321.) At only 18 feet wide, though, it's got a slightly more modest scale than some other houses in the area, which will make it interesting to see whether the asking price of $2,375,000 flies.
524 2nd Street [Townsley & Gay] GMAP P*Shark

October 15, 2009

House of the Day: 295 Pacific Street Revisited

295 Pacific Street was on the market for a month last January, during which time it was featured as a House of the Day. Despite the Boerum Hill location, the 14-foot-wide house did not find a receptive audience for its $1,899,000 asking price and the listing was pulled. It just re-emerged this week with a new, more market-friendly price tag of $1,595,000. Think it'll fly?
295 Pacific Street [Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark
House of the Day: 295 Pacific Street [Brownstoner]

October 14, 2009

House of the Day: 58 6th Avenue Revisited

Here's a cautionary tale: Developer buys old house in neighborhood where people generally like old houses, strips house of character, renovates house in characterless nouveau traditional style, tries to sell for a lot of money, ends up changing brokers three times and cutting prices 23 times. This has been the experience of 58 6th Avenue, which we featured as a House of the Day back in April 2008 when it was at $1,695,000, down from the initial ask of $1,850,000. Since then, Corcoran's had the listing and now Weichert has recently been giving it death by a thousand price cuts. Desperation has surely set in, as last week's reduction brought the current asking price to $1,275,000. At some point, won't this work as a rental property?
58 6th Avenue [Weichert] GMAP P*Shark
House of the Day: 58 6th Avenue [Brownstoner]

October 13, 2009

House of the Day: 146 6th Avenue Revisited

This house at 146 6th Avenue in Park Slope was a house of the day pick back in June 2008 when it was listed for $2,750,000 in the NY TImes. It clearly didn't sell, because after a long break it's back on the market again for $2,295,000. The house hasn't changed hands since 1979, and a commenter back in the original HOTD thread made a reference to some personal conflict between the owners that might have been complicating the sales process. That first listing didn't include any interior photos, so we feared the worst, but the photos in this new Elliman listing show a space that's much nicer than we expected. Lots of original details, and a sprinkler system to boot. For a corner three-family house, the taxes listed on Property Shark of $7,626 sound low. You liking this place at this price?
146 6th Avenue [Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark
House of the Day: 146 6th Avenue [Brownstoner]

October 8, 2009

House of the Day: 130 Summit Street

At first blush, this three-family house at 130 Summit Street looked like agreat deal to us: $1,350,000 for a four-story house with lots of charm in Carroll Gardens? Sign us up. But then comes the heartbreaking fine print: The 3rd floor apartment has a dreaded rent-controlled tenant paying $325 a month. (Approximately $1,600 under market. Ridiculous!) Anyway, we'll let the quants out there decide how big a discount to market value that should mean for the house. Still might be a decent play, except for the fact that the rent controlled tenant's location means the owner won't be able to expand beyond a duplex.
130 Summit Street [Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark

October 7, 2009

House of the Day: 212 8th Avenue

Another classic Park Slope beauty, 212 8th Avenue just hit the market this week. It's everything you would expect, from the parquet to the mahogany to the pier mirrors. It will be very interesting to see how the price tag of $2,995,000 flies in this market. It wouldn't have cut the mustard a few months ago, we suspect, but psychology is definitely a little better right now so we shall see. We bet it'll go for more like $2,750,000 but we shall see.
212 8th Avenue [Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark

HOTD