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March 23, 2008
Does this house have any hope?
I am hoping to get some insite from forum members. We have recently looked at this 1899 Victorian in Bay Ridge and are considering buying it. What is your honest opinion of this place...is it ugly beyond restoration or updating??? Does anyone think this can be a cute house with some work? What do you recommend? I think it is kind of scary looking, but I also think with a little TLC it can be the most beautiful Victorian in Bay Ridge.
Comments
I don't think its ugly at all. I'd have to see the inside to say if it was beyond restoring or not but generally anything is possible if you have enough money. The only scary about it is thinking how much money it would cost to fix up.
As for being "cute" - its looks gigantic so I don't think it would be cute. It would be quite grand.
Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at March 23, 2008 3:50 PM
Yes, you are 100% correct...this place can not really be cute, but grand. The inside is in need of a complete gut....the room layout is horrible. Unfortunatly, there are not many original delails inside. I am most concerned with the outside...I have heard of large Victorians of this era being bricked...I dont know if that is such a great idea though...(maybe brick it half way with a redish color brick?). I would deffinatly want to open the porch on the front.
Posted by: nybk01 at March 23, 2008 4:13 PM
The bricked porched seems odd to me. I don't know anything about these types of houses but there are a few regular posters who are really knowledgeable.
Don't forget to check very carefully under all that ivy growing on the house. The growth might be hiding some not so fun surprises.
Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at March 23, 2008 4:54 PM
I dunno. I don't personally love Victorians except in a few contexts (like San Francisco), and I have a hard time seeing the potential in this one. To my eye, you'd want to carefully research the porch and consider replacing it with an open one; that would probably lighten up the front aspect.
You also say it needs to be gutted...doesn't sound like "a little TLC." I'm guessing you'd be sinking $500k into this place, if (a big if) you could find a contractor experienced in Victorians and their issues.
Having said all that, if the price is low enough and you could get a contractor lined up in advance, it might make sense.
Not to mention you'd also have to love Bay Ridge...
Posted by: guest at March 23, 2008 5:41 PM
I dunno. I don't personally love Victorians except in a few contexts (like San Francisco), and I have a hard time seeing the potential in this one. To my eye, you'd want to carefully research the porch and consider replacing it with an open one; that would probably lighten up the front aspect.
You also say it needs to be gutted...doesn't sound like "a little TLC." I'm guessing you'd be sinking $500k into this place, if (a big if) you could find a contractor experienced in Victorians and their issues.
Having said all that, if the price is low enough and you could get a contractor lined up in advance, it might make sense.
Not to mention you'd also have to love Bay Ridge...
Posted by: guest at March 23, 2008 5:44 PM
i have to say too - i really think this house has a lot of potential. firstly,it's a corner house, which to me is perfect b/c of the extra light and land you automatically get. Secondly, it's huge/grand and you can really make something of it - esp if you have the $$. thirdly, it seems to be 3 full floors from the looks of the attic space - which is rare...
I love that there are 3 TV antenna's on the roof - rockin' it old school, I see!!!!
Posted by: guest at March 23, 2008 6:23 PM
it does look scary... it needs a serious paint job with colors that are alive.
Posted by: guest at March 23, 2008 8:17 PM
It is ugly and unless you are getting it for around 1 million (which I doubt) it is not a deal. It is located one block from 3rd ave - which is nice for conveniences but is not as nice a location as colonial or shore. It has been neglected for years (or at least looks that way) and even after hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix it up - how much is it going to be worth - especially in this market
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 12:32 PM
It is ugly and unless you are getting it for around 1 million (which I doubt) it is not a deal. It is located one block from 3rd ave - which is nice for conveniences but is not as nice a location as colonial or shore. It has been neglected for years (or at least looks that way) and even after hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix it up - how much is it going to be worth - especially in this market
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 12:33 PM
I live in Bay Ridge and it's a shame what people are doing to the victorians...such horrible renovations.
We went to look at this house a while back, probably a year ago. I can't beliveve it's still on the market. But then agian, at the time I thought the asking price was too high.
There were no details left and the layout was kooky. It needs a ton of work to make it grand. It's not really a restoration project, more like a renovation.
It is in move-in condition and you can probably live there and do the work as you go along.
That street has some beautiful homes.
Good luck.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 1:06 PM
Bay Ridge should have been landmarked ages ago. But it wasn't because it's a conservative community and conservatives are against imposing such limits on private property owners.
This house is absurdly overpriced. Something like $3 million. If someone can get a house in Park Slope for the same money they are not going to buy way the heck out in Bay Ridge. Bay Ridge is not Park Slope and they need to face the reality of that.
At that price this house is being marketed to developers as a tear-down. Now other way around it. And didn't this house sell already to a developer? The broker for the house was on Brownstoner ages ago bragging about that deal.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 1:27 PM
Thank you all for your comments. The owner is willing to sell for 1.7m (I only say this because we are not 100% sold yet on it!). The layout inside is kooky for sure! It is move in condition, but it really needs a complete gut reno. You are right...you really cant restore the inside because all the details are gone. The outside is in need of some serious work also. I think 1.7 is way too much still...we would need to put about $400-$500 K into this to get it up to par.
Posted by: nybk01 at March 24, 2008 2:37 PM
I'm 1:06, I've lived in Bay Ridge for 20 years and I'm looking to move, I think the area is overpriced for what it is. Home owners are destroying the homes with their crappy renovations that have no architectural merit or style. What they don't realize is that in the long term, they are de-valuing the house. If you can afford 1.7m and don't need to say in Bay Ridge, find another neighborhood, where the homeowners respect the architecture.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 3:44 PM
I think it depends why you want to buy the house, too. If you love the location, the house itself, and can see the potential above and beyond the work involved, and you can see you and your family growing up and old in it, then it sounds like you have the old house bug and you want a real home. If you are considering it more of an investment to be sold in 5 years or so, then don't do it.
This kind of project, unless you have unlimited funds, has to be taken on for love, not future money. You'll never get back what you put into it if you should decide to fully renovate it.
I think she is a once grand lady, and could look magnificent. That enclosed porch probably is not original. The house probably had an open porch. I am not familiar with Bay Ridge or this house, and can't tell from the photo if that's a wood frame or stucco, I may even be wrong about the porch, as I can't make out key details.
I would take a look at this website.
http://www.ourvictorianhouse.com/
This couple is in the ongoing process of renovating a large New Jersey Victorian. They are doing it themselves, and the husband is a detail obsessed renovating machine. (I wish I could clone him.) Even having a contracting crew to do this stuff, the site is a great tutorial on what can be done with what you have, and what can be replaced or even faked. There was some detail in this house, some mouldings, fireplaces and plaster work, but most of it was gone, or needed total replacement. This might give you an idea of the scope of the work, if you bought this house. Good luck. It is great when any neighborhood keeps a house that can be brought back to life.
Posted by: Montrose Morris at March 24, 2008 4:00 PM
don't underestimate what a pain in the ass these huge old houses are - REALLY expensive to heat and there is always something that needs to be done. I have a small brownstone that feels very manageable, but I renovated an old farmhouse upstate and it was endless and very expensive to maintain. What is the history of the house? If it was owned previously by fastidious owners with some money it will make a difference. My farmhouse was owned by poor farmers and every improvement they ever made was very very shoddy, so really everything was in terrible shape. That all being said, it is VERY satisfying when the reno is done.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 6:36 PM
Any house can be made beautiful if you have the money. And even without original details this looks like it could be great. I'm just not sure the cost: value ratio works in this instance. If the interior is as bad as others are saying, it probably needs at least $500k spent on it. So seems like the selling price should be closer to $1.3m to produce a renovated house with a new market value of under $2 million. If you like this style, btw, you could probably get a much better deal in Victorian Flatbush.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 6:37 PM
have you ever seen "The Money Pit"?
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 9:02 PM
This house could undoubtedly be made beautiful, but you are clearly not the person to do it - as you would even consider bricking it in halfway up! The way you restore a Victorian is to RESTORE it - to make it look (on the outside, at least) as close to it was when it was excellently designed. Can't you see that the bricking in the porch was an eyesore? Why wouldn't bricking it halfway up be just as yucky and not respecting the bones of the house?
Posted by: guest at March 25, 2008 4:22 PM
This is a little off topic, but, that is an interesting property history for this house over the past few years. Why would that deed go to one person and then back less than 1 year later?
Posted by: guest at March 26, 2008 12:24 PM
What's the deed history? It's now owned by Moussa Khalil (sp). If he bought it thinking he can tear it down and develop. Than the community needs to get together and fight this.
That area only allows 1 and 2 family houses. Can you split that lot up? Looks like a pretty big lot.
Posted by: guest at March 26, 2008 5:14 PM
Following up on my observation about the deed. I am really not a real estate expert in any way, but looking at the property on the Dept of Finance page, it seems Mousa Khalill transferred the title to someone named A.Ouldkattri on Jan.9, 2006 and it was transferred back on Nov.3 to Khalill. It struck me as strange.
Posted by: guest at March 27, 2008 11:21 AM
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