Gravy's Profile
- Okavanga
- 2006
- Brooklyn
- Fort Greene
- Rental
Author's Posts
July 3, 2008
"Furnished Rooms" on a C of O?
Does anyone know what exactly the terminology "furnished room" means on a C of O? We are in the processing of buying a brownstone that has one floor currently being used as SRO housing (3 apartments that share a common bathroom). The other floors are regular apartments (3 1-family units). I know banks won't generally lend to SRO houses, but I don't understand exactly what this "3 furnished rooms" on the 3rd floor would mean to an apppraiser. Two of these "furnished room" units have small kitchenette (burner/sink), but they could easily be removed (someone suggested this to avoid the appearance of being used as an SRO).
It total, it says the property is: "3 families and 3 furnished rooms; Class A multiple dwelling - converted."
If anyone could help me decipher what this means, especially in terms of getting a mortgage, it would be much appreciated. Thanks.
June 5, 2008
C of O for an addition?
We are looking at a house (Landmark Dist) that has a 1-story extension built many years ago. When I checked the C of O (issued in late '50s), it seems like it was never amended to include the addition. The addition is part of the ground floor rental unit. Is it illegal to rent the space without a C of O? Is it a violation to have an addition without a C of O?
If anyone can help clarify the implications of this it would be very helpful. Thanks!
May 28, 2008
Kitchen Solariums
We are thinking about trying to build a solarium off our kitchen (there is a ground floor extension below), possibly with a small deck/terrace extending off the back. If anyone has undertaken a similar project and can RECOMMEND AN ARCHITECT with experience working on this type of project, it would be appreciated, as are any personal stories or advice on solarium renovations. This will likely be part of a total kitchen reno. Thanks.
Author's Comments
Seen this house... charming but a weird layout (like ground floor has only a kitchen and full bath). They did a really nice job with the garden. When I saw it they were asking $1.8M, probably a year ago or so.
Posted by: Gravy at June 1, 2009 2:01 PM in response to House of the Day: 130 South Oxford Street
We've been looking for a house in Fort Greene and I loved this house like none other. We looked at it twice. No staging - the owners have a stunning furniture / art collection. It seemed easy to build a deck off the kitchen and rent out the ground floor (you would lose your laundry room / basement access, though it wouldn't be hard to put a washer dryer on the fourth floor in the huge linen closet). I loved the separate bath / WORKING fireplace / chaise area of the master bath, and they used a really cool scandinavian style (light woods, clean lines) to build out the master closet area which I thought was stunning.
Speaking frankly, we put at bid in around $1.9M and they didn't counter, went up to $2.0M and the broker told me they had a multiple bids highter than ours and one close to asking, and did not counter our offer. I was, honestly, shocked. Presumably they are going into contact now, if what the broker said was true.
I'm licking my wounds in my rental...
Posted by: Gravy at April 10, 2009 10:55 AM in response to House of the Day: 316 Cumberland Street
I normally love the more period houses like this one, but this house gave me a major case of the blahs... blah, small extension - the bedroom must be tiny on the ground floor (plus it faces your yard, so all your dinners and bbqs are going to be right in your tenants face). Kitchen is dreadful, and no real room to improve without encroaching on the dining room and really changing the parlor floor around. Plus, the house is narrow to begin with and the hall / stairs take up a full third of the width, leaving mostly 12' wide rooms. The parlor floor consequently looks long and dark...
Can't say will it'll go for... maybe between $2M and $2.2, but I certainly wouldn't pay that for it (even if I could).
Overall - eh.
Posted by: Gravy at April 1, 2009 2:00 PM in response to House of the Day: 213 Berkeley Place
2 thoughts:
1 - I like etson's ideas about posting more threads in the evenings, maybe on weekends, so those of us that can't post during the day (unlike me, here at work) don't feel left out.
2 - I think there should be an overall effort to keep the comments related to the thread and not go after people in a nasty or personal way (which I've seen quite often on the site). This could be done by a public chastizing from you when you see this, or by having some way of filing a complaint or notifying you when one feels like the posts are either crossing the line or just steering the discussion towards their personal life and away from the topic at hand.... that way you can start to track "problem posters" and if they continue to harass people inappropriately, ban them from the OT.
Posted by: Gravy at March 27, 2009 4:17 PM in response to Let's Talk About Commenting
What I don't understand is why so many apartment buildings go up with no balconies?? I would never get an apt, especially in Brooklyn, that doesn't have some outdoor space. Yet I see tons of buildings going up with not a singe balcony or patio... it just seems weird to me.
Posted by: Gravy at March 27, 2009 4:00 PM in response to Development Watch: 385 Union Avenue
I saw the FG house about a year ago (when they were trying to get $1.8)... it's really cute in a kind of dollhouse way, but there are some weird things too. Like a full bath on the ground floor with a huge tub, but no bedroom down there, only the kitchen. Handy if you want to hop in the bath while your pasta boils, I suppose.
Plus the public row housing along that stretch of S. Oxford makes it not nearly as nice a block as many in FG.
I think the CG house has a long way to go (down, pricewise) to sell in this market.
Posted by: Gravy at March 27, 2009 3:54 PM in response to Open House Picks
Love it, love it, love it. The back of the parlor floor and patio garden look like some kind of awesome hotel or chic private restaurant. While I find some of the finishes a touch cheesy for my taste, this is the nicest blend of traditional and modern styles in a brownstone I think I've ever seen.
I am very jealous.
BTW, that green and yellow house on Cumberland did sell for close to asking, and had definitely been recently renovated.
Posted by: Gravy at January 22, 2009 4:21 PM in response to Ultra Modern Reno on South Portland Avenue
I will be REALLY surprised to see these apartments go for the asking prices... this rings of early 2007 pricing as if nothing happened to the economy... kind of like the house that sits for $3.45M on S. Elliot around the corner (ha!). My guess is they will be on the rental market by spring.
1 bathroom? Those kitchen cabinets? Ugh.
Posted by: Gravy at January 20, 2009 2:32 PM in response to Condos of the Day: 4 South Portland Avenue
How narrow is that house on Nevins? Not to mention, who does that broker think she's fooling with her "not to scale" floorplans that only include a measurement for the 18' high ceiling? Unfortunately, if the dimesions of your living room are 13' wide x 18' high, you feel like you living in the bottom of dark box, which is exactly what the pictures look like.
Posted by: Gravy at October 31, 2008 3:03 PM in response to Open House Picks
Gravy wrote a review about Chez Oskar on October 9, 2008 4:31 PM
Food can be hit & miss, but they've been having live bluegrass (Blue Vipers of Brooklyn)on Mondays which was a great way to kick off the week. For a better meal, try the recently opened Kif right up the street -- they've got it going on, both in the kitchen and in the Moroccan decorated back yard.
Wow, I'm really shocked at the prices of the Cobble Hill and Propect Heights houses. That CH house looks like the rooms are small and the ceilings look really low. It sure is cute, but for $3.1M I'm looking more for "spectacular" rather than "charming" (aka small). For $1500 psf, not to menion $1.5M per bathroom? Verandah Park is charming, but not nearly enough to warrant those prices in my opionion. Sheesh.
Posted by: Gravy at September 22, 2008 11:38 AM in response to Open House Picks
I saw these condos about 6 months ago, so they are not new on the market. I looked most seriously at the top floor. The developer definitely did a good job - the details are great and bathroom and kitchen were really nice.
That said, the place felt really small for what they are asking. Yes, it's a three bedroom, but since the top floor was likely a modified attic, the ceilings in the two front rooms (of the top units) slant down and get low towards the front of the building making the front rooms feel very small. In the one "master bedroom" (towards the back), the windows were really small and it was hard to imagine getting much furniture in there aside from a bed. It also has no dining area at all, and the living room isn't big enough to be a living / dining space.
To top it off, the deck felt, to me, really overshadowed by the Williamsburg Bank Building behind it. It totally was blocking all the light when we went to see this place, not to mention that hundreds of units have views onto the deck which makes it feel really exposed.
Since you can get a 4 or 5 story house in the neigborhood for around $2M, I couldn't imagine justifying $1.45M for one floor. Obviously no one else has been able to either, since not one of the four units has moved in the last 6 months.
Posted by: Gravy at September 17, 2008 4:28 PM in response to Condos of the Day: 122 Fort Greene Place
Gravy wrote a review about Stonehome Wine Bar on August 12, 2008 4:15 PM
I've always enjoyed my food and drinks at Stonehome--it's a great neighborhood spot with a cute garden and friendly service. The only complaint I have is that they give you tiny pieces of cheese on the cheese plate (obviously a priority for me).
That said, this place is old news. It would be much more interesting to get some feedback on the many newer restaurants opening in Fort Greene and beyond, like Kif (love it!), General Greene (haven't been yet), A Bistro, etc. etc.
I have a hard time with this one. I don't think it's an inherently ugly design, it just stands out--and not a in good way-- compared to the rest of the houses on the block/the neighborhood. In the owner's defense, though, I'd have a hard time saying no to huge windows if you can them approved by DOB... I bet the interior of the addition is an amazing space.
Are those stairs going up to a roofdeck in the middle of the arched windows? Pretty sweet.
Posted by: Gravy at July 3, 2008 12:33 PM in response to Out-of-Scale Addition at 524 State Street
Anything will be better than June, ugh.
Posted by: Gravy at June 27, 2008 3:53 PM in response to Streetlevel: Soft Opening for General Greene
I agree with 2:58 -- the BH house is nice enough, but that's a really cramped kitchen for $2.5M. Yard is gorgeous, though nothing unique.
I like the one in Fort Greene a lot; nice details and seems reasonably priced (relatively) given a great location right near the park and everything on DeKalb without acutally being on DeKalb (which is a lot noisier than Clermont). Another nice looking yard, too.
Posted by: Gravy at June 6, 2008 3:34 PM in response to Open House Picks
We just used Aberdeen Building Consulting and were very happy with Matthew. He was very thorough and we ended up with a 50-page document (complete with pictures) of current problems, things to keep our eye out for in the future, and helpful tips on maintenance and repair.
Matthew Wynne
Aberdeen Building Consulting
877-492-9800
2inspect@optonline.net
Just wish we were as happy with the condition of the house...
Posted by: Gravy at June 3, 2008 5:26 PM in response to home inspection?
We just used Aberdeen Building Consulting and were very happy with Matthew. He was very thorough and we ended up with a 50-page document (complete with pictures) of current problems, things to keep our eye out for in the future, and helpful tips on maintenance and repair.
Matthew Wynne
Aberdeen Building Consulting
877-492-9800
2inspect@optonline.net
Just wish we were as happy with the condition of the house...
Posted by: Gravy at June 3, 2008 5:25 PM in response to home inspection?
"Any mention of the proposed hindering the sale or financing of your property is ridiculous. Anyone who says otherwise has no experience with this."
As someone who just had a bid accepted only to find out the property has an existing violation on it for an illegal roofdeck and never had the C of O amended for an addition, I can state with certainty that if you do get a violation and don't get it resolved, it can impact the ability of a buyer to get a mortgage. One bank said they wouldn't lend to any property with a outstanding violation, and another wants us to get an estimate and then hold that money in escrow until we, they new owners, have the violation removed by DOB.
We are on the verge of walking away from this deal over exactly the issues discussed here, so just keep in mind how it may impact your re-sale value, especially as it becomes tougher to get mortgages.
Posted by: Gravy at June 3, 2008 4:53 PM in response to do we need a building permit?
I find my garden level bedroom very noisy from people walking by and buses (for those apartments along a bus route... they stop ALL night, so I can never leave my windows open it's too noisy for me to sleep).
Plus, I always need to draw the shades to have any privacy. I would not live on the garden floor in my next apartment.
Posted by: Gravy at May 29, 2008 12:19 PM in response to Garden-level Apartments
Try Trullia (Trulia?).
Posted by: Gravy at May 29, 2008 12:16 PM in response to sales trends by neighborhood
Great job, owner. We are thinking of redoing our kitchen and really loved the way yours turned out. What architect did you use?
Posted by: Gravy at May 28, 2008 5:55 PM in response to Parlor Kitchen #8: Clinton Hill Charmer
Ditto for me on BrooklynGreene's comment. I'm confusing this one for the one for sale a while ago. All the 12.5 footers seem to blend together. This one appears to have a cooler layout.
Posted by: Gravy at June 1, 2009 2:34 PM in response to House of the Day: 130 South Oxford Street