What rf said. I learned it from a car service guy a few years ago. If there is zero traffic on the FDR, it might be a tiny bit slower. Otherwise, it's always faster (and quieter, and less aggravating).

Posted by: Smudge at November 3, 2009 12:17 PM in response to Squadron Helps Drivers Get Off (The FDR)

591 Hicks was House of the Day at $800k in 2006:

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2006/07/house_of_the_da_183.php

Posted by: Smudge at October 30, 2009 3:51 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later

It was stupid. It's one thing to have people converge somewhere for a single event. But in this case, what happens? You see a couple of them and think "are those lame invisible dog things back?" Then you see a whole bunch more and think, "I guess it's a lame stunt." Then curiosity gets the best of you, and you ask one of them "which lame stunt group are you with?" and of course they feel compelled to stay "in character", at which point you think "what a bunch of dumb douchebags." At least, that's what happened to me.

Posted by: Smudge at September 28, 2009 11:51 AM in response to Invasion of the Invisible Dogs

According to StreetEasy, it sold for $500k in 2006.

Posted by: Smudge at September 21, 2009 4:55 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 242 Baltic Street, #17

It's 12 feet wide in the living room and bedroom, 7 or 8 feet wide elsewhere. I suspect those pictures are very artfully staged because that's reaaaaally skinny.

Posted by: Smudge at September 21, 2009 4:00 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 242 Baltic Street, #17

Family Bonds, the best thing HBO has done in years. Set on exotic Long Island with guest appearances by NYC.

http://www.hbo.com/familybonds/

Posted by: Smudge at September 9, 2009 9:51 AM in response to New Retail Tenant at The Smith

> No comments on the Case-Schiller numbers or are you still analyzing the data??

Gosh, I'm *shocked* that DIBS has taken a sudden interest in Case-Schiller now that it's not declining.

Posted by: Smudge at August 25, 2009 1:16 PM in response to Mystery Downtown Development Going Affordable

>> what is strange though is that with wages low, unemployment high, economy down the drain, prices have not dropped considerably

Most people looking for a home to buy have one to sell, so I'm not surprised there's resistance (even if it is logically better to have prices falling when you're trading up). What does surprise me is that first-time buyers are in this market at all, given that it may be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for a major correction.

Posted by: Smudge at August 14, 2009 4:30 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later

Listings shmistings. The next installment of 'Last Week's Biggest Sales' will definitely prove that properties in Brooklyn are all fetching record prices.

Posted by: Smudge at August 14, 2009 2:40 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later

Ugh, don't remind me. I'd already written a check for first and last when the occupants decided they didn't want to move after all.

Posted by: Smudge at August 13, 2009 12:13 PM in response to Powerwashus Interruptus at 312 Dean Street

I looked at that top floor apartment with the semi-turret once when it was briefly (but, as it turned out, not actually) for rent. It's pretty awesome.

Posted by: Smudge at August 13, 2009 11:42 AM in response to Powerwashus Interruptus at 312 Dean Street

From the listing:

"The Lower duplex is accessed under the stoop. Bedroom is in the front room. In center is kitchen, same as on the upper duplex including appliances, which opens into dining/living room area. Sliding doors to large landscaped stone garden. There is a full bathroom on this level. Stairs lead down into an OPEN LARGE family Room tastefully designed with stone tiled floors. "

Am I reading this right? The lower duplex is one floor on the garden level and another floor entirely underground?

Posted by: Smudge at August 6, 2009 1:24 PM in response to House of the Day: 329 President Street

37% under the original ask? I guess this cancels out the Willow Street coop a few posts down.

Posted by: Smudge at August 4, 2009 2:40 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 584 Pacific Street

The color has a certain Palazzo Chupiness to it.

Posted by: Smudge at July 30, 2009 1:48 PM in response to House of the Day: 78 Adelphi Street Revisited

http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/a-red-hook-redux

Posted by: Smudge at July 29, 2009 10:44 AM in response to Million Dollar Deals Dead in Red Hook

The prompt in the widget says "your appraisal", not "guess what it sells for".

Posted by: Smudge at July 23, 2009 10:03 AM in response to Bearish Brownstoners Miss Mark on 2nd Street Sale

> i'd worry about getting a Barista Beatdown if i were you!

I believe they're called "vente contretemps" at Starbucks.

Posted by: Smudge at July 22, 2009 4:23 PM in response to Closing Bell: Bicycle Parking Saga Update

West side of what? Jersey City?

Posted by: Smudge at July 22, 2009 2:50 PM in response to House of the Day: 176 Bainbridge Street

Thanks for taking time out from posting every second comment in the Elliman thread so that you could be first here too. Your untiring devotion to propping up the Brooklyn housing market single-handedly is much appreciated.

Posted by: Smudge at July 16, 2009 11:28 AM in response to Brooklyn Sales: Under a Million

Foreclosure: http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/408666-multi-182-13-st-gowanus-brooklyn

According to Property Shark, it sold for $793k last year.

Posted by: Smudge at June 26, 2009 2:00 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later

I wasn't really convinced that Bloomberg's plan could redirect over 14,000 homeless men to Brooklyn every year until I saw the arrow labeled "14,000 homeless men redirected to Brooklyn." Now I am.

Posted by: Smudge at June 25, 2009 2:51 PM in response to Meeting Tonight to Protest Armory Intake Center

Yeah, Schermerhorn is a hole: http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/2244

Posted by: Smudge at June 23, 2009 6:51 PM in response to Development Watch: 277 Gold Street

Streeteasy search for "44 Cheever" goes to this building:

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/building/501-hicks-street-brooklyn

7 listings in the last year, 1 sold, 4 off the market, including this 832 sq ft apartment originally listed at $679k:

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/360026-condo-44-cheever-place-brooklyn-heights-brooklyn

Posted by: Smudge at June 17, 2009 2:50 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 44 Cheever Place

***Bid 15-20% off more realistic comps***

Posted by: Smudge at June 15, 2009 12:12 PM in response to 1094 Park Place Finally Sells

"MM, many houses are overpriced, even during the peak of the market. "

Uh huh.

Here's the search results page for "six months later":
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=6&search=six+months+later

Here's the oldest entry from that page:
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2007/12/six_months_late.php

Note that two of the properties sold for over ask. Would you like to guess how many of the later posts show two of the four properties selling for over ask?

Posted by: Smudge at June 12, 2009 4:38 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later

"Things sell at prices that team bear finds unrealistic, yet they still sell."

Yes, shockingly, the regular feature titled "Last Week's Biggest Sales" regularly contains properties that both sold, and sold for relatively high (perhaps even "unrealistic") values.

"I assume that a house that goes for less than ask reflects softening prices and not a readjustment of buyers and sellers approach to buying/selling a house."

So true. Buyers are readjusting their approach by offering less than during the bubble. Sellers are readjusting their approach by accepting less than during the bubble. Of course, this can in no way be interpreted as "softening prices" because, well, just because.

Posted by: Smudge at June 9, 2009 4:59 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

DIBS, don't be a dick. You really think the average person has come out ahead overall because of a rally in the last few months? Most people's investments have still taken a big hit.

Posted by: Smudge at June 2, 2009 3:23 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

> "If team bear is going to rely on that lame "pre-Lehman" defense, you'd better be prepared for an avalanche of spending from the "post-March-Market low" phenomenon."

An "avalanche of spending" because the S&P is now 40% off its high? Seriously?

Posted by: Smudge at June 2, 2009 2:22 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

> "Something special about Columbia?"

Degraw St is within the PS 29 school district. Equivalent places in Cobble Hill on the other side of the BQE are still fetching upwards of $2M.

Posted by: Smudge at June 2, 2009 2:07 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

> (1.5 - 1.75)/1.75 x 100% = -14%
> And yet nowhere near half off!!!!!"

Oh good grief. 14% (possibly more) off for a house in one of the most sought-after school districts in one of the most resilient neighborhoods price-wise in the whole city. What do you think that translates to everywhere else?

> The economic numbers have stopped deteriorating.

Clap harder! Clap harder!

Posted by: Smudge at May 15, 2009 3:26 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later

"BTW, we didn't mean to claim that the market WAS bottoming out, just that, assuming you could come up with the downpayment, that carrying the costs of a two-family house in a medium-priced area was getting pretty manageable at these rates...Just said it makes you wonder how low prices can go given those numbers. "

Even if it is becoming pretty manageable, what happens if the less-manageable prices in higher-priced area continue to drop? There's also going to be downward pressure from above.

Posted by: Smudge at May 14, 2009 3:20 PM in response to Refinancing: How Sweet It Is

As always, it depends where you're looking. A 4-storey 3000+ sqft house house in Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens or Park Slope is going to be a lot closer to $2M than $1.2M. The numbers might add up in more marginal neighborhoods.

Posted by: Smudge at May 14, 2009 10:55 AM in response to Refinancing: How Sweet It Is

" i dont even talk to people in park slope, unlike how i used to talk to everyone in harlem. people in park slope are in general just not my kind of people, that's fine. "

OK, so you left Harlem because it wasn't safe and clean enough for you and your dog. But you don't talk to the locals in your new neigborhood because they're not your kind of people. Oh, and while you're not talking to them, you're plotting ways to TAKE THEM DOWN A NOTCH. That's just hilarious. Keep fighting the good fight, Degentrification Man!

Posted by: Smudge at May 8, 2009 1:29 PM in response to Rosie Revisited

"but smudgie, im not a gentifier, im a degentrifier. so your point is totally moot."

Why? Are only gentrifiers supposed to fit in rather than change the neighborhood? Park Slope is full of snooty unfriendly stroller Nazis, everyone knows that. Why should people moving in complain about that any more than new people should complain about, say, loud music in Bushwick?

Posted by: Smudge at May 8, 2009 12:54 PM in response to Rosie Revisited

"and yes they were there before i moved to park slope. but that's not the point"

Sure it is. You should obviously try harder to fit in and stop expecting everything to adapt to you.

Posted by: Smudge at May 8, 2009 12:38 PM in response to Rosie Revisited

"white women in their 30s and 40s with young children ive noticed are actually the least friendly group of people ive ever encountered in nyc. and a lot of other people feel that way too."

And white women in their 30s and 40s with young children probably think you're unfriendly too, espeically with that big chip on your shoulder. So it goes.

Posted by: Smudge at May 8, 2009 10:55 AM in response to Rosie Revisited

"I have a brownstown that has been in my family forever"

How nice for you. The rest of us had to work for our homes.

Posted by: Smudge at May 8, 2009 10:09 AM in response to Rosie Revisited

"Brooklyn was ridiculously underpriced in the 1990s and into early 2000s."

Actually, I think DIBS has a point here for some neighborhoods. If you look at Manhattan, how many neighborhoods are really that much more desirable now than they were in, say, 2001? There's not much argument for the level of appreciation other than bubble mania. But neighborhoods like Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens in particular are much more desirable now. Local retail and services cater to a different demographic. Whether that's a good thing or not is a different discussion; the point is that people with money to spend see more value there now than they did in 2001. In that sense, I think they will have a softer landing.

Posted by: Smudge at May 7, 2009 3:22 PM in response to Pam Liebman: Brooklyn Doing Better Than the Rest

Huh? All this time you've been absurdly claiming that Last Week's Biggest Sales is an indicator of how the overall market is just fine, and now all of a sudden it's "different quality, different neighborhoods, different streets, different price."

So what completely bogus superfunhappymetric have you replaced it with gonig forward?

Posted by: Smudge at May 7, 2009 10:43 AM in response to Pam Liebman: Brooklyn Doing Better Than the Rest

"SEE, I TOLD YOU SO. Brooklyn townhouses will not suffer the same fate as the rest of the country and the condo market. Discuss..."

Sigh. See the current edition your favorite feature, Last Week's Biggest Sales:

"We're pretty sure this is the first time in the year+ we've been doing the biggest sales roundup that any of the properties are below the million mark."

Even your bizarroworld math isn't holding up.

Posted by: Smudge at May 7, 2009 10:24 AM in response to Pam Liebman: Brooklyn Doing Better Than the Rest

I keep seeing really nice sized, nicely renovated houses in Red Hook. If only they weren't in Red Hook. Sigh.

Posted by: Smudge at May 1, 2009 1:36 PM in response to Open House Picks

http://www.corcoran.com/property/PhotoTour.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=1321589

You can still click "View all photos" on that page.

Posted by: Smudge at April 28, 2009 8:12 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

>> Can we agree Gowanus starts at the canal and continues eastward to 4th ave?

Not unless we're all brokers...

Posted by: Smudge at April 28, 2009 3:27 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

>> what was is listed at??

Google cache has a Corcoran listing with the price at $1.495M.

Posted by: Smudge at April 28, 2009 1:58 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

That's a really impressive number for the Carroll St house. I don't think they'd have gotten more than that at the peak.

Posted by: Smudge at April 28, 2009 11:43 AM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

>> As far as the gym goes- they should have access to one.

The Dodge YMCA is two blocks away.

Posted by: Smudge at April 27, 2009 9:59 AM in response to Lots of Love for the Schermerhorn House

>> That's not really the definition of entitlement in the context of what hannible posted. So, you deserve no more of a response than Whuh got.

So what is your definition of entitlement in the context of what hannible posted? It's a simple question. You must have some notion of it, no matter how befuddled, given that you used the word before Whuh even posted.

Posted by: Smudge at April 23, 2009 2:25 PM in response to Lessons From the Foreclosure Front Lines

>> Whuh, when you demonstrate that you understand what "entitlement" means in the cintext I used it with hannible's post then maybe I'll engage you.

Why don't you explain what it means?

As prices come down, people who were priced out of certain neighborhoods may no longer be priced out of those neighborhoods. How is that incorrect?

Posted by: Smudge at April 23, 2009 12:23 PM in response to Lessons From the Foreclosure Front Lines

"Bedford Avenue is the longest street that runs through Brooklyn."

Huh? Atlantic Ave runs from the East River to the Van Wyck.

Posted by: Smudge at April 14, 2009 10:47 AM in response to Walkabout With Montrose: Automobile Row

"And then there are "Last Week's Biggest Sales" for Team Bull. Lots of junk never sells, even in the height of the market."

This feature isn't titled "Lots of Junk, Six Months Later". They're properties that were considered interesting or appealing enough to select out of all the open houses on a given date. And they still haven't sold after six months.

Posted by: Smudge at April 10, 2009 4:18 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later