Thanks, all! I assure you, I am not the seller...just an anxious buyer looking for some feedback. I, too, love the quiet factor and totally agree with the notion that "compromise is the nature of real estate." I appreciate everyone's insight...

Posted by: ericabethg at October 15, 2007 9:30 AM in response to Dumb to buy a gorgeous pre-war apt with no view?

Around $10k for all skimcoating/painting and replacement of baseboard moldings (though we did pay for painting supplies--all other supplies were covered). Again, we were painting our floors and all walls, ceilings and kitchen cabs. FYI, I rec'd 3 other quotes--the highest of which was around 20k.

Posted by: ericabethg at March 20, 2008 12:07 AM in response to Recommendation for a FAB Plasterer/Skimcoater

Yes, painting the floor was part of the plan. Our apt faces the interior of the building and it does not get a lot of light. All of the decisions we made were based on bringing as much light and "lightness" to the interior of the space as we could and we chose to paint our floors white.

The baseboard moldings were not in great shape...which became all the more obvious once we started skimcoating the walls. They were standing out like a sore thumb, so we chose to replace those as an afterthought. We also ended up ditching the frame and picture molding that was in the living room and replaced it with it crown molding (also an afterthought). Our original estimate was initially lower, but after adding the extras, it was bumped up a bit. It still ended up way lower than any other estimate we received.

In terms of pics, I have a couple, but I'm not so slick with this posting thing and am unsure how to include--feel free to email me if you'd like to see them.

As for the contact info, including the email was my call. Of course, I was in constant cell phone contact with Junior, his wife and his crew throughout the entirety of the work.

Brooklynnative I def wish you luck :)...6 rooms will be a pretty penny. BUT, you might not have to skimcoat everywhere--we did. If you are painting on your own, that will also be a savings.

Posted by: ericabethg at March 20, 2008 12:49 PM in response to Recommendation for a FAB Plasterer/Skimcoater

A lack of view and lack of natural light will make the place tough to sell if the market softens. But if you like it, go for it. I personally find dark apartments depressing, and I disagree that a view ceases to matter after a while. I have a great view--Brooklyn Bridge, Empire State building, etc--and never get tired of it, nor of the fact that I only have to have lights on during the day if it is raining.

Posted by: punko at October 15, 2007 8:49 PM in response to Dumb to buy a gorgeous pre-war apt with no view?

think that you should continue to look. park slope is not the be all end all. also, prospect heights will be affected by the AY development.

after looking for almost 2 years moved from ps to williamsburg to a beautiful place full of light in what has turned out to be an amazing location and very convenient to the city. have to say that i do really enjoy an open sunny place.

it's also surprisingly terrific neighborhood for our kid.

not saying that williamsburg is for you, just that there are other hoods.

Posted by: guest at October 15, 2007 10:08 PM in response to Dumb to buy a gorgeous pre-war apt with no view?

is this apartment "K"? don't want to give more away, but if it is, it is advertised./

Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 10:27 AM in response to Dumb to buy a gorgeous pre-war apt with no view?

I'm not sure what your concern is. If it is "will I like living there?" only you can answer that. I am one of those people who needs lots of light, and would never, ever live in a dark place. (I stopped even looking at garden apartments, because they were all too dark for me.) But then, I can't imagine living with great light and views and keeping the blinds closed. I don't even put up window coverings except in the bedrooms usually, because I like the light coming in.

If your concern is "will it be harder to sell when I want/need to?" the answer is "yes, it will" because many apartments (most) in the slope have light and pretty street or backyard views, even if they aren't high enough to have an actual "view." So your pool of buyers will be smaller - my best guess is, like, 60% smaller.

If you aren't comfortable with compromising for either of the above reasons, keep looking. One month is not really a serious search. (I know it sounds like it is, but with this old housing stock, it isn't.) I know what you mean about the lousy layouts, apartments needing work, and ridiculous spiral stairs. I saw tons of them, and walked on out. If I didn't like being in a place, I didn't consider offering on it.

I think you are answering your own question by posting here - if it was OK with you, you'd be happily getting into contract now. If you have a concern now, it will only get bigger once you live there.

I'd say keep looking - you just have to let brokers know what you want, and see the good stuff as soon as it gets on the market so you can get an offer in quickly. You can learn to ask the right questions to avoid wasting time seeing yucky places. I looked for a long time, and I got an amazing place - extremely light. (I never regretted taking my time, though prices were rising - I'd just go home to my beautiful P.S. top-floor brownstone rental after a Sunday of slogging all around the neighborhood looking at (mostly yucky or sterile) apartments, and watch the sky as the sun set above the trees and ask myself "would I give up this for anything I just saw?" and the answer was usually "no." You can always rent a really nice place to live in P.S/P.H. - which is the financially better alternative now, anyway, til you find a place worth buying.

Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 5:37 PM in response to Dumb to buy a gorgeous pre-war apt with no view?

The view Punko describes having in his home represents about 1% of the views in Brooklyn homes! It's a rare privilege, that kind of view.

From what was said, the OP is not shopping for a luxury property in Dumbo, they can't afford that. So the views they'll be weighing against each other are a view of the coop building or restaurant/bar across the street, or a view of an interior courtyard. They're not saying they're trying to decide between a view of the Manhattan skyline, and a view of the courtyard.

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 12:31 PM in response to Dumb to buy a gorgeous pre-war apt with no view?

I agree with 12:31 - but you if you like light at lot, there is a huge difference between (1) lots of sun light and a view of the coop building across the street (brick and brownstone is quite pretty at that distance, especially with sunlight on it) and (2) little light in an apartment with a brick wall relatively close by out the window across a (relatively narrow, I'm assuming, if there isn't much light coming in the windows) courtyard.

Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 3:17 PM in response to Dumb to buy a gorgeous pre-war apt with no view?

why'd you paint your floors? Just nosey/curious.

Why was it necessary to replace baseboards?

Any photos?

Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 12:33 AM in response to Recommendation for a FAB Plasterer/Skimcoater

Timely post as I'm renovating a rental that needs this work. If it cost you 10 grand for a 1 BDRM, I guess it shouldn't run me more than $50,000 for my 6 room. Jeez.

Posted by: Brooklynnative at March 20, 2008 10:32 AM in response to Recommendation for a FAB Plasterer/Skimcoater

Was painting the floors part of the plan?

Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 10:40 AM in response to Recommendation for a FAB Plasterer/Skimcoater

10:32, i would just hire someone for the plastering and paint it myself to save some money.

then again, i've become a pretty decent painter over the last 5 years renovating my own house.

Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 10:54 AM in response to Recommendation for a FAB Plasterer/Skimcoater