Why can't our Brooklyn have an intersection of Hooker and High streets? Indianians have all the fun.

(and incidentally, if you're lost, High St. is one block south of West East Street. Like I said, Indianians have all the fun).

Posted by: toadie at July 22, 2009 1:39 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 30 Main Street, #4G

I second DIBS, for once--talk to an experienced attorney about forming an LLC. I say that as a tax lawyer (but not one pitching my services). Not sure it will allow you to get separate mortgages (they would have to be structured as loans to the members to acquire their interests in the LLC, secured by their interests in the LLC; no idea if banks would be willing to do that) but speaking generally it would allow a lot more flexibility, often be better for estate planning purposes, and could substantially limit your liability as well.

Posted by: toadie at July 21, 2009 12:06 PM in response to Tenancy in Common and Mortgage

I don't understand the complaints about the kitchen--it's at least twice as big as mine, and doesn't strike me as that much smaller than others we've seen lately. Remember the $4m BH place with crazy views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges? I'm pretty sure this place has a bigger kitchen. Not wild about the decor, but sounds like y'all think it's too small.

Posted by: toadie at May 21, 2009 1:26 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 555 Washington Avenue, #1A

thanks for the information, everybody. Will probably spend some time wandering around out there this weekend...

Posted by: toadie at May 18, 2009 3:10 PM in response to House of the Day: 207 Fenimore Street

Why is it that every time I see a HOTD in the Lefferts area I fall in love, and yet I never add it to my list of neighborhoods to consider?

Is there a reasonably good grocery store nearby? A bodega within 3 blocks? a place to buy better-than-bodega coffee within 5 blocks? a yuppie-friendly restaurant or two within an easy walk?

Posted by: toadie at May 18, 2009 1:38 PM in response to House of the Day: 207 Fenimore Street

Odd that the pictures don't actually show the stunning views. Only thing I see is what appears to be a cistern across the way. Woo hoo.

I'm getting tired of saying it, but I think it's way overpriced. But that's assuming the price should reflect what a willing buyer would give a willing seller. Realistically, this is just going to sit on the market for a while and then disappear, right? Where's the fun in that?

Posted by: toadie at May 18, 2009 1:21 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 100 Remsen Street, #8K

bed bath and beyond sells something called "Air Sponge" or "Odor Sponge" or something like that--look for little canisters, near the checkout area. I've found it surprisingly effective. And much less awkward than asking the neighbors who died.

Posted by: toadie at May 18, 2009 9:55 AM in response to Odors from Neighbors

Thanks, Nomi. Yeah, I was a bit reluctant to admit to thinking of TV placement. Which is why I'd like to clarify that I would only use my television to watch Masterpiece Theatre and the occasional regatta, don't you know. Nothing louche here. Class up the wazoo, as my mother likes to (classily) say.

Posted by: toadie at May 13, 2009 2:01 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 1 Plaza Street West 2 BR

I'm confused by the pictures and the floorplan. If I'm understanding it, the kid's room is the corner bedroom, and the long bedroom is the master bedroom, as currently configured. If that's right, the ceiling beams in the long bedroom run perpendicular to the ceiling beams in the living room. Is that right? Isn't that strange? Seems odd, and I've never seen it before, but then again for all I know it's just decorative plasterwork or something. I also don't see the small closet shown in the floorplan in the long bedroom. I don't really have a point, and sort of like the apartment (although I'm having trouble figuring out how to make the living room livable, i.e. where I'd put a TV), I'm just questioning my ability to read a floorplan at this point.

Posted by: toadie at May 13, 2009 1:39 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 1 Plaza Street West 2 BR

The market is basically single people just starting out in the city, kids who just graduated from college and got an entry-level job or whatever, right? And then narrow it to the subset with $50-60k cash on hand, which is to say narrow it to people whose parents will give them a down payment. But a lot of such parents are afraid of Brooklyn. 400 sq ft in popular neighborhoods in Manhattan is what, $450,000 or so? $500,000 maybe? Seems to me you need much more than a $100,000 discount to make it attractive for those buyers. I can see this going for $275,000, but not over $300.

Posted by: toadie at May 11, 2009 12:59 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 101 Lafayette Avenue, #17C

I moved from the east village to park slope two years ago, for two reasons: for the same money I could get a lot more space, and I was sick of the constant noise. However, and very much to my surprise, I find that the thing I miss most about living in Manhattan was that I could walk to and from work. Used to be a great 35 minute commute, great way to wake up and then to put stressful days behind me, and I used to do it unless I was incredibly late or the weather was really dreadful. Now I pretty much have to take the subways, unless the weather is beautiful and I have well over an hour with nothing planned after work.

If I could find a quiet, decently sized place downtown, I'd go back without reservation.

That said, I'm a renter. If I could scrape up a down payment, I'm sure I'd find much better deals in Brooklyn, downturn or not.

Posted by: toadie at May 11, 2009 10:30 AM in response to Brooklynites Jumping Ship to Manhattan?

Wow. Just wow. The parking spots were incredibly ugly, but at least I could shave 3 seconds off my commute by cutting through them. This is remarkable.

I'm working up a new theory of 4th Avenue: only the stupidest, most aesthetically clueless, and most delusionally greedy developers could possibly have been foolish enough to think it was on the verge of turning into a thriving residential boulevard. So the residences we see are really natural selection at work.

Posted by: toadie at May 1, 2009 10:26 AM in response to It Came From 4th Ave!

hmm, that's incoherent, isn't it? Darned swine flu, messing with my head.

Posted by: toadie at April 30, 2009 1:05 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 655 Washington Avenue, Apt. 3B

Dunno what it will sell for, but things can't be going too well for the developer if it lost 800% of its value in the last 5 minutes.

Posted by: toadie at April 30, 2009 1:03 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 655 Washington Avenue, Apt. 3B

I'm going to be extremely confused if this winds up selling for more than today's HOTD, as current appraisals suggest.

Posted by: toadie at April 23, 2009 1:50 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 70 Washington Street, #4S

I don't know this neighborhood at all, but it would have to be astonishingly terrible for that place to only be worth $813 (current brownstoner appraisal). Really gorgeous, and given how nice the parts of the interior we see are, it's hard for me to believe the kitchens or baths are in terrible condition, though no doubt they could use some improvements.

Posted by: toadie at April 23, 2009 1:35 PM in response to House of the Day: 1265 Dean Street

Seconding BRG's "brokers are idiots," but what gets me isn't the price fantasy, it's the grammatical nightmare. I've stopped even noticing everyday misuse of contractions, but this

"combined with it's million dollar view and its terrace overlooking the harbor and the NY skyline"

is a classic. What possible rule could they be thinking justifies the different treatment? Use an apostrophe to seem classy when you're talking about money?

Argh.

Posted by: toadie at April 21, 2009 1:14 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 75 Henry Street

Over 1800 for a second floor studio seems even crazier than the 4000 2 bed. I have a full floor of a brownstone, just off 6th ave, for 1800, and I got it two years ago. I'm pretty sure you can get a decent sized east village studio for 1800 these days; certainly there must be some in prime park slope for less.

and snarkslope is right, but understates it. Not only do you get the lovely smells of the KFC...but that's probably the best dining option in the immediate vicinity.

Posted by: toadie at April 15, 2009 11:19 AM in response to Checking In On 110 4th Avenue

The magic staircase has to be worth something, no?

Posted by: toadie at April 13, 2009 1:44 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 415 Argyle Road

Is it me, or is the only thing usable as a master bedroom on the garden floor?

And I'm rather amused by the toiletless "studio," though I assume that's the floorplan equivalent of a typo.

Posted by: toadie at April 13, 2009 1:36 PM in response to House of the Day: 113 Garfield Place

Jeez, the renter's bedroom looks pretty unappealing. Otherwise nice, I guess, though that living room looks like it was designed to stifle all possibility of ever allowing anyone to do anything remotely resembling fun.

Posted by: toadie at April 1, 2009 1:30 PM in response to House of the Day: 213 Berkeley Place

Yeah, there's something seriously wrong with the floorplan. Where did the window in the kitchen come from? And the living room layout seems to bear no relationship to the living room in the floorplan, unless the wall with that entryway in the living room simply ends just outside of the frame. And is it me or does the bedroom look narrower than 10 feet? I'm skeptical.

Posted by: toadie at April 1, 2009 1:17 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 325 Clinton Avenue, #11E

Like the house a lot, so I assume it'll sell for about $200,000 more than I could possibly afford in the foreseeable future. Like the widget. I agree that it would be nice if it didn't display the price until after you've voted. I think it's a sad commentary on the state of blog commenting that the people who said you should prevent multiple votes and other attempts to game the system...are probably right.

Posted by: toadie at March 31, 2009 2:38 PM in response to House of the Day: 93 2nd Street

NYFA is good people. Check 'em out. Haven't seen the new digs yet, but their old place, in the west village, left a lot to be desired.

Posted by: toadie at March 23, 2009 11:16 AM in response to 20 Jay Non-Profit Central

Stopped there one day as I was waiting to look at a couple of apartments in the neighborhood. The apartments were lousy, but I really liked the cafe. Great iced tea, good cookie.

Posted by: toadie at January 12, 2009 3:28 PM in response to Streetlevel: Flyer Saucer Cafe Grounded

No idea about this one, but gas stations often have problems with rusty old gas tanks. Since the costs of environmental remediation can be enormous, it's not uncommon to see abandoned stations sit idle for years.

Posted by: toadie at January 9, 2009 12:04 PM in response to What's Going On at 43 Empire Boulevard?