House of the Day: 207 Lincoln Road
This gorgeous brownstone at 207 Lincoln Road just hit the market this week. The three-story house has been recently restored and, judging from the frustratingly few photos in the listing, was done so very nicely. The current owners bought the place for $800,000 in 2004 so, post-reno, they probably don’t stand to make a lot…
This gorgeous brownstone at 207 Lincoln Road just hit the market this week. The three-story house has been recently restored and, judging from the frustratingly few photos in the listing, was done so very nicely. The current owners bought the place for $800,000 in 2004 so, post-reno, they probably don’t stand to make a lot of dough on the deal, even if they get close to achieving their $999,000 asking price.
207 Lincoln Road [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
This house went into contract in two months. In fact, all houses in PLG listed since January are in contract. The moral of the story? People are now underpricing their homes. This comes as no surprise to anyone who sh*t a brick when they saw the listing price on this house 3000 sqft house. The upside? Our comps may be lower, but at least we have a happy broker in the neighborhood. Thanks!
DT, 212 Midwood, the house to which you refer, has been renovated wonderfully. But it is TWO STORIES + English Basement. 207 Lincoln Road is THREE STORIES + a cellar + income potential.
Brokers only underprice to push a bidding war. But that’s a risky strategy in this market because everyone underbids these days. It’s a knee-jerk response. Surely, there’s a backstory to the underpricing of 207 Lincoln. Or else someone is desparate or stupid or both.
Frederick, the two story you refer to is obn Maple II. However, there is an amazing two story on Midwood II that had an open house today. I went just to check it out. Beautiful house, priced just under 1 mil. Totally worth it IMHO.
Ooh! This is like a very obscure version of American Idol! I put Rutland I ahead of Maple II and Lincoln II. And I’d put the Flatbush-Bedford blocks above the Bedford-Rogers ones. The noise/chaos from Flatbush is barely noticeable a hundred feet in from the corner, and none of the houses begin that close anyway.
Don’t think the broker is playing screw your comps, as he owns in the neighborhood himself, as do several of his colleagues. Probably he and the seller just want it to move in a reasonable time frame. There’s a 2-story on Midwood II that/s been asking 1.3M for 9 months. I don’t see why other sellers in the neighborhood should have to price according to that seller’s delusional calculus.
If this house is as renovated as it claims to be, it should be listed at $1.1M. If Hawthorne and Fenimore can pull $1M for similar homes, surely Lincoln II can. There must be a back-story to this listing.
FYI – Lincoln II is definitely in the better half of Lefferts Manor blocks for many reasons. It’s a tranquil, wide, tree-lined block with some serious gems. Its exterior architecture is fairly well-organized and uniform. you can walk to K-Dog, Enduro and the Q train w/out ever having to set foot on Flatbush Avenue. And it has an award-winning block association.
There’s no debating that in terms of overall quality, Maple II is clearly the best Lefferts block due to its uniform, unique architecture and tree-lined tranquility. Lincoln II is just around the corner. Maple I is probably the second best block in the manor given its tranquility, proximity to the train and cafes. Towards Bedford it has an abundance of large lots and mansion-esque homes. Although its architecture spans two centuries, all the homes on the block are red brick.
In terms of quality, I’d put Midwood I next, and then Lincoln II. Although Midwood I has many vocal fans, due in part to its 4-story rowhouse gems, it has been traditionally overrated with respect to the rest of the Manor, especially by the brokerage community. Its best buildings are a bit too close to the mayhem of Flatbush. The street is too narrow and clausterphobic for 4 story buildings (a number of which are only 17 feet wide). And it lacks architectural consistency of style. Overall, the block may have an abundance of virtues, but compared to the rest of the Manor, it offers more visual noise, audible noise and urban claustrophobia.
The north part of PLG is clearly better than the south part, although lower real estate prices have led to some serious gentrification. The influx of the middle class could change the dynamics of the neighorbood, especially once Atlantic Yards introduces to Park Slope and Prospect Heights insanity one would normally associate with Madison Square Garden and its environs.
This house is, actually, a little bit underpriced given the current market. A good broker would have priced this home at $1.1M (unless it’s not as well renovated as claimed).
My guess is that this broker doesn’t want to work so hard in a tough market. Or maybe the broker has a lot of bills and selling real estate is the only thing he knows how to do. Of course, there’s an outside chance the Seller is facing foreclosure.
Basically, this is a “screw-your-neighbor’s-comps” race to the bottom in which greed plays as much a destructive role as it did during the days of escalating prices and house flipping.
I love a kitchen on the garden/ground level. It allows you to create a more open loft-style kitchen-family room and have that without ripping out all the original details of a parlor floor. As for whether the parlor floor is used when the kitchen is on the garden floor, I think those are mainly people with young children who always need to keep an eye on them saying that a 2nd LR on another floor is not used. Once kids are adolescents (or even before) and want their own space you’ll be thrilled you have two or three different spaces for reading and watching TV in the house. Preteen onward kids don’t want to hang out with their parents when their friends come over. With only one living room for the whole family your kid will always be shut away in his bedroom or out of the house. Growing up in the suburbs my brothers and I had a whole separate den/tv room with kitchenette just for us and it’s the only reason I spent any time with my then-loathed brothers at all. My mother could cruise through on the way to the laundry room and see what we were up to without us feeling like she was invading our space.
sterlingsilver,
You wrote “one of very best blocks in historic district which this isnt… .”
If by best, you mean more $$$, we have very different standards. Nothing wrong with that, of course, we just live in very different worlds.
i have a three story and parlor kitchen. the layout works great for us. we are always on the ground floor because that’s where our ‘family room’ is – read big tv & comfy sofa. the kids can go wild and mess the place up. the parlor is more formal. for entertaining both floors are used and both floors have baths. the upstairs is 3 bedrooms (could have been 4, but would have been much tighter).
to each his own…..