Dumb to buy a gorgeous pre-war apt with no view?
My husband and I have been seriously apt hunting for a month or so now in Park Slope/Prospect Heights and its been (mostly) incredibly depressing. We’ve seen horribly laid out apartments with 2 bedrooms that really should have only had one, kitchens and bathrooms that were woefully outdated and basically needed to be ripped out,…
My husband and I have been seriously apt hunting for a month or so now in Park Slope/Prospect Heights and its been (mostly) incredibly depressing. We’ve seen horribly laid out apartments with 2 bedrooms that really should have only had one, kitchens and bathrooms that were woefully outdated and basically needed to be ripped out, 3rd floor, 4th floor and 5th floor walk-ups, spiral staircases that you needed a jackhammer to get up and down b/c they are so narrow and steep, etc, etc. I was beginning to think that finding a decent place within our budget was a total pipedream…until this weekend.
Through a friend of a friend, we happened to find an amazing (not yet advertised) apartment, in a fab, beautiful, pre-war building, in a spectacular location, and it has everything that we are looking for (high ceilngs, elevator in bldg, charming pre-war details, lots of space, great kitchen minus one or two quirks, original hard wood floors, etc). The *only* hitch is that its an interior courtyard unit–so no view and and the light isn’t fantastic.
Are we crazy for still wanting to buy? I feel like in comparison to everything else we’ve seen, this place is such a gem. Our last apt in manhattan had absolutely killer views and amazing light and our blinds were always closed (except when someone came over so that we could brag about our amazing views).
Am I in major “justifying” mode” or is this problem not *that* horrible if everything else is fab (including the price). With every other place we saw, its been within our budget, but we’d then need to do 50k of work to make it nice and really livable. With this place, I feel like we could do 10-20k of strictly cosmetic work, and it would be a showstopper.
Any opinions? Thanks!
We are living in a very similar situation in Brooklyn Heights — great apartment facing inner courtyard on the first floor. Very quiet, but be very very honest with yourself about your need for sunlight. My significant other is fine with the low light, but after a year and a half with only a 1.5 hours a day of direct sunlight, my mood is really suffering. 20/20 hindsight I suppose. I still love the apartment, and compromised for the sake of good value, but would not personally buy another apartment without decent light. And FYI, if you are facing a courtyard, check to see if you have pigeons! I never minded them until I discovered that they were roosting outside the window — because of the brick walls, they sound like they are cooing through a megaphone! Now need a white noise machine to sleep past sunrise…
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.
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.
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.
is this apartment “K”? don’t want to give more away, but if it is, it is advertised./
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.
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.
I would definitely go for the apartment. As another poster mentioned, you could do some creative things with lighting to make it appear more natural. As for resale, I wouldn’t be too concerned.
Good luck!
Funny, 4:13, you’re so right. A view is nice but unless one has a big outdoor space for entertaining nobody sits and stares at the view all the time. Plus there’s no guarantee a view to say, across the street would be all that picturesque all the time. You could end up staring at a laundromat. Plus can we talk about street noise? It’s the worst.
I had an interior courtyard view apartment, my first on my own after college, and I always carry such fond memories of it. I never lacked for light, and I loved the uniqueness and the privacy of it.