home search: realistic expectations?
Getting ready to start an out-of-state (mostly) search to find a new home in Brooklyn (my former home, so I’m very familiar with it). I’d love some advice about whether I have realistic expectations for what I’m looking for, lest I waste too much time holding out for that “just right” place that takes years…
Getting ready to start an out-of-state (mostly) search to find a new home in Brooklyn (my former home, so I’m very familiar with it). I’d love some advice about whether I have realistic expectations for what I’m looking for, lest I waste too much time holding out for that “just right” place that takes years to come along.
Budget: around a million (but thrilled to pay far less!), less if it needs work, more if there’s rental income. Prefer something renovated or new, but if all else is perfect, we would consider doing reno ourselves.
Nabes: Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Ft. Greene,m Clinton Hill, Boerum Hill, etc. Walking distance to “good stuff.” Would LOVE walking distance to Prospect Park and Grand Army Farmers Market. Not Lefferts Garden or Kensington (too far out, and not enough walkable stuff).
Size: 1500+ sq. ft. At least 1.5 bathrooms. Pref. 3 bedrooms (or two bedrooms plus office area), pref. formal dining room or ample dining space.
Must have: dedicated parking on-site or super nearby.
My (no doubt unrealistic) dream home: a townhouse with parking and a yard, sizable owner’s duplex, plus in-law unit or studio and a one bedroom rental. I see one like this listed in Lefferts Garden, a limestone beauty, listed for under a mil. But it’s too far! If it were this, I could probably swing $1.3 mil…
OR, a large condo for a lower price, with reasonable maintenance. Parking for sure. A patio or yard would be great. Actually, the Vermiel listings for the largest units seem perfect, except that they front 7th Ave and Sterling (with the windows RIGHT, right, right on the street) and the asking prices are high!
Am I crazy, or is this doable?
The other dream (im)possibility, a well-priced empty lot that meets the above requirements and is buildable… for a super-dope prefab…
Ok, fantasy is maybe the right word instead.
2:53 is right. South Slope and Sunset Park have cute blocks and terrible blocks. Any neighborhood’s blocks vary to some degree, but in those two neighborhoods you tend to see more extremes one way or another. It’s essential to see this one in person to know if you should even consider it seriously. So don’t fly from CA mainly just to see that one house. Have a list of several places in several neighborhoods.
I would be that the south slope home is on a horrible block. There’s a lot of horrible “end of the world” feeling blocks in the south slope. houses in the nice parts are substantially more expensive than this. If you’re really commuting to the Bronx – Williamburg and greenpoint have much easier commutes.
When they say a frame house in the South Slope needs TLC, they mean a gut rehab. Those houses are usually too small to keep the rental. Find out if it’s delivered vacant. Also check the width of the ‘horsewalk’. Sometimes they’re too narrow to get a car up safely.
easy on the annoying self-righteous bit, 1:35. you don’t know anything about their situation, and regardless, i’m sure she (or anyone else) doesn’t need your advice on personal matters.
and anyway, depending on where in the bronx, it’s not a bad commute.
tanner, that listing has been up for a while. you could get it for a lot less, i bet. do you know what block it’s at? still, i think it’s over-priced, anyway.
Hmm the A&H site says it needs “TLC” frankly I think its overpriced and you could get a nice limestone, brick or brownstone house instead of a wooden house, elsewhere….Note I have a toddler and another on the way. The lawyer I mentioned above has two kids ages 5 and 9. We all use the playground on Underhill and Prospect (10 min walk away)…Oh and we do have a car and park everyday in front of the house. This is really needed for trips to a real supermarket here and there (Fairway in Red Hook is best). Parking availablity may change with the new condos that are going to be built up the street…..
You’re going to make your husband commute back and forth everyday to the bronx and then come home to 1-2 kids? At least move to queens.
I’d keep looking at PLG, Tanner. Great stuff for kids: playgrounds, zoo, botanic garden, lake, carousel. It takes 20 minutes to walk across the park. I just bought a place that fulfills all your recs (except parking) for well under a million. And I don’t think prices are going up at the moment. The neighborhood is changing fast. 20 story condo going in on Lincoln Rd. You’ll get much more for your money if you are willing to take the long view on some of these neighborhoods.
Fake post? I have no idea what would be gained from a fake post like this one. Some of you are just funny…
To the rest of you, thanks for your advice. It’s super helpful. I have no delusions that I’d find what I’m looking for in *prime* park slope or ft. greene. I’d be thrilled to be in s. slope or the fringes of any of the neighborhoods I mentioned, if it’s walking distance to good stuff. I work from home and have one little one with me, another in the next year hopefully, so convenient is good. Playgrounds are, too.
The car thing is hard… I’m a native of the motor city, originally, and I have to say, all the auto company workers in my family have just gotten into my blood. But besides, my husband will probably working in the Bronx, and public transportation to there is just a killer. We’ve done it before. (Lived in Sunset Park for a very long time.) I really want to move back to BK, not to the BX, so easy parking is just a must for us.
I know about Prospect Lefferts… I’ve been eyeing a place there for a while. And yes, I know it’s not much farther than the slope via train, but it’s the walking distance thing…
I’d like to exhaust all the possibilities before widening the neighborhood search… Maybe “prime” windsor terrace, though i always thought it was a tad bland over there… Maybe I’ll look into Crown Heights.
Check this place out. Needs a lot of work, inside and out, I’d guess. Anyone have a good guess about how much? Is the 100k per floor one poster suggested a pretty good starting point? http://www.ahrlty.com/H-198W/H-198W.html