306 Washington Sells for 26 Percent Below Initial Ask
When we last checked in back in November, the price on 306 Washington Avenue had already been reduced from $2,300,000 to $1,900,000. Not far enough, it turns out. The five-story brownstone just closed at the end of last week (not long ago enough to make it into public records or the Top Sales list) for,…
When we last checked in back in November, the price on 306 Washington Avenue had already been reduced from $2,300,000 to $1,900,000. Not far enough, it turns out. The five-story brownstone just closed at the end of last week (not long ago enough to make it into public records or the Top Sales list) for, get this, $1,680,000. The four-family brownstone went to contract in January just shortly before one of the rent stabilized tenants vacated, creating some instant value for the new owners. GMAP
Holy cow, BRG. Any idea how much this guy spent on the renovation? Also, BTW, was it originally a single-family townhouse that had been converted into a 10-unit SRO?
I don’t understand why this is such a good deal. Don’t buildings in Clinton Hill usually go for $800,000 to $1.3 million?
ROTW,
If you are referring to the “zestimate” — you are right that is a silly number. But the comps listed there are real sales, just not always comparable — you have to pick and choose based on reasonable criteria which are truly comparable. Every time I have used the site to find comps, I have found real homes, at real addresses, that really sold for the real prices that are indicated as the sales prices on zillow. I always double check on ACRIS. You can do teh same. Zillow just links to DOF like everything else — propertyshark, etc. So, broker, go get some real comparable sales through whatever source you find reliable. Curious to see the data.
“However, last year I finished a renovation project (upper west side) for a client that bought a SRO with one rent stabilized tenant left in the front parlor floor (studio apt). He offered her a lot of cash AND a comparable apartment in the neighborhood for the same rent she was paying. She stupidly didn’t take the offer and insisted on fighting him.”
“Yes, it’s doable to get a rent stabilized tenant out of an apartment. You have to have balls of steel, money and time.”
Classic Covert Race/Class Warfare in it’s purest form. I can’t wait for the Greater Depression to begin..
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…
BRG, interesting story.
I bet if that property had been in Brooklyn rather than Manhattan, the holdout tenant would still be ensconced in her front apartment. The People’s Republic of Brooklyn is a place apart.
First thing I would do if i was buying this would to subtract the amount of square feet of any rent stab. or control apts. in the building from what i was buying. Its very hard to get them out and unless you have a lawyer on retainer not worth the legal fees.
Secondly Zillow is skewed huge, and if you are using it blindly you are gonna get burned. If you look at the Zillow figures for this area the past 5 months the values have gone up 40 percent during an economic downturn. There are a couple of outliers in the zillow stats that have made this happen. One was a townhouse that was sold for a rid. amount in the area that is highly suspect of a mortgage fraud scheme. The other is the new towers in Fort Greene. If there was a way to short the values in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill I would be all over it. This is a very nice brownstone, but the buyers did not get a deal at all.
Sam and all, I don’t know much about real estate law.
However, last year I finished a renovation project (upper west side) for a client that bought a SRO with one rent stabilized tenant left in the front parlor floor (studio apt). He offered her a lot of cash AND a comparable apartment in the neighborhood for the same rent she was paying. She stupidly didn’t take the offer and insisted on fighting him.
We gut renovated this 6 story townhouse around her, she lived around a construction zone the entire time (2 years) and when I say gut renovated, I mean we left nothing in the building, except the beams, brick party walls, front and rear façade and her studio apt. We were doing all new plumbing, electrical, mechanical, and structural and had to provide so many provisions for her during construction, temporary utilities just for her. It was a nightmare. She called 311 / DOB every other day and reported something. Most of the time, it was nonsense, as we were doing everything by the book. Yes, we got a ton of stop work orders because of her.
Needless to say, my client kept offering her more and more money to leave, but she wouldn’t budge. She was a fool not to take his last offer, because if invested properly she could have modestly lived on it.
He stopped negotiating with her 4 months before her lease was up. He and his family moved in with her still occupying the front parlor room and when her lease was up he started eviction, citing conversion to a one-family residence, to be occupied by owner.
FYI – with DOB, we initially tried to file it as a conversion from a 10-family (SRO) to a one-family but because there was a tenant we had to file it as a conversion to a two-family.
Once the tenant was gone we filed it with DOB as a conversion from a two-family to a one-family. Yes, lots of DOB paperwork and drawings…fun, fun, fun!!
Yes, it’s doable to get a rent stabilized tenant out of an apartment. You have to have balls of steel, money and time.
With the recent downturn in the NYC rental market, I’m finding it’s much easier/cheaper to get rid of rent stabilized tenants.
I just got one out for $4500. After spending about $40,000 on the renovation, I should be able to increase the rent about $800/mo — not an amazing but not bad either.
Rent stabilized tenants are much more interested in making deals since rents elsewhere have dropped so much.
“You could actually have a very positive effect on this conversation by giving us real hard comps.”
I just did! The Bank and Appraisers are going to use INCOME (remember that?) to calculate this building worth!!!! All of this crap happen LAST YEAR, we are in a new dynamic retards. No more crack for you!
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…