Real Estate

Four Modest Houses To See This Weekend, Starting at $549K

As December hits and the temperature drops, the housing market generally cools along with it, and this year is no exception.

by Chris Erikson

12/02/2016 4 minute 0

As December hits and the temperature drops, the housing market generally cools along with it, and this year is no exception. But if open-house activity is not hitting a fever pitch neither has it ground to a halt, and as is our habit we’ve got four to be checked out this weekend — found in Gowanus, Bed Stuy, Cypress Hills and Brownsville.

On 7th Street in Gowanus, we’ve got a three-story brick house that’s 16.5 feet wide, with 1,921 square feet of interior space. A past renovation opened up the bottom two floors; the first has a kitchen in the rear while the second floor is just open space, with a floor-through apartment above. It’s a likely candidate for an overhaul, and the listing says architectural plans are on offer. It’s got a smattering of original details, including tin ceilings, newel post and mantels.

In Bed Stuy we have a flip with a bit of an industrial feel. It’s a three-story, with a one-bedroom garden rental and a three-bedroom upper duplex, with an open plan parlor floor with a floating staircase. It’s gut renovated — everything’s new, including kitchens and baths. There’s exposed brick, a trio of skylights, a rear deck, and a finished basement with a tiled floor and a separate rear entrance.

Another flip is in store on Adler Place in Cypress Hills, a block-long street that sits by the elevated J/Z tracks. This one’s a one-family, 20 feet wide and 36 feet deep, with two stories and a finished basement. The first floor is open plan, the second holds three bedrooms (if you count a windowless one with a skylight). There’s a back yard, a small porch in front and central a/c.

Last stop is East 92nd Street in Brownsville, a good hike from the nearest train, where we find a small single-family brick house with a front driveway and a front porch with a canopy. The kitchen and bathroom are “recently updated,” according to the listing; oddly, there’s a second kitchen pictured, which has not been on the receiving end of any recent updating. There are four bedrooms, two on the ground floor, which doesn’t seem to have windows in front. The roof is new.