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We have been, with good reason, on the edge of our seats wondering about the future of 405 Clinton Avenue, the turn-of-the-century William Tubby design that came on the market last September after many years of neglect. Given the shape of the house and the state of the market, the initial asking price was laughable at $3,995,000. By November the price had been reduced to $2,995,000, a price that still seemed unrealistic—one person we spoke to who toured the house told us that it couldn’t be worth any more than $1,500,000. Now comes word, via a tipster, that the house, which was originally built by a former mayor of Brooklyn, has gone into contract at an all-cash price “significantly less than ask.” If you know the price and care to drop us a line, please know that your anonymity will be protected!
Update: We just heard from someone familiar with the deal and, while we didn’t get a contract price, we did learn that it is being purchased by a preservation-minded couple that plans to restore it and keep as many details as possible; they will live in the house and create one rental apartment. Great news!
Update II: Another tipster tells us that they buyer is a couple from Manhattan and that the purchase price was somewhere in the $1.7 to $1.8 million range.
405 Clinton Avenue [Brooklyn Properties] GMAP P*Shark
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  1. And then tell everyone on brownstoner and get told that you’ve been PWNED and your head will be bashed in the ghetto.

    Asshats!!!!

    Please Mr. Obama may I have some skittles?

    Someday this war is gonna end…..

  2. “When one hires a contractor, is it customary to tell them how much you paid for your house?”

    Yes, the contractor demands to know because the more you paid, the more they will charge you.

  3. For those interested – “L.J. Davis’s 1971 novel, A Meaningful Life, is a blistering black comedy about the American quest for redemption through real estate and a gritty picture of New York City in collapse. Just out of college, Lowell Lake, the Western-born hero of Davis’s novel, heads to New York, where he plans to make it big as a writer. Instead he finds a job as a technical editor, at which he toils away while passion leaks out of his marriage to a nice Jewish girl. Then Lowell discovers a beautiful crumbling mansion in a crime-ridden section of Brooklyn, and against all advice, not to mention his wife’s will, sinks his every penny into buying it. He quits his job, moves in, and spends day and night on demolition and construction. At last he has a mission: he will dig up the lost history of his house; he will restore it to its past grandeur.”

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