Co-op of the Day: 32 8th Avenue
This floor-through co-op apartment at 32 8th Avenue in Park Slope is the best deal we’ve seen in a while. The 900-square-foot one-bedroom has all of the exquisite detail one would hope to find in a Park Slope brownstone, from the beautiful wood moldings to the inlaid parquet floor. A small extension on the rear…
This floor-through co-op apartment at 32 8th Avenue in Park Slope is the best deal we’ve seen in a while. The 900-square-foot one-bedroom has all of the exquisite detail one would hope to find in a Park Slope brownstone, from the beautiful wood moldings to the inlaid parquet floor. A small extension on the rear of the building also means that they layout works much better than your standard floor-through conversion. We’re going to go out on a limb and say that we wouldn’t be surprised to see this go for more than the asking price of $599,000, which would be quite an achievement in this market!
32 8th Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
If you’re willing to spend 600K on a one-bedroom, you’re better off spending 600k on a two bedroom.
There’s a cute 2-bedroom on Willow Street in for 600K.
Park Slope is not the end all.
11217 – that’s what always gets me about great apartments in great areas – they sell themselves and there’s no way you need to put 6% in to the pocket of a broker. When we sold our Park Slope apartment in 2005, we built a little website, drew up a floor plan and posted pictures of every room and aspect. We heard from our eventual buyer in 14 hours after the ad went up, heard from their spouse 4 hours later (and they didn’t know their better half had already emailed) and we had a deal with them in 72 hours. And we ended up getting $75k more than a Corcoran broker had told us we’d get.
Yes, we were lucky in that we found someone who loved our place immediately and never needed to have an open house, however even in a down market, great neighborhoods are still in demand and with a NY Times ad and a website more often than not I think you can do better (and split the 6%) than going with a broker.
Of course borderline areas can be a different story. There it’s more likely a broker will earn their commission by bringing buyers who mightn’t look in that particular area without some prodding.
beautiful apartment, though $599,000 seems a bit much for a one bedroom in this market. This isn’t even something you could pitch as “convertible.” I’d say no more than 525, 550 at best.
I’m curious to see what others think places around this area should go for in $/sf. At the height of the market I’d read they were averaging about $800/sf.
Apartments in my building, a nearby brownstone, went for over $900/sf in early 2008.
11217 is right about the rent rates.
Also, how deep do you think this building is? Is there a back yard?
Lovely apartment. Too bad the bedroom is on the front of the building, though.
OK — here’s what I did. Using deLepps #s, and the following assumptions: 10% down, 4.75% 30yr fixd, 40% total income tax rate (incl. fed, state, city), tax deductable mtg interest, 0.25% property tax (=1246/yr initially), maintenance cost never increasing
I took the after tax monthy cost after amortizing the profit and the transaction costs from selling the place.
A: property value flat, rent flat over time: you never break even. round-trip ownership costs get down to about 3000/month after about 10 years
B: property value down 1% a month for 1 year, and then resuming 2% growth per year, 2% rent increase every year: you break even after 12 years.
C: property value up 5% a year. after about 1 1/2 years you’re doing better than renting, and after 12 years you turn a profit.
D: same as B, only resuming 5% price growth per year. You break even vs renting after 5 years, but don’t turn a profit until you hold it for 24 years.
I realize that I am seriously lacking a life. whatever; this question always bugged be, and I finally did the work. It gets more complicated when you consider the foregone gains from investing your downpayment in the market, but I can elaborate on that later.
I bought my place FSBO. No reason to use a broker. Take that 6% off. Most of us here know more about real estate than half the brokers in the area, anyway… 😉
Joe, add on moving costs to that as well.
I think you might be underestimating the rent a bit.
Here’s a very similarly sized 1 bedroom in Park Slope renting for $2500.
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/abo/1111316475.html
And another for $2700
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/fee/1111054400.html
This is the most perfect 1-bedroom in the most perfect street in the most perfect neighborhood.