Co-op of the Day: 32 South Oxford Street

I REALLY love that this studio has a nice little room that can be a home office or a dressing room as it appears it is in the photos on the real estate webpage. Also, it looks like a very nice, clean remodeling.

This is a very well-run building. I wish the gals upstairs in the building would chime in on this thread but they probably don’t read Brownstoner or are too busy at work.

The next door neighbors (S & J) are really nice and their house is fabulously renovated. It doesn’t get much better than that.

And NO, this is NOT fringe. Ugh. I got testy when I saw that too and I’m glad cooler heads jumped in and took the poster to task.

The only fringe in this area of Fort Greene at this point is the fringe on my davenport.

BHO, I have to say that you kind of lose your audience (i.e. me) with the endless quotes, calculations etc. Please distill it down. PLUS, if you’re going to refer to maintenance/RE taxes going up over time as part of your argument, you might as well mention that the Rent Control Board allows rents to be increased every year.

Plus, BHO, while we’re on it, I never quite seem to be able to understand from your calculations and explanations if you ever take into account that even if an apartment or house sells for a little less than the original purchase price (adjusted for inflation or whatever), that it’s usually a gain in non-fringe Brooklyn.

So, really, the cost of ownership ends up being lowered by the gain at the end of ownership which throws you cost of “rent vs. own” out of whack.

Sure, there can be depreciation like with everything, but it seems that, generally, these living spaces (at least slowly) appreciate over time, especially now that we’re no longer “fringe”… And even with depreciation, at least the seller pulls something out of it (unless, of course the owner is “underwater” which appears may be the case in parts of Queens, Staten Island and, yes, “fringe” (I shudder using that charged term!) Brooklyn and Manhattan).

I would imagine the seller is prepared to accept an offer below the asking price.

Frankly, if this apartment were on the garden, I would snap it up in a heartbeat. The maintenance is good and low (in my opinion), the location is wonderful. And BTW Biff, we really DO have incredible subway, bus and LIRR service all right together super-conveniently clustered in Fort Greene.

Wow, a nice, easy-to-keep-clean pied-a-terre…H’mmm. This studio is not my dream apartment but it’s pretty cute.

It’s very tempting to think about downsizing to a studio this size with such miniscule maintenance. Sell our house, fully retire so I could get out of NYC much more(but then there IS the pesky issue of eldercare her in town of course) and we’d use a nice, little apartment like this as the NYC address and not feel like we were losing Fort Greene…which is one of the reasons I’m finding it hard to downsize.

Don’t imagine I haven’t thought about it…there just isn’t that many apartments for sale in Fort Greene that have been either to my taste or made sense financially. For example, why end up with a mortgage on a big, fancy apartment if the point of selling our house is to simplify?

Depends on how many people move in, DIBS. A sprinkle of such people aint movin the median nor average. That’s how the fundamentals are calculated.

“People don’t move from one block of brooklyn heights to another, either. They move in from somewhere else.”

True, but the trend has reversed. Fort Greene/Park Slope to Brooklyn Heights. Homes are cheaper. Everybody gets a location upgrade or two or three.

“Please try to think before you post.”

Just try to think.

“And, 3X income means absolutely nothing if you have a downpayment that’s large…”

Conversely, that rare large downpayment means absolutely nothing to median income and therefore price fundamentals. Especially now that people can no afford a higher income nabe. Those downpayments are moving away from your hood. Unless of course you’re talking short sale investors who pay cash, fix up and rent out to, guess who, folks who make the median income.

***Bid half off peak comps***

Well the widget is saying 212K, so we need to add an additional 15% for the “Brownstoner, this is the price I wish it were going to sell for appraisal method” bringing the actual selling price into the neighborhood of 243K.

This is a wonderful location, and I have the money to buy this place, but I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t pay $1700 a month to live in a studio — especially not one with the kitchen in the main room. If I did buy a studio, it would be for the joy of getting my monthly payments down to $1000.