Co-op of the Day: 130 8th Avenue, #7C
Here’s a pretty standard but perfectly nice two-bedroom co-op at 130 8th Avenue that just hit the market. It has a nice layout and appears to be in good shape; the views also look sweet. The maintenance is a little high at $1,399 and the asking price of $865,000 seems mildly optimistic but not crazy…
Here’s a pretty standard but perfectly nice two-bedroom co-op at 130 8th Avenue that just hit the market. It has a nice layout and appears to be in good shape; the views also look sweet. The maintenance is a little high at $1,399 and the asking price of $865,000 seems mildly optimistic but not crazy talk. What do you make of it?
130 8th Avenue, #7C [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
All right, Park Slope enthusiasts, you convinced me that if you are going to live in a low-ceilinged post-war coop, I might as well do it in the middle of heaven, namely Park Slope. It seems like a lot of money to spend on a space so, well, blah. I could understand people renting this clean, decent corner 2 bedroom apartment, or even buying it if it made sense financially. It seems so interchangeable with a thousand other NY apartments, I fail to see the desire to spend $5,000 a month for the privilege.
“Talking about 150K prime neighborhood tax is truly ridiculous. It sounds like something that may have been dreamed up in the central planning department of the old Kremlin.”
I don’t mean a literal tax Minard, just the fact that the sale of this place for 725 would be a 150 to 175 thousand dollars more than it would cost in most other neighborhoods in Brownstone Brooklyn, and that money is about what I think the market would bear in terms of increase in sales price (ie-the price of prime).
Comparable apartments on the UWS in the decent school districts are asking around 15% more than this place (and often more).
Here’s one that’s on a comparable floor, of a similar size and vintage (though about 50 sq ft bigger if you do your own calculations), that went into contract asking $999k: http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/437690-coop-315-west-70th-street-lincoln-square-new-york
Note, though, that maintenance in Manhattan tends to be significantly higher. Here the differential is like tacking an additional $100K to the purchase price if you take monthlies into account.
I used to commute from the UWS to midtown, but on the East Side, and it wasn’t all that fast or easy to cross from West to East (or back). It seemed a straight shot down to Wall Street was faster.
Maly,
Clearly the UWS is more desirable in the general scheme of NYC, but to me it is most certainly not. I know what you are saying, but the upper west side has lost a lot of its luster, and the fact that half of Park Slope’s residents seem to have moved there from the UWS seems to speak volumes.
Also just to note: You mentioned apartments on the UWS which were listed for 1.2 million now being listed in the 700’s. I haven’t seen price chops on PS co-ops like that over the past year, so I wonder what they says about the market.
I also don’t think brownstones on the UWS in general are 2-3 times those in this area of Park Slope. I just saw one listed in the 80’s near Columbus for 3.6 million…the one on highlighted here recently on Berkeley and 8th is listed for 3.2 million…and needs major work.
Maly: It fits in a 25 x 40 (actually, closer to 24 x 42 = 1008) rectangle pnly if you lop off the kitchen and dining area. Add those back and you get 1000 + (6.5 x 21) = 1145. Not a large 2 BR by any stretch but a pretty efficient postwar floorplan — not a lot of space wasted by hallways and such.
So if this location is much more desirable, how come houses are 2 or 3 times more xpensive for a similar house in the UWS, but average coops are worth just as much?
location is the primary cost of real estate. more so in an iffy market. Some locations are golden and some have negative value. Talking about 150K prime neighborhood tax is truly ridiculous. It sounds like something that may have been dreamed up in the central planning department of the old Kremlin.
In a free market people will do anything to live in the very nicest location they can.
“To add 30 minutes to someone’s commute, they need either 20% more space or 20% less money.”
Just fyi…I used to live on the UWS and it took me longer to get downtown from there than it does from Park Slope via the 2/3/Q does to downtown…
Obviously if you work in midtown, the UWS is closer but then you have to live on the UWS. 🙂