HOTD: The Common Courtesy of a Wrap-Around

I think that is what the reply poster was saying – it is expensive but most people who are buying in the area now can afford it. I think any person of average intelligence would understand it costs more to heat an older frame house with lots of windows. In addition, for the record and also seemingly obvious, these houses need to be painted every few years, trees overhanging them need to be trimmed, the owner needs to pay to have the sidewalk in front and driveway shoveled in the winter and leaves removed in the fall and gutters need to be cleaned more often. I don’t think those of us who live in the neighborhood are trying to selfishly fool the newcomers into buying houses they can’t afford in order to increase our property values by telling them to ignore the additional costs. I don’t really want the houses in my neighborhood to end up on the foreclosure block or to see young families struggling. Clearly no one who can’t afford a $3-$4K per annum heating bill should be buying a $1.6Mil house.

Brownstoner, you make me laugh with your clever play on words.

Amen – 1.3 million buys you a junior 2 bedroom in Manhattan, with a $1500/mth maintenance or a tiny brick townhouse in Park Slope with a rental in the basement. Although there are costs to maintain these houses, it is no more than the typical maintenance charge for a coop apartment. I live in Victorian flatbush and most of the new people in the neighborhood are 30-40 year old professionals with growing families who can afford $1.3Mil and $1500/mth maintenance/heat, etc… but want some real space for that money without having to flee all the way to the burbs, take on renters or totally give up the urban feel. If that is what you are looking for, there aren’t many choices. I don’t really think that most of the people buying here now are choosing the neighborhood because they can’t afford to live anywhere else and, therefore, going to be shocked at a $3000K a year heating bill. They just like the feel and the space they get here more than the alternatives and they are choosing to be here.

It isn’t for everyone, but for some, including me, it is my first choice. I love the history of the area; the diversity of both the housing styles and the people; the fact that light comes in from all sides of my house and it feels like a true family home; being able to have a driveway and garage to park my car and put up a basketball hoop; being able to drive into manhattan on a whim on a Saturday afternoon in 15-20 minutes; having a front porch to sit on and drink coffee in the morning and a mojito on a hot summer night; the juxtaposition of a bustling city street with fish markets, mexican restaurants, subway lines and buses being around the corner from a quiet oasis of beautiful homes and lawns; the fact that all the neighbors know each other and automatically pick up each others newspapers if out of town and the fact that my children’s neighborhood friends are the sons and daughers of lawyers, taxi cab drivers, musicians, nannies, professors and from all different races and religions. I could go on and on.

I do think the house above is a bit overpriced, but a number of houses in the area have gone for over $1Mil without the updates the poster above expects at that price because the buyer fell in love with the house and the neighborhood and chose to/could afford to do the updates themselves. Just as many houses in Park Slope or Carroll Gardens that needed new facades, boilers, a renovation to combine apartments into a single family, new roofs, a restoration of historical details, etc… have gone for far in excess of $1Mil because the buyer loved the neighborhood and the house. I’m not sure why this is so hard to understand.

Windows that are not landmark quality are NOT desirable. Would rather have the original sash windows.