House of the Day: Stuy Heights Grandaddy
This glorious architectural specimen in Stuyvesant Heights has it all going on–5,000 square feet of wood-paneling, parquet floors and stained glass. The first viewing is at today’s open house (quick, you’ve got about half an hour to get over there!) though you’ll get another chance on Sunday. It’s currently configured as a two-family with the…
This glorious architectural specimen in Stuyvesant Heights has it all going on–5,000 square feet of wood-paneling, parquet floors and stained glass. The first viewing is at today’s open house (quick, you’ve got about half an hour to get over there!) though you’ll get another chance on Sunday. It’s currently configured as a two-family with the rental apartment on the top floor. The pictures tell the story–our only question is what kind of comps are there for this place? $1.2 million does not sound outlandish to us for the quality and location. What do people think?
416 Stuyvesant Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
4:15, I didn’t read your post 12 months ago, but I totally agree that the Stuy is a better investment than already “established” (overpriced) nabes.
Listen, they don’t want to live in the burbs, get it? It’s “downtown Brooklyn or bust”!
YOU PEOPLE SHOULD BE GLAD WHEN WHITES MOVE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD BECAUSE IT ONLY BRINGS UP A NEIGHBORHOOD WE BRING STORES LIKE STARBUCKS AND BARNES AND NOBEL NOT NAIL SALON AND KIM WONG CHINESE FOOD THAT SELLS FRIED CHICKEN SO THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE A WHITE PERSON WALKING IN BED STUY ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET.
I’m with anon 11:30. Forget Brookyn (if you don’t already own, that is). Prices are absurd. I have friends who have moved to the same area in northern Westchester and they are all very happy there. The artists are getting great lofts in Peekskill and the families are buying fabulous old houses with land. It’s a much better deal and it is really pretty country. Househunter should check it out.
still non believers in Stuy Heights hey? everytime since this blog was started, the non believers post negatively about the Stuy. Negative posts for the past 50% of apreciation. When will it stop? Prices of the primo stuff have hit a million..still doesn’t stop. people were saying it was all speculation and the bubble bursting was going to kill bed stuy. I posted on here 12 months ago that bed sty was a better investment than many other “established” nabes and i was dragged over hot coals on this site. maybe if Heath Ledger moves in we will get some respect…..
Mansion tax is 1% of sales price, not 10%, I’m pretty certain.
Househunter,
I don’t think you’ll find anything in Clinton Hill (even if it is on the border of Bed Stuy) in your price range for a house that size (or a size that can accomodate your family comfortably) that does not need real renovation/restoration work – which will quickly eat up any savings you have unless you can handle/be granted additional financing for those repairs. Plus, you’ll need to live there, I’d imagine, while repairs are being done. Remember too there is mansion tax if the place is north of $1mm (10% of the price of the house), plus PMI on your mortgage if you put less than 20% down. You probably could find something that does not need a lot of work or that is already fixed up in Bed Stuy, Crown Heights or PLG.
Anyone who thinks this place is grossly overvalued just has not spent any serious time out there in the trenches. If you are really in the market to buy a nice Brooklyn brownstone,(going to all the open houses and submitting bids) as opposed to armchair quarterbacking, you’ll know this is a fair price. It’s just the going rate. Who knows what tomorrow brings. The current market out there tells me this is right in line. We shall soon see. But I predict there will be an offer on this beauty very soon.
Househunter,
So much to say and not much time to devote to an adequate response.
1st, I question your need for 5000sf. That is HUGE. I assume you are thinking about two double duplexes giving you 2500sf for yourself and 2500 to rent. Even so, the typcial b-stone is 20′ by 45’which would be 3600sf (4 floors) – and many bldgs are narrower, especially the more affordable ones.
The point I am leading up to is give up the holy grail. If I were to do it all over again, I would nix the idea of rental income and get a building that suits my space needs and no more. Tenants are a royal pain in the a** and hard on the property. I would not want to be dependent on one tenant in order to make my mortgage payment. I have a tenant, but I don’t NEED a tenant.
And keep in mind that maintenance expenses on a 100 year old building are a killer no matter the condition you buy it in. The bigger the building, the bigger the headaches.
For even a large family, a 3-story, 3000sf building would be perfectly adequate. That would be enough to give you 3BR’s upstairs, 2-3 baths, full parlor, a full dining room & kitchen on the bottom floor, garden, etc.
And I would look on the fringes of popular areas, i.e. 4th Ave along Park Slope. There are actually some nice blocks below 4th Ave with modest, family-sized rowhouses, some are very cute.
Also, Windsor Terrace, Sunset Park, Crown Hts, these are nabes where your budget might work, but you can be near kid-friendly, amenity-rich Park Slope.
Househunter: Yet another POV. I have friends who were in the same boat. After looking all around Brooklyn, they rethought their “no suburbs” rule. They ended up buying a house in Croton-on-Hudson and after over a year are extremely happy. We have visited many times and it is very beautiful–far more “country” than “suburb,” but the train is only 45 minutes (and the drive from park slope is 40 minutes). Their freinds and neighors are mostly refugees from Park slope and the Upper West Side, and they feel right at home. And the schools are supposed to be excellent. I don’t know the market, but they bought a gorgeous 1800’s farmhouse on a few acres with a barn and a meadow for 1.2M. As everyone said, only you can decide what works for you. If I didn’t own in the slope, I’d buy in Croton long before I bought in an emerging area of Brooklyn.