House of the Day: 15 Lefferts Place
Hey, this whole FSBO thing seems to be catching on! We were sent the link to the site for 15 Lefferts Place, a lovely four-story brownstone just East of Grand Avenue. The house, which is configured as a owner’s triplex over a rental simplex, appears to have a decent amount of detail. There are some…
Hey, this whole FSBO thing seems to be catching on! We were sent the link to the site for 15 Lefferts Place, a lovely four-story brownstone just East of Grand Avenue. The house, which is configured as a owner’s triplex over a rental simplex, appears to have a decent amount of detail. There are some more modern elements, including the kitchen, which appears to be very nice, and some new doors that are trying to look old but not cutting it (a little pet peeve of ours). The rental apartment has some charming original floorboards and the skylight at the top of the stairwell is one of those beautiful oval babies. The front parlor, with pier mirror and floor-to-ceiling wood windows looks like a winner. The price–$1.495 million–is exactly what we would have expected and we bet they’ll come pretty darn close to getting it.
Brownstone FSBO [15 Lefferts Place] GMAP P*Shark
To make money in real estate, the single most important thing to do is:
BUY LOW
If you buy high, and the market stumbles, you won’t be able to sleep at night and your kids will think you’re a zombie.
it’s all opinion and specific options available at a given time. i am not sure where the 70% in a year figure comes from above but for the space and the potential prospect of the brooklyn to come- couldn’t it just be that brooklyn has been under-valued for so long based on lack of knowledge about it in general, its easy commute in most places and its great housing stock? i do believe many parts of brooklyn however, have just caught up and although there may be no up for a while, i truly believe there will be no down. real estate isn’t the stock market, it’s better because many people live within and are surrounded by what their speculating on. I guess i am basically saying that i don’t feel things are ridulous yet. let’s think about soho and tribeca… what???? who would have thought there were so many rich who could pay 20,000 a month to rent a loft?
“it is an interesting point that many of not most of the people who can afford $1m plus houses can only do so because the boom injected vast amounts into their savings as they sold houses they bought in the 90s…”
I think there’s a kernel of truth to this, but you’re stretching with “many if not most.” The woman I sold to when I traded up was a first-time buyer with a big income and big $$$ for downpayment — as was the case with pretty much everyone I knew who sold a house to trade up.
It’s not as if people just invented the practice of selling a home to buy a bigger one. The price of entering the market in Brooklyn is much higher now, but there are demonstrably plenty willing to pay it. (That said, I do think the market has to cool soon, if it hadn’t already, but it’s not the pyramid scheme you describe.)
Anon at 4:50: Thank you. Very well said.
it is an interesting point that many of not most of the people who can afford $1m plus houses can only do so because the boom injected vast amounts into their savings as they sold houses they bought in the 90s, not because they have amazing jobs that pay a fortune or are getting amazing rental returns.
Just ponder on this fact for a while..
The city is not minting many people each year with stable incomes that support 1 million plus mortgages, so the brownstone/townhouse “market” currently is a select and lucky group who bootstrapped themselves up leaving a big BIG gap between them and those whose salaries support realistic mortgages.
If everyone on, say, one block in park slope, wanted to cash in on the price obtained by just one recent sale, the market in that area would collapse overnight.
Prices are held up only by hot air and faith that very few people each year will cash in their paper profits and move elsewhere.
Prices may stay high for ever, reconfirming the luck of these select few each year as they keep selling a few places to each other. But I don’t think they can keep rising without forcing the market to show that it has no foundation in reality (read: a massive crash). Anyone counting on capital appreciation to make the math work over the longer term is screwed.
How do you afford a $1.5M? Assuming you have the necessary 25% downpayment (e.g., previously mentioned condo sale, etc), the solution is to purchase a brownstone with solid rental income, preferably four to five story, three to four family property that provides the owner with a large duplex and two to three rental apartments. Assuming the property is located in an attractive area, given the price you might be able to use the rental income (will be significant) to subsidize a substantial portion of your mortgage obligation, if not all. Overtime, you’ll be able to gradually raise the rent and further reduce your out of pocket expense. As your income level increases you can take over additonal floors of the townhouse to accomodate a growing family. It’s not hard but it depends on your risk profile and what kind of debt you’re comfortable with. I’m more risk averse then most so I at least like to know that I can carry the entire note on my own without the rental income – though it’s much appreciated!
there are actually bathrooms on every floor if you look at the floorplan.
Jake. Don’t know how many houses you’ve looked at already, but if you want three bathrooms, you had better be a multi-millionaire or start looking now in the ‘burbs!
“Of course we could get by with one bathroom, but who wants to just get by?”
And there you have the reason why real estate prices are so high today.