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
Sorry, I meant to say 22.5 by 45 (just looked at the web site specs again!). Like the old NYT article discussed on this site some months back, width matters ;-).
That would make this a little over 4000 sq. ft. total, right? (gross square feet including stairwells etc…) 22.5 * 45 = 1012.5 floor…
This is quite a nice house, I know the street and the house. The price seems reasonable to me, especially in light of the other house on the next block (which is, imo, not as nice a block) going into contract for close to 1.5, albeit with a larger lot. Long term, Fulton Street in Clinton Hill will improve. If Lefferts Place was landmarked, I’d venture to say that the asking price could be higher. As it is, it seems about right for a 22 by 45 four story two family triplex over garden apartment. We’ll see. I think that block is a good long term investment and a good deal as it is cheaper than what you’d pay for the same house one block away north of Fulton Street.
Anon 2:03 – I know it’s silly but if these houses were on the other side of Fulton in the historic district (a mere one block over) they would probably fetch asking if not more. But they are not and as such they are probably 100-125k above fair market value. In time this discrepancy will certainly not matter nor exist but until then present sellers need to adjust (i.e., lower) their expectations at bit. One thing for sure is that once the current crop of available homes turn over – at whatever price – the nabe will ultimately be viewed more favorably (for obvious reasons) and the remaining homes will definitely become more valuable, which might prompt more long time residents to sell, etc., etc., etc……
anonymous 2:37 do you own a house? just curious nothing meant by it
Thanks Bomber for that detailed overview. What do they want for that large lot next to the yellow house? I hope that the Victorian house owner is not looking for a buy out. It would be a crying shame to lose that beautiful house. Landmarking can’t come too soon. Worst case senario, and some developer buys the whole thing, I hope they are at least civic minded enough to offer the house for sale cheap if someone can come along and move it. That’s not an impossible thing to do.
I would really hate to see the empty lot and the yellow house replaced by a super ugly building like the monstrosity a block away from there on Classon and Fulton. The thought of that happening should send all of us running to Landmarks as soon as possible.
Whenever homes rise in price 70% in one year, something bizarre is happening. 70% over five years is one thing, but 70% in one year is crazy.
If you buy at these price levels, you better be planning to hold for the long term because what goes up always comes down, especially when there’s no rational explanation for insane price increases like these.
Many of you folks will claim it’s an issue of supply and demand coupled with gentrification making previously bad neighborhoods safe, but that’s bogus.
The truth is that banks have relaxed borrowing restictions incredibly in a climate of low interest rates. As interest rate climb and banks get burned, you folks won’t be singing Dixie any more.
it is all about speculation and what people believe will happen in the future-
if someone would have told me smith street would ever be what it is today I’d have never believed it- red hook? i actually thought that would because of the waterfront (but still it has no subway…) with fulton st. who knows but with bam and ft. greene right next door things could trickle down, that is all this area needs… some people believe it will happen and then they will have made a smart decision in 5-10 years time, make a mil or so- BUT it’s a guess and a chance and that same person could be crying in 5 years as well. with the size and the just on the fringes location it seems like a good bet- isn’t that how every other booming neighborhood got it’s start in brooklyn? I got lost on the south side of williamsburg at night 10 years ago and called my friend who said I better get out of there quick… i eventually ended up living there happily for the next 8 years. so what the hell did my friend know.
Jake – looks like top floor has bath – with shower insteand of tub, below that has full bath and parlor floor a 1/2 bath. (plus the rental floor has its own of course). So more than ‘1 bath’.
And the bathroom that ‘needs remodeling’ you must be referring to is tenant bath that looks good to me except for the kinda ugly shower door – but hardly needs remodeling.
exactly why is brownstone brooklyn overpriced and by how much on average?