House of the Day: A New Era In The Slope?
This North Sloper looks like a sign of the times to us. As far as we can tell, this would have been asking north of $2 million just a few months ago. Now, at $1.795 million, the location and historic integrity of the building make this pretty attractive, we think. Perhaps there’s a bit of…
This North Sloper looks like a sign of the times to us. As far as we can tell, this would have been asking north of $2 million just a few months ago. Now, at $1.795 million, the location and historic integrity of the building make this pretty attractive, we think. Perhaps there’s a bit of a discount for the fact that it’s a three-family–most buyers in the North Slope these days probably want a one- or two-family. In addition to the cost the reconfigure, the listing admits that the house needs a tune-up in places. Personally, we’d start by plastering over that brick wall in the bedroom! Regardless, we suspect this will attract a buyer quite quickly at this price. It makes us wonder: If this house is $1.8 in the prime Slope, what would it be in Fort Greene?
North Slope 3-Family [NY Times]
Listing #5230 [Warren Lewis] GMAP P*Shark
Plus the 3 fam layout would not necessarily help, as Bstoner noted. As for subway access, Ft. Greene is well serviced with pretty much every line in the City, plus the LIRR at Altantic, and C at Lafayette. Relative to PS, it is still cheaper.
As anon 12:30 pointed out, there’s no kitchen or bath photos, which usually means you’re looking at at least $100k of improvements if those things matter to you. The backyard is not particularly well-kept, and it’s not prime PS. So the pricing seems about right.
I think you need to make the distinction between what a property is worth to you and what a property is worth according to the market. Just because you say it doesn’t make it so. If property is selling for a comparable price in Fort Greene and parts of Park Slope then that is what the market says about what these properties are ‘worth’. If you prefer Park Slope, fine. But comps are the currency of real estate appraisals, not the opinions of individual buyers.
Now, if you’re saying you think Fort Greene prices are less sustainable over the long term than Park Slope prices, that is a debate worth having. But it is a different question that the market rate for comparable properties in these neighborhoods today.
My 2 cents. As a parent who is not a native NYer or have any connections to get into private schools such as St. Ann’s or Friends, FG, CH or anywhere that is not zoned for a good school is not for me at competitive-with-PS/CobH/CG prices. I just can’t bet that my kids will get into private schools. If my kids were older and already secured in their private school spots, I could see paying up for a FG house that is wide & dripping with details over a cheaper, smaller, less-preserved house in PS.
I agree with Realty Dude, Ft. Greene prices are very competitive (i.e. cheaper) than Park Slope. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some substantial work to be done in this listing. It looks pretty. Either more work is required than is being let on or the sellers are in a rush to move for some reason.
It’s on 45 Prospect Place btwn 5th & 6th which, as someone above correctly noted, is more fringe North Slope than Prime Slope. Equivocating with the nicer blocks on the other side of Flatbush is probably fair.
Does anyone know the specific location of this house?
Why not compare fort green to clinton hill? B Stoner?
Hmm… this would be our first property but we have been looking for a few months now. But I wouldn’t call us frustrated: just being patient.
And I wouldn’t brand myself as uneducated. We spend a lot of time looking at listing, going to open houses, looking on Trulia for comps that are recently closed.
But I don’t think that the fact that Fort Greene prices are competitive with the Slope is a matter of my own personal dissonance. I’m aware that people are trying (and receiving) similar prices. I just don’t think that there’s any logic behind it.
Put another way: at its peak, Amazon.com traded at $105 a share. At the time, I thought that was overpriced. Were people buying and selling at that prices? Yes. Was that the going price? Yes. Did that reflect the community understanding of its worth? Yes. Did I think that was worth it? No.
So you can show me as many comparable sales in Fort Greene and Park Slope as you like; I will still tell you that the property in Park Slope has more value.