House of the Day: Midwood Not Mid-Priced
This four-story limestone on Midwood Street in Lefferts Manor is the real deal but, man, $1.495 million is a lot of dough for this nabe, isn’t it? It looks like the extensive woodwork in the house (including several fireplaces) is in excellent shape. As usual, we’re not loving the kitchen reno, but that is what…
This four-story limestone on Midwood Street in Lefferts Manor is the real deal but, man, $1.495 million is a lot of dough for this nabe, isn’t it? It looks like the extensive woodwork in the house (including several fireplaces) is in excellent shape. As usual, we’re not loving the kitchen reno, but that is what it is. The house, which is of a grander scale than many in the area, also boasts inlaid parquet floors, pocket doors and stained glass. Still, $1.495 million? What do the locals think?
Update: This is 68 Midwood Street–the identical twin of #55. Both were built by W.A.A. Brown and were originally priced at $11,000 when they hit the market a century or so ago. According to Bob Marvin, the reason for the dumbwaiter is that these houses were built with TWO dining rooms–an informal one in the ground floor front and a formal one, over the kitchen, in the parlor floor rear.
Midwood Limestone [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
That’s funny, because I moved to PLG 5 years ago, and I have noticed an enormous amount of change over that period of time – especially in the last two years. There isn’t as much riff-raff, and a business development group is working on improving the businesses on Flatbush Ave. The houses are as beautiful as ever, and the dilapidated ones are getting fixed up one by one. There is no way you could get one of these places in PS or BH or in any “preferred” neighborhood at the prices they go for here. Yes, PLG isn’t the Slope, but we border the same park, and if your home is your castle, you’ll be a king here. No one I know wants to leave.
P. S. – After reading through even more posts, I’d like to add the following to my 5:56 posting. I happen to be a Puerto Rican woman who dated a black man for years. So, please, no comments re: fear of living with any ethnic group. And just because I am a “minority”, doesn’t mean I have to “settle” for the filthy corner and the harassment.
I must agree with the few posters who mentioned that neighborhood matters. I lived in PLG years ago, and unfortunately, the problem areas are still a problem. I can’t justify spending that kind of money if I have to face a filty shopping district and encounter harrassment as happened then and now.
Yes, things DO pick up speed fast. I remember Boerum Hill back in the day. Within a few years, it completely transformed itself – and this was before interest rates dipped so low.
The above point is right on the nose. Statistics about brownstones are pretty meaningless in Brooklyn because so much depends on the characteristics of the individual property.
Condos, however, are another story…
I think you’re all missing out. Bushwick, baby! According to the NYTimes (again) it’s the up and coming hood, ya’ll. Come north, where the uhhm, hype-manufactured-by-corcoran-payoff-to-the-nytimes action is.
I would agree with most of the pricing comments- mainly about the caution- but…I just paid top dollar for a house because it was not your average house and after looking at almost 60 properties, I could not find another like it. In as much as it was under asking, it was still high priced on a square foot basis. But I do not feel that I overpaid because it is unique. Same could be said for this house. I have not been inside, but I am blown away by the photos. You can’t look just at pricing when you are talking about such a special property.
Anon 5:10, Yes, the city is certainly on the rise, but the boom is pretty much regional. I was looking at MLS results and prices in many Westchester burbs increased by 15-25% last year. Not as much as some Brooklyn areas, but not too shabby.
Things are different now. Dollar is in decline, Oil is above $70 a barrel, Exotic ARM Loans, Stock market down atleast 100 points every day since last week, Glut of Condos coming to the market, all things that haven’t been seen before, when the cheap money dries up and loan practices tighten, then what?
Its 1.45 million because the house down the street sold for 1.3? Thats not logical economics, that’s because I said so economics. Theres nothing to justify these inflated prices, especially when these types of houses are often purchased a year or two earliar for atleast half.