House of the Day: 38 Cambridge Place
No pics of this charming woodframe on the Warburg website yet, but we snapped one on the way home yesterday (realizing, in the process, that we know the tenants in the upper duplex). Anyway, this 2-family, 4-story house is old-school goodness but until we have more info on the condition of the interior, we’re not…
No pics of this charming woodframe on the Warburg website yet, but we snapped one on the way home yesterday (realizing, in the process, that we know the tenants in the upper duplex). Anyway, this 2-family, 4-story house is old-school goodness but until we have more info on the condition of the interior, we’re not quite ready to swallow the $1,685,000 price tag. At that number, it better be pristine. (As an aside, some of you might recognize the neighboring house on the right from the garden tour this Spring.) For those of you unfamiliar with the block, Cambridge is an unusually beautiful and wide block. The buyer of this house will also have the pleasure of living within throwing distance of Shahn Anderson’s haunted house.
UPDATE: Corcoran’s got it all hooked up. Eleven pics and we have to say that the interiors exceeded our expectations. First showing will be at the September 10 open house.
38 Cambridge Place [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
38 Cambridge Place [Warburg]
It is nice to have three sides exposed, particularly since most houses on this block (and most of downtown Brooklyn for that matter) have windows on the front and back only.
It seems like the price might be on the high side, but I guess it depends how you feel about frame homes from the 1890’s. If I had the spare cash sitting around, I’d buy it in a second (although I would start by offering a lot less than the asking price).
I’ll grant you that.
My point is that there is a brownstone bubble in this neighborhood — the market is pricing the ‘implied rent’ on owning a home at 2-3x the market rent. That is a _monster_ difference.
We looked at a different house on the block in the spring, and couldn’t understand the pricing then either.
Unless you _need_ the space right now, you are paying such an incredible premium for this space, that if you were to just rent for another year or two and save the difference, you’ll have the down payment for a pretty good house.
Photos look nice on the Corcoran site. No floorplan or mention of how many bedrooms though. Not showing til September 10th.
Imagine you really like where you live: you’ve made the apartment your own, your true home. You love your street and your neighbors, not to mention your kids’ school. Suddenly, with no warning and with no control of the situation, you’re told you have 60 days to find another place and move out.
Having paid virtually the same rent for years while everything around you went up, you now find yourself priced out of your beloved neighborhood.
Happens all the time. No amount of money can make up for that kind of shake-up in your life. If someone can only afford to rent, then the debate is moot. But if they can somehow swing buying, even if what they buy wouldn’t be as nice or as big as what they could rent, they will have peace of mind and security. Doesn’t apply to this house necessarily, but the intangible benefits of owning are too often overlooked by people who see houses as mere investments.
Still though:
When you sell, you often have an overlap of two mortgages, an empty house, transfer taxes, and the broker’s 6% vig.
Unless you really think this place is going to get mongo price appreciation, I’d rather be the tenant and stick 6G in the stock market each month.
and as a tenant – Can’t make home as your own and someone else sets the rules.
And at end of lease – maybe hunting for new place. All at the whim of the owner.
looks like a multiple listing
http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&listingid=898255
Because when the tenants move out, all they might get back is a security deposit.
But when the owner moves/sells, they get money back that they have put into the mortgage. It’s an investment and an accrued value.
Again:
Why would you buy this?
Tenants pay 2700/month (32k/yr) to live in an identical apartment to yours.
You pay 1.7MM*.065 (110k/yr) + expenses (10-20k) – rent(32k) – some mortgage deduction.
So you get a duplex at double the cost of the upstairs one.