House of the Day: 643 Jefferson Avenue
When we noticed that the price on this four-story brownstone on Jefferson Avenue had been cut last week from $840,000 to $775,000, we decided to do a drive-by this weekend to get the lay of the land. The house is just East of Stuyvesant Avenue on quite a nice block. The exterior is lovely and…
When we noticed that the price on this four-story brownstone on Jefferson Avenue had been cut last week from $840,000 to $775,000, we decided to do a drive-by this weekend to get the lay of the land. The house is just East of Stuyvesant Avenue on quite a nice block. The exterior is lovely and the photos of the interior (the woodwork in particular) make us want to do another reno. The question is, given how much work needs to be done, whether this place isn’t still a bit overpriced. It’s hard to see how you could bring this place back into shape for less than $300,000. So the question is: Is a house on this block — even a beautifully restored one — worth close to $1.1 million?
643 Jefferson Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
We went to the last open house here about 2 weeks ago. We live on the block and love the block. Great neighbors.
Spoke to a realtor who was sittiing in for the actual realtor. We told her (before it was reduced) that it was outta control and had to go lower or it would never sell. (Yes, we want a neighbor, not an empty house.) The realtor said it was totally the seller and not Corcoran who was insisting that the price remain high, and that they would turn the seller loose if she didn’t agree to lower it.
The big problem, no floor in good enough shape to live on while you work. We suggested to the realtor that this be done. The current owner really hasn’t done much except they have cleared out all the junk and the first floor or two I beleive they started doing a little stripping. Note: we were not able to enter the basement and to my knowledge, no one else has either. There is no electricity in the house at the moment so assume boiler must be replaced. The woodwork is amazing and I don’t think anyone really needs central air or radiant heating.
Mr. B.
Can we ditch the spelling nerds from here?
hopefully the lawyer guy will appear again in his cloak (not mantle) of misspelling protection…
these spelling people on blogs have to be the epitome of sadness…
Gee, I’m really glad we could get that straightened out. Wasn’t there a house being discussed here?
4:08,
It’s okay to admit error 🙂
The other one is that Lois and Supergirl are not the same character 😉
To 3:11,
According to the dictionary both spellings are correct. Maybe you have a better source.
Okay, I’m the one who started this whole mantle/mantel firestorm, so let me attempt to lay it to rest. Here’s the Merriam-Webster entry for MANTLE:
“1 a : a loose sleeveless garment worn over other clothes : CLOAK b : a figurative cloak symbolizing preeminence or authority
2 a : something that covers, enfolds, or envelops b (1) : a fold or lobe or pair of lobes of the body wall of a mollusk or brachiopod that in shell-bearing forms lines the shell and bears shell-secreting glands (2) : the soft external body wall that lines the test or shell of a tunicate or barnacle c : the outer wall and casing of a blast furnace above the hearth; broadly : an insulated support or casing in which something is heated
3 : the upper back of a bird
4 : a lacy hood or sheath of some refractory material that gives light by incandescence when placed over a flame
5 a : REGOLITH b : the part of the interior of a terrestrial planet and especially the earth that lies beneath the crust and above the central core
6 : MANTEL”
Aha! So the 6th definition would seem to suggest that “mantle” IS a marginally acceptable variation of “mantel” (and naturally when you look up “mantel” the only definition you get is the thing over the fireplace).
So I’ll concede that Lois – oops, I mean “supergirl” – is technically correct. However, I still maintain that if we all stuck to “mantel,” the world would be a saner and classier place.
Aw, anon 1:20, I’m not that tough! However, I am a woman who knows how to use a reciprocal saw, so watch it! 😉
My high end estimate was for the full monty – super duper kitchen appliances and furnishings, top of the line heating and central air, (now’s the time one could add radiant floor heating) new roof, foundation work, entirely new plumbing top to bottom, and brand new electrical systems with cable/wireless, etc. I would also want the woodwork and period details stripped, restored, repaired, replicated where necessary, and reinstalled. That’s not cheap, either. Then there’s all of the finishing work, hardware, lighting and plumbing fixtures, tile, bathroom appliances, etc, etc. I would want plastered walls, not sheetrock. Let’s toss in any facade and back building work, new windows and a decent backyard. New furniture, too. Assuming the homeowner does very little of it him/herself, I can see all of that really adding up to $800K, easily.
Now, if it was me, I like to think I’d bring it in around half of that, as there would be a lot of sweat equity on my part, and some creative solutions for many other things. I also am not interested in top of the line kitchen appliances or whirlpool Jacuzzis either. One could certainly get a lot done with $300K, so I’m not sneering at it, I just think in this case, it’s a bit low, unless you are an experienced renovator/restorer, something most people on this board are not.
“mantle” and “mantel” are NOT both correct, supergirl.