House of the Day: Clinton Hill Brick
Here’s a lovely 1870’s brick 2-family that Aguayo & Huebener currently has on the market for $1,060,000. We don’t recognize it off hand and, as is their habit, A&H do not give an address, so we can’t confirm whether this is Clinton Hill proper or “Clinton Hill East”. It also looks like this is really…
Here’s a lovely 1870’s brick 2-family that Aguayo & Huebener currently has on the market for $1,060,000. We don’t recognize it off hand and, as is their habit, A&H do not give an address, so we can’t confirm whether this is Clinton Hill proper or “Clinton Hill East”. It also looks like this is really a 3-story house (not 4 as advertised), as the basement apartment is about 75% below grade. Regardless, the place appears to have retained much of its original charm and this is certainly on the low end of the price spectrum for Clinton Hill these days. We don’t know the square footage, but in general houses in Clinton Hill are selling for between $300,000 and $350,000 per floor. By those metrics, this is right in line even as a 3-story house. We expect whether this is a good deal or not hinges on the exact location.
Enchanting Gem [Aguayo & Huebener]
I think everyone’s being a little unfair to AH Realty. I’m not associated with them in any way, but I’ve lived in BK since ’92 and they’re one of the small local firms that have been around and selling these neighborhoods before they were “hot”. I can attest from personal experience that the realtors there are knowledgeable and forthright about the neighborhoods, the market, and actually know something about the ins and outs of housing and real estate law because they’ve actually made a career of this; they work their asses off for both buyer and seller, which is more than I can say for the larger coporate firms whose employees are shockingly inexperienced on a multitude of levels. Cut them some slack.
I asked an Aguayo agent once why they didn’t post an address and she told me that other firms would “poach” their listings – i.e. they don’t ever want to split the commission.
I went to see this building a few weeks ago; the house is the middle one of three small buildings in a row. They are on Waverly and Lafayette, facing the Clinton Coops. It is approximately 20’wide by 30’deep, with a front and back room on each floor. It is, however, only a two story building, the lower level is a cellar, in which you’re not allowed to have habitable rooms (therefore the recent conversion is legally very shaky) and the attic should be considered a ‘bonus’ space, not the equivalent o a full story. It also has no underground cellar, so the mechanical area takes valuable space from the lower level. It needs a lot of work to bring it back to its prime, no less than $100K-$200K (but provably more depending on your taste). So I think it’s overpriced. But if you have the cash, it would be a great project and a lot of fun to polish this gem. The back yard is about 35′ deep with a beautiful, huge tree. We talked to one of the neighbors, a very nice lady who, with her husband, bought the building next door several years ago, and were almost done fixing their home and they love everything about it.
I think it’s great Elisabeth posted here. But if she’s still reading, I still think A&H should post more specific location info. Keeping it hush-hush just breeds mistrust. When I was looking to buy, I came to assume that any broker that didn’t give a fairly specific location was stretching the truth at best. And if you’re not, then why lump yourself in with all the sleazeballs and bait-and-switchers out there who call 25th Street “Park Slope,” etc.?
Now, now, everyone. We think it’s great Elizabeth weighed in. We wish more brokers would take the time to.
I think Elisabeth sounds nice and did a solid posting here. Jimmy sounds like a moron.
Elisabeth: Aren’t you ashamed to be working for Aguayo & Huebener?
Hello,
My name is Elisabeth and I am the listing agent for this property. The house is in prime Clinton Hill, not Clinton Hill East as speculated. For more details on the house or the exact location, simply call our offices, Aguayo & Huebener, at 718-788-8200 or 718-622-9300 and indicate that you are interested in H343; our sales staff would be more than happy to answer your questions or to schedule a viewing. Our web site is http://www.ahrlty.com if you would like to preview this property as well as our other wonderful listings. The house is a legal two-family that has most recently been configured as a double duplex (there are indeed four floors), with a lower 2BR 1.5BA duplex and an upper 3BR 2BA duplex. However, it is being delivered vacant and thus there is much flexibility on the configuration (enjoy it as a spacious single family, or rent out the garden level and enjoy an upper triplex.)The property also has a bright and airy garden. Thank you for your interest.
We went to an open house here about a year ago that was hosted by a small brokerage which name escapes me at the moment. The asking price then was maybe $900 or 950K. The brokerage primarily focused on Harlem properties but occasionalyl had listings in the FG/CH/BS corridor.
I believe it had been used for a long time as cheap student housing for Pratt students, and has a quasi-SRO feel to it (large locks on the doors to the bedrooms upstairs, e.g.).
The other poster is correct that it felt small.