House of the Day: Small but Attractive in PLG
If memory serves, this house is not new to the market, but we can’t figure out why it’s not being gobbled up by some first-time buyer. On a landmarked block in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, the 16-foot-wide (maybe that’s the answer right there) brick and limestone house has nice looking bones. We suspect that it might…
If memory serves, this house is not new to the market, but we can’t figure out why it’s not being gobbled up by some first-time buyer. On a landmarked block in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, the 16-foot-wide (maybe that’s the answer right there) brick and limestone house has nice looking bones. We suspect that it might not show too well in its current three-family configuration. But with taxes under a grand, nice old floors and a good-sized yard to boot, we think this is looking good at the asking price of $659K–especially compared to similarly priced places in, say, Bed Stuy. So what’s the catch (if any)?
Prospect Lefferts Townhouse [Urban View Realty]
When I said I’d prefer FG to PS as a neighborhhod transformation, it’s only because from what I see of the newcomers moving in here is that they’re all coming from that same PS mentality. It’s always just been a little too crunchy granola for my tastes over there, although I do love many of the restaurants on Fifth Ave.
So basically I’m assuming that the nabe will be transformed by the forces of income — and I lived in Fort Greene 15 years ago and absolutely LOVED it (I left to move to France and came back only last year). It’s gentrified like crazy since then, but has held on to its diversity and its culutral centerdness, unlike PS which seems a liitle too homogenous (although I gues it’s always been that way). I’d hate for PLG to go that way, pushing out the great cultural, racial, and ethnic mix that we have. So Fort Greene seems a better alternative.
And actually I make that hike to the Q (or the B on weekdays) to take the train to my gym, because we don’t have one of those here, either. And that walk isn’t enough to keep anybody in shape, but it’s just too darn cold in the winter!
And no i’ve got nothing against flipping, but this case is a bit ridiculous — she’s done basically no work, but is appealing to all of those looking for a one-family house, when they might be better off paying for a two-family house delivered vacant and fixing it up themselves. And yes, sales here are pretty hard to come by, now that (thank goodness) many owners have woken up to the gold mine they’re sitting on. I asked the owner of the house next door if she would consider selling her house (which she currently rents out as a three-family) and she said, “No way! My daughter loves that house and it will be hers some day.” Lucky girl!
Nativegal,
You said, “Ick!!! to both.” That’s not comparing PLG with PS and FG? I apologize, then.
Anyway, I’ll step the rhetoric down, because I wasn’t offended by what you wrote so much as confused. When you said you didn’t want PLG to become PS East or FG South, but wanted it to remain “family-friendly,” it sounded like you meant “in comparison to those neighborhoods.”
Given your explanation, I can understand not wantiing your neighborhood to become a nightlife spot. Personally, though, I have lived in PS for 13 years and have seen 5th Avenue turn into a big restaurant row in the last few –but I hardly feel the change has made the neighborhood any less family friendly. It’s just a family neighborhood with more places to eat.
By the way, I wasn’t trying to suggest that you (or I) were envious of people with more money. That would be presumptuous; I don’t know you. But a lot of people worry (with justification) that as a neighborhood gets more expensive, it changes its character. (Say by pricing out anyone besides lawyers and brokers.) Since I wasn’t sure what you meant by “family-friendly,” I was just trying to guess how you felt home shoppers would make PLG family-UNfriendly.
Lastly, I hope you don’t think I mortgaged my family’s future to buy my house either. I’m way too cheap for that.
Nativegal,
I don’t think every neighborhood needs to turn into Park Slope either, but what’s meant by the all caps on “FAMILY-friendly”? Is Park Slope family-hostile? It’s not like we chase children through the streets with pitchforks here.
If “family-friendly” is just code for “affordable” or something, I feel your pain, earning far less income than most of the new houseowners here in PS, but rich families are families nonetheless.
“I just hate to see this nabe being turned into Park Slope East (I was hoping more for Fort Greene South)”
Ick!!! To both. I’m working towards an improved Prospect-Lefferts Garden that maintains it’s character of a nice FAMILY-friendly neighborhood.
And a 4 block walk is a hike to you? Just think of all the money you’re saving on gym memberships.
Larabelle–
1. Flippage aside, do you think there are better values in the neighborhood? Or are you just annoyed that it’s being flipped?
2. What’s the difference between a Park Slope yuppie and a Fort Greene yuppie? I thought we were all sort of starting to converge.
MF is completely right — this is a flip. The owner (a broker herself) bought it in February for $500K; it was configured as a two-family house (as are most of the houses on this block). She ripped out one of the kitchens, did some MINIMAL renovations, and is now trying to flip it to one of the little yuppie couples being priced out of Park Slope. No-one on the block thinks she’ll get anything like her asking price for it. It’s been on the market for several months; don’t know why you’re just noticing it now.
I live on this block — it is busy (two-way street) but the people who live on it are very nice, the block association is good, and it has a nice neighborhood feel. I just hate to see this nabe being turned into Park Slope East (I was hoping more for Fort Greene South) — you see them every weekend, crawling all over the neighborhood with their open house flyers and maps distributed by all the brokers on Seventh Ave (we have only one real estate office, on Nostrand Ave, which specializes in rental apartments with bad credit OK). A few months back there was a historic house tour — it was heavily advertised on Seventh Ave and not one poster around here. Tickets were sold in only one location in this neighborhood — Frank’s International Restaurant.
Yes, I’d like to see some more services, such as an alternative to the frighteningly bad Western Beef on Empire Blvd. or the Associated on Nostrand that closes before 7 on weeknights and 5 on Sunday, or some more sit-down restaurants with a variety of cuisines (although I am very happy to live around the corner from the best jerk chicken store in Brooklyn — Hammond’s, which recently raised its prices by 1$ after it was featured in the Village Voice), or some (not chain) clothing stores, but Fresh Direct does deliver, so I’m OK for the moment…
But that 2 train is a bitch and the 5 only runs rush hours, so I mostly hike over to Prospect Park for the Q…not really feasible in the winter, however.
Ugly backyard is a bargain hunter’s dream. Maybe $1-2K to pay somebody to break up and haul away concrete. If you’re willing to put in the sweat yourself, a few hundred bucks worth of plants and landscaping materials. But the ugliness is likely to knock far more off the price than the cost to fix it. And fixing is way cheaper (and requires less handyman skill) than renovating the same square footage inside a house.
This is a total flip job. The current owners bought it over a year ago for around $500. The kitchen is just slapped together. The top floor has a middle third room without windows with vent/grills to the other rooms. The finish on the floors is sloppily done. In one of the bedrooms they just replaced the carpet (cheaply)instead of refinishing the floor. There is an ugly metal awning on the back of the house that makes the kitchen area seem dark. A lot of the original detail is gone. No fireplaces – not even decorative ones. Some work would need to be done like moving walls to make the layout more efficient. It can be really nice, but you have to do more work and undo the terrible new kitchen that was put in.
The block is also a two way street and seems busy. Not the quite one way streets of the other landmarked blocks.
With the lower price the place does look more attractive. I believe a couple of months ago they were trying to get $750.
I saw the house a while back. It is not a three family at all. Needs a bit of work, but not in bad shape. A little thin on great details. The only problem may be the exact location. While technically it is on a landmarked block, it is on a busy road for the area, and does not feel as pristine as surrounding blocks. A bit rough around the edges. But it is attractive and priced well.