House of the Day: Entry Bench, Stained Glass and Potential in Prospect Lefferts Gardens
If it’s a turnkey you’re after you can skip this one, but for anyone with a will to take on a heavy-duty renovation project, this single-family at 143 Fenimore Street in Prospect Lefferts Gardens is worth a serious look. It has potential to be a stunner, with stained glass windows, an entry bench, some original plaster moldings,…
If it’s a turnkey you’re after you can skip this one, but for anyone with a will to take on a heavy-duty renovation project, this single-family at 143 Fenimore Street in Prospect Lefferts Gardens is worth a serious look.
It has potential to be a stunner, with stained glass windows, an entry bench, some original plaster moldings, parquet floors, a winding staircase and a pair of grand fireplace mantels.
It’s huge, too — six bedrooms and three baths, with 2,500 square feet in total, on a 3,500-square-foot lot, with parking. It’s structurally sound and the mechanicals are “working,” according the listing.
It’s listed for $1,499,000, and any buyer can figure on a healthy renovation budget on top of that. What’s your take?
143 Fenimore Street [Town Residential]Â GMAP
Photos by Town Residential
So, in PLG Historic District, needing work, $600 sq/ft.
In the district, move-in ready, $889 sq/ft (like this one http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/163-Fenimore-St-Brooklyn-NY-11225/30665054_zpid/)
In PLG but not in the district, move-in ready, $608 sq/ft (http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/26-Winthrop-St-Brooklyn-NY-11225/30665464_zpid/)
At the southern edge of PLG, not in district, needing work, $426 sq/ft (http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/27-Clarkson-Ave-Brooklyn-NY-11226/30665622_zpid/)
Across the street, northern edge of Flatbush, needing work, bigger than it #27, $578 sq/ft (http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/20-Clarkson-Ave-Brooklyn-NY-11226/30665742_zpid/)
So how much should Lenox, 1 block further south, or Linden, or Martense be now?
Is Lenox really half the price of Clarkson? One block difference?
Has gentrification reached Flatbush?
The floors look damaged. They have to be repaired before they can be refinished. There may be pieces of the parquet missing which need to be sourced and replaced. Sometimes the floors are so worn and uneven that they can’t be refinished and have to be scrapped.
The walls probably need skim coating and painting. If you are doing electrical upgrades they will have to make holes, which have to be patched.
The woodwork may just need to be cleaned or there may be damage which you can’t see in these pictures.
The ceilings are not pictured, but they usually indicate the most severe or costly damage, which is water damage from above.
Mechanicals “working”=assume the worst. Makes no sense to buy a $1.5m house and spend very little, fixing cosmetic issues, only to have it burn down in an electrical fire, or have the ceiling fall down from an unfixed leak.