House of the Day: 77 Midwood Street
This new listing at 77 Midwood Street may not be the priciest listing in PLG–that distinction still belongs to 20 Midwood Street at $1,780,000–but it’s still a pretty penny for the beautiful but historically discounted nabe. We suspect that Number 77, which is asking $1,579,000, may make life difficult for Number 20, given that the…
This new listing at 77 Midwood Street may not be the priciest listing in PLG–that distinction still belongs to 20 Midwood Street at $1,780,000–but it’s still a pretty penny for the beautiful but historically discounted nabe. We suspect that Number 77, which is asking $1,579,000, may make life difficult for Number 20, given that the less expensive house’s historic details look just as impressive. We shall see though: The five-bedroom house traded for $1,300,000 back in 2007 (after being a House of the Day in 2006). Update: For anyone curious about what the kitchen looks like, you can check out 77MidwoodStreet.com.
77 Midwood Street [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
Maly, I live in the neighborhood, so I’d obviously a fan of living here – and I’m not going to speak about overall pricing because I really have no idea. But comparing this to the house was sold in 2007 is totally off the mark. I went to this open house and went to the open houses back then. The reason the the original details are in such good shape is because an elderly woman had lived there alone for decades. That was also IMO the biggest drawback: she hadn’t done a thing. There was floor to ceiling wallpaper in some rooms (and that included on the ceiling). The was no bathroom on the first floor. The windows looked like they were from the 1950s. The basement was disgusting. There were four foot high weeds in the backyard. Now there’s a new kitchen, 1st floor bathroom, finished basement, new master bath, new windows, planted garden…etc.
Is that worth the price bump? Were prices higher in this neighborhood then than they are now? I have no idea — but comparing the two is kind of like comparing a ’59 Cadillac convertible that has a well-preserved body but hasn’t had any work done with one with a well-preserved body that also has a new motor and new tires and whatever else.
M4L, still want my mansion. This is certainly great, and both would probably end up costing the same, but this house is done. I want to put my own stamp on a house, so something a bit of a wreck in many ways is my ideal.
As I said, maybe some houses, but in aggregate, the high point was Q3 in 2008. The average row houses needing work, the gorgeous limestones, the fancy detached brick masterpieces are selling about 20% below 2007. This isn’t to say all prices are neatly plotted.
I’ve seen this house, and it’s had FAR more than a new kitchen added since 2007. Some major work has gone into this place — new windows, bathrooms, plumbing, wiring, boiler, gardens. So that (and more) is what has changed since 2007.
Maly, houses have been getting higher prices in PLG since 2007. Fact.
This house is close to the park, restaurants, has light and air on three sides, and has off-street parking for cars. Light and parking are unusual in a borough of row houses. The worst thing you could say about this house is that heating will cost more because it’s semi-detached.
You people are crazy. Prices are down 20% since 2007. It takes nothing away from this house or the neighborhood, but it’s a fact, not an opinion. Now markets are one thing, one house is another; not every price point fits neatly on the graph, so I can’t say for sure what it would sell for. It sure is pretty, but what has changed since 2007? Not the architect, not the lot size, not the details, not the neighborhood, not the 2-car garage. A new kitchen and a drop in prices might very well cancel each other out.
Miller-Samuel Brownstone Brooklyn median price Q2 2007: 1.185K; Q1 2011: 950K. (that’s brownstone Brooklyn, the pretty 1-3 family houses.)
Montrose Morris FTW.
Fair enough, I think we were talking past each other. To be clear, I’d love to own such a house.