House of the Day: 238 Lafayette Avenue
$1,050,000 isn’t a lot of dough for a house in central Clinton Hill, but 238 Lafayette Avenue is in rougher shape than your average house in the area. The four-story house is chopped up into three apartments and has plenty of value-destroying touches like 1970’s-era kitchens, dropped ceilings and non-period wood paneling. Then again, there…
$1,050,000 isn’t a lot of dough for a house in central Clinton Hill, but 238 Lafayette Avenue is in rougher shape than your average house in the area. The four-story house is chopped up into three apartments and has plenty of value-destroying touches like 1970’s-era kitchens, dropped ceilings and non-period wood paneling. Then again, there are some original elements still in place, including fireplaces and some crown moldings in the entryway. The big question is how much it’ll cost the new owner to bring this place back up to snuff. Thoughts on that?
238 Lafayette Avenue [Project 17] GMAP P*Shark
> 12 guys waiting outside with a dumpster, and by 3PM it’s all gone and done.
Well, that’s one way to clear out old tenants.
20 years from now interiors like these will be protected and under the care of the City’s Historic House Trust.
I don’t think it’s such a great value, just that it’s priced decently when compared to recent sales. I think 1- Clinton Hill (and much of brownstone Brooklyn) is completely overpriced when you consider the rent/sell ratio, and 2- it will sell quickly and close to ask.
Barring any great structural surprise, you can probably get a nice 2-bedroom + office duplex and 2 decent, basic 1br rentals for about 250-280K, and leave any exterior work for later. If you have 600K in the bank, 30% down + renovations, you can live there until you feel like replacing the windows, the doors and repointing the façade. The rents should cover most of your mortgage.
Of course, you’ve spent 600K upfront plus a year of aggravations for a duplex without a backyard you could probably rent for $3,200. But hey! it’s yours.
This place is priced low because there is a renter in place. Assume rent control.
Likewise, assume all the plaster is shot, and all the real wood panelling behind the fake wood panelling is either missing completely or has been destroyed with glue and must be replaced. Perhaps there is even delicious new ductwork, electrical, and plumbing behind those dropped ceilings.
Mega bucks to re-do every wall and ceiling in addition to the completely usual electrical and plumbing upgrade and re-doing every bath and kitchen.
Anyone ever dealt successfully with removing that brown/black glue crap? We tried peelaway, heat gun, and a steamer, nothing worked. Next plan is to replace it all.
Paneling has got to be the worst. Hopefully it is only nailed on and not glued, also hope the walls are in good condition, but probably not, that’s why everyone back in the 70’s used paneling.
indeed. and i can attest to the fact that sometimes, even with that attitude, your expectations are met. 🙂 i think we had all of one (ONE) happy surprise, and a very minor one at that, and many many more unhappy ones. of course, at the end of the day we adore our dear sweet moneypit! and i’m sure this house could be amazing, too, with the right mix of love and deep pockets!
I’m with I_disagree. am seeing a milder version of that with my renovations. the f’ing brown glue is a huge pain in the behind
The secret is to expect the absolute worst, and be happily surprised when some bits aren’t all that bad.
Agreed, Maly. All of that garbage — paneling, dropped ceilings can be gone in hours. Plus you get to watch a bunch of guys have fun trashing the house. And most likely due to the lack of a screwed up Home Depot “renovation”, you will probably find plaster moldings, and other good stuff underneath. That being said, this place is a major project. The location is wonderful, the basics are there, decent size, I see fireplaces. This could be really great. The issue IS…..
1) do you want to do a major renovation 2) How do you price that…in terms of hard cost and cost to your life. A beautiful renovation there would be worth 1.3 – 1.4. So do the math on the price.