House of the Day: 272 Berry Street
As far as we knew, the days of doubling your money in less than a year were behind us. Apparently, the owner of this South Side brick house was told otherwise. After ponying up $820,000 last August, the current owner went to town on this place, making a number of strange aesthetic choices along the…
As far as we knew, the days of doubling your money in less than a year were behind us. Apparently, the owner of this South Side brick house was told otherwise. After ponying up $820,000 last August, the current owner went to town on this place, making a number of strange aesthetic choices along the way, especially for a flipper. Okay, this seems like a good place to reiterate the most broken rule of flipping: KEEP IT SIMPLE! So, in the case of the bathroom, do white subway tiles and traditional basic fixtures. Why do some people think that they are going to get more money for their “creative” bathroom stylings when in fact they will be alienating a huge portion of the potential buyers? (To be fair, the kitchen looks okay.) Even if this place weren’t 16 feet wide, even if the house weren’t only 35 feet deep and even if the lot weren’t a measly 50 feet deep, this house just feels like it’s trying too hard and not worth close to the $1.5 million asking price. Next.
272 Berry Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
The house is beautiful, love the design and color choices!! 1.5 mil Seems like a bargain considering what overproduced condos are selling for in the area.
The house is beautiful, love the design and color choices!! 1.5 mil Seems like a bargain considering what overproduced condos are selling for in the area.
I’m confused that the house on Orient that’s going for 1.5 MM is a tear-down and this isn’t?
I’m also confused as to why toxic Williamsburg gets the same prices as the rest of Brooklyn. You’re probably better off raising your kids in Bed-Stuy.
Ooooo..can’t wait to see that this one goes for!!!
Anna —
I am anons 11:28 and 11:08 above. Your comments are interesting because two weeks ago, in response to a different house (different flipper, too, i think) I commented that high end or high design finishes and fixtures might be used in some cases as a way for a flipper to create an impression of a high quality renovation inside the walls and out, when the flipper cut important corners that are difficult to see. I was blasted by one poster for making the “damaging” suggestion that this sometimes occurs. Not that I needed it, but thanks for the confirmation.
This is a total cheap-o flipper. It’s the same guy who has the cheap-o flipper on Orient with the same broker and he did another version of this same cheap-o flipper a couple of houses a way. He is a big creep. And you are all absolutely correct that the renovation is about as shoddy as you can get. It’s worse because he throw’s a “Viking†(ohh fancy) over rat infested pipes from 1890 when the house was built.
Buyers and Brokers beware. Really the creepiest guy I ever met. If you do go to contract- watch out and get a good lawyer!
Does anyone remember The Love Toilet from SNL?
I just posted re: “zen.” Apart from whatever cosntruction quality issues may exist according to posters above who saw the place, the layout is actually weirder than the taste. The owner’s kitchen is smaller than the master bath!! A whole different layout could have been accomplshed perhaps by moving the w/d to a different floor (say, the top floor bathroom). Not to mention, why is the fridge blocking the window? As for the rental, why have bits and pieces on a different wall and ignore the long wall altogether. Could have been a decent L shape kitchen with a table looking out at the garden. Why devote an entire floor to one master bed/bath suite? Are people who need that really looking at 16′ rowhouses? Not to mention that families with smaller kids may not feel ready to have all the kids on a different floor. Overall, a far less practical house than could have been accomplished for the same time, expense and effort. The carrera cathedral bathroom, the blue tile and the appliacnes installed in the tiny and awkward “chef’s” kitchen are the least of the issues here.
I’m with the posters about the waste of space. Why devote so much square footage to a bathroom in such a narrow house?
BTW, I think for a bathroom to be truly “zen” it would need to be very small, purely functional, with little time or money spent on design. Zen does not mean, or stand for, simulated peaceful opulence.
Now, if we could only get brokers to sit and meditate an hour a day, the Brooklyn market might be quite different.