House of the Day: 181 Midwood Street
The three-story (well, two and a half, really) limestone house at 181 Midwood Street just hit the market this week for $925,000. While it may not look like a bargain on a per square foot basis, this four-bedroom place feels pretty realistically priced to us, given that it’s on a great street and in excellent…
The three-story (well, two and a half, really) limestone house at 181 Midwood Street just hit the market this week for $925,000. While it may not look like a bargain on a per square foot basis, this four-bedroom place feels pretty realistically priced to us, given that it’s on a great street and in excellent shape. We’re kinda curious about the open layout in the front of the parlor floor. Is it typical of houses on this street to have not have a wall separating the entry hall from the front sitting room? For the curious, there’s an open house on Sunday from 3 to 5.
181 Midwood Street [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
Photo by Nicholas Strini for Property Shark
I think the house that sold for 970K was in 2005. And it was fully-loaded. Even had central AC and a screening room in the basement!
There was a 2-story plus English basement on Maple II that sold for $970,000 in Spring of 2006. I heard it was fully, nicely renovated though, so that may be why they got more money than the one that sold more recently for $849,000.
As for adding a bathroom on the parlor floor – yuck. I went to an open house where someone had done that and the 1/2 bath opened directly onto the dining room. The bathroom door was a few feet away from the dining table. So that would mean everyone is sitting around eating, and FLUSH gurgle gurgle gurgle, then swish washing hands, then the door opens and the smell of fresh #2 wafts out over the dining table. No thanks! LOL. I’d rather endure walking up and down one small flight of stairs. Which I can state from experience is no big deal at all. No inconvenience. Privacy can never be underrated. All you’d do is cause your guests embarrassment making them go potty in sight, sound and smell of everyone. Same thing with a bathroom opening right onto the formal parlor living room. Bad idea. Bathrooms should only ever open onto a hallway or a bedroom. Never directly into a “public” room, where guests will be hanging out.
Yes, Bob, thanks. I meant Midwood I. I adore that row of houses!
I agree that a garden floor is worth a lot more than an English Basement. I’ve seen nicely renovated ones, but they are just finished basements. Personally, a garden floor can be the nicest floor of a brownstone. Nothing beats a good sized kitchen with french doors to a garden patio!
Looking,
I think you meen Midwood I, rather than Maple I.
That may be true, 4:08, but it hasn’t happened yet.
All of the 4 story houses that have sold for 1.4 were in the most-desired row on Maple I (as was the one that sold for 1.3). The 4 story houses on Rutland have sold for much less recently. One sold in the last year for 1.1M. Also, I’d point out that the 3 story on Rutland/Bedford had a garage and was a real gem–renovated top-to-bottom.
As in most areas, there is a huge price-range for homes in Lefferts Manor. Not every house goes for top dollar. This house on Midwood simply isn’t worth top-dollar.
Actually, there was a three story on the corner of Rutland and Bedford with the partially exposed English basement, that just sold for close to $1.5, more than most of the four stories that have sold in the area. It’s 25 feet wide, so a special case, but still, it abuts busy Bedford Ave. and has its own drawbacks, including, from what I recall, a small kitchen and no powder room on the ground floor.
I think the only four story that has gone for $1.3ish in PLG in recent months was 62 Midwood, which was in fine shape but needed some updating. The other four story that’s currently in contract, the pristine 52 Midwood, went for closer to or above $1.5.
I can also think of several three story houses in various conditions have also sold for $1.3 lately. Point being, I don’t think we’re very far off from seeing a two story with some useable basement space selling for over $1 million…
Ed, there is a huge difference between a garden floor and an english basement. A garden floor has a formal dining room and a kitchen that opens onto the garden. An english basement is mostly below grade and has a boiler. There certainly is a 400K difference between a 2 story with an english basement and a 3 story.
As for your pricing scale, you are basing that on 2 super-prime houses and are ignoring almost all of the recent sales in the neighborhood. A few 4 story brownstones have sold for 1.3 in the last 2 months, and as others have pointed out not a single 2 story has ever sold for 1M–ever! You’re basically just making things up. You can argue that that should be the pricing scale, but you can’t afgue that it is. Nice try though…
What I mean by that, is that these are not two story homes per se. They have two full stories above grade, plus an english basement which is only partially below grade (but far enough below grade to be overlooked in the square feet calculation. It’s not technically a full story, but it is quite usable space. Smart buyers will take advantage of the fact that these houses will be discounted only slightly with respect to full 3-story homes in the Manor. After all, the difference between one of these houses and ones like the 3-story Rutland II (which went for $1.3M) is “cellar” which is completely below grade (generally good for storage and little else). A celler DOES NOT add worth $400K of value to a home.
I predict this house goes for above-asking, and that a bidding war ensues. But time will tell…maybe all this police action on Flatbush will scare away Buyers.
FYI – Brownstoner, regardless of what you or some of the meat-heads who post on this site say, the pricing scale for a reasonably decent to luxe house in Lefferts Manor is more like this:
4 Story – $1.4 – $1.5M
3 Story – $1.2 – $1.3M
2 Story – $1.0 – $1.1M
The prices of the “two-story” homes should absolutely be closer to the “four-story” homes than comps suggest. Blame it on two years of inexperienced and empty-headed brokers who didn’t know how to properly value and market those fabulous two-story homes on Maple Street.