House of the Day: Willow Place on the Cheap
The same person has owned this brick townhouse at 39 Willow Place in Brooklyn Heights since 1974, which might explain why it’s priced so cheaply. The photos in the listings, however, show that the house is in decent shape, though certainly lacking the jaw-dropping interiors of some houses in the area. Still, $2.5 million for…
The same person has owned this brick townhouse at 39 Willow Place in Brooklyn Heights since 1974, which might explain why it’s priced so cheaply. The photos in the listings, however, show that the house is in decent shape, though certainly lacking the jaw-dropping interiors of some houses in the area. Still, $2.5 million for a 25-footer in Brooklyn Heights? Not only that, but the price was dropped from $2,775,000 within ten days of it hitting the market earlier this month. What gives? What’s the catch?
39 Willow Place [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
Price Cut [Natefind]
Focus, folks–enough rambling about your bucolic farm in whereverthefuck. Willow Street house, please? I find the allegations of structural problems caused by the subway and the BQE suspect; is there one additional, non-anonymous person who can back that up? This place looks like it’s had some detail stripped out somewhere over the years, but it’s nice and fat, and beautiful from the front, and it’s in the fanciest neighborhood in the borough. If it’s true that there was a bidding war, it obviously has something going for it. Anyone (brokers?) know of comparable sales?
It’s not underpriced. Everything on the marker is overpriced. Speculators have driven prices up to the point that every
person, not in the business, believes their domain is worth twice its value.You will find some broker to stroke your fantasy. Yes, the stock market, and the hedge funds have driven prices up in Manhattan. Most people who grew up in Manhattan, need the city for nourishment,Brooklyn won’t do. Most people who have bought in Brooklyn over the last ten years don’t seem to recognize this fact. I have a small place in Manhattan, my kids are grown, and we bought a huse house with eighty acrs a historic barn , four car garage, two ponds, and a gazebo for half the price of a Brooklyn Heights studio.
I am surrounded by my frinds, artists, writers and musicians from the city. No we won’t tell you the town, we don’t want you or your inflated prices to hit our town. There is no starbucks so I know we are safe for awhile.
What if you can’t sell your house for what you paid for it three years ago, how will that change your life. What if
your house is worth only half what you paid. All you people who moved into neighborhoods other than Bklyn. Hts, what was your frame of reference when you paid too much, a broker who told you prices would go higher. Clearly, many of you have overpaid. Yes I am a real estate broker, and I will tell you a secret: Brooklyn has a three tier pricing system. The kid from Chicago who just sold his one bedroom in the city and has profit in his hand will pay more than a person in the know, who will pay more than a real estate broker looklng for a bargain. I might spend five hundred thousand for a fiser upper in Boerum Hill you might spend 1.5M Is my house underpriced, or is your house overpriced.
Maybe it’s just me, but that much money for something so blah and free of detail? I don’t know, maybe the width makes all the difference but there are McMansions with more detail than this place.
Really 12:41? Why don’t you go and talk to any broker in the area and they’ll tell you the same: subway noise underneath these houses is a nuisance and causes structural damage. The Willow Street house which sold for $1.7 advertised reinforced steel beams as part of its sales-pitch. I looked at the house on Columbia and was unnerved by the constant noise of the subway running underneath every five minutes, so please don’t try to pull the wool over discerning buyers’ eyes. Don’t worry, though, buyers from out of town who don’t live in the Heights aren’t generally apprised of such things, so you’ll get your price when YOU sell…..
I think this is a case of a savvy broker pricing a property worth considerably less than 2.5 (i.e. a house which needs complete rewiring, new boiler, roof, etc.)at such a level to provoke a bidding war. It seems to have worked. Considering prices in Cobble Hill (up to 2.85+), this looked like a steal. The same broker approach worked with the house on Columbia one block over that went on the market for 1.6 last April, sold for 1.8 in June and went back on the market for 1.995 in September where it has sat for the past six months. Buyer got burned badly.
interesting…having lived on joralemon for the past 11 years, i have heard of no such thing, 12:35.
i always find it so interesting when people make up stories to try to sabatoge or make someone feel like they overpaid.
truly sad.
my mother has been on the brooklyn heights block association for the last 30 years. just asked her about this and she didn’t have a clue as to what you were talking about.
The one across the street was priced at 1.8 in january — same layout roughly.
The R/S tenants across the street pay virtually nothing.
Sooner or later, the state st garage is going to go condo.
And this is _STILL_ a 10+ minute walk (uphill) to stores, subway, etc.
It’s not a steal, considering the work involved. Willow is the Street, along with Columbia, Joralemon and State that suffer continued problems with structural damage due to the BQE and subway running underneath. This area is known as Willowtown and any broker in the area (I’m not one, by the way) will tell you that the houses here will always be priced cheaper because of the problem caused by the subway and BQE. Some people don’t care though, but this house wasn’t worth 3mil.
a steal!!
i’d have priced nearer to 4 million.