House of the Day: 216 14th Street
We’d glanced at this listing at 216 14th Street in the South Slope before but hadn’t given it much thought based on the exterior. When we took a closer look at the interior shots recently, though, we were struck by how nice it is. The two-family house is clearly a flip-job, but, other than the…

We’d glanced at this listing at 216 14th Street in the South Slope before but hadn’t given it much thought based on the exterior. When we took a closer look at the interior shots recently, though, we were struck by how nice it is. The two-family house is clearly a flip-job, but, other than the Home Depot-esque doors, appears to avoid most of the pitfalls typically associated with that kind of thing. (It was purchased back in June for $1,150,000.) The floors, moldings and bannister were all maintained and restored. The cabinetry looks a whole lot better than one would expect from a flipper in this part of town as well. The big question is whether the sellers have added the $500,000 in value that justifies the $1,650,000 asking price. Waddya think?
Property #118 [Townsley & Gay] GMAP P*Shark
wah, wah, wah. I wish things were cheaper. I can’t believe these houses are so expensive. I can’t affort them. I hate when people ask more then they deserve for property. Real estate markets try bilk people. wah, wah, wah
I’m familiar with this block and I live several blocks north. The block isn’t a total turnoff, in my opinion. It’s a bit ragtag, but 5th Ave beyond 9th Street is slowly coming around. We’re going to out grow our co-op soon and I keep my eye out for smallish houses in the south slope with rental income like this one. While it is nicely renovated, the school district and the 2 tiny bedrooms are real challenges. It also seems far outside the typical, and I’d expect it to be listed in the 1.3-4 range, as others have noted. For us, school district makes this much less appealing as we’re zoned for 39 now and are looking forward to going there. That said, I’ll probably pop into the open house just to see how “tiny” those 2 bedrooms really are.
10:50 – blocks matter – this is a crappy one. And both Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights, as has been discussed abundantly on this list of late, have suffered price declines. I think properties in those hoods will be hard pressed to fetch in the million dollar range unless they are truly special and in the best possible spot in those hoods. Clinton Hill – well it depends. There are prime areas of CH, just like prime areas of PS, where the architecture and blocks are very beautiful (and even CH, I think, will see prices dampen as the market continues to soften). This block of 14 St is fringe no matter how you slice it – just walk down it to see for yourself – it’s actually kind of depressing. There’s a reason for that old RE adage – location, location, location. I don’t find the price “offensive”, just unrealistic and too darn high.
A house and location like this is what Brooklyn is all about.
A nice old home, diverse neighbors, shops and restaurants out your doorstep and a little grit.
I think it’s a fantastic house.
1.4 million will seal the deal.
people pay a million bucks for bed stuy and crown heights.
this area, while a little rough around the edges is WORLDS better than most of either of those neighborhoods. this is nicer than parts of clinton hill, in my opinion and homes have been going there for 2-3 million bucks.
for that reason, i don’t find the price offensive.
I think there are buyers for this location – but they are not going to spend anywhere close to the ask on this. I know – I’m one of them. We have the budget to go close to their ask (since there’s a rental) but would never spend that kind of money on this location, or this school district. I see the places that friends have bought in the last year, in the south slope, for prices significantly lower than this ask. Yes, this house is nicely renovated, but it’s kind of like lipstick on a pig given the block. There are currently a number of houses in the fringes of park slope (601 President, another listing on 13th bet 4/5, etc.) that have lingered since they’re priced too high – even with price reductions that are still asking too much – and buyers aren’t biting. I think there are different classes of PS buyers out there – the wall street types with 2-3 mil to burn who expect a pretty fancy/big house on a nice block, and then folks like us who can stretch to about the 1.5 range, and are willing to do some work to a place and make some compromises – we are carefully watching the market as prices on these “compromise” properties are coming down since they were farfetched to begin with. 1.5, mind you, is still a huge amount of $ for us, and we’d prefer to spend less — so MIGHT be willing to compromise on this crummy block if it meant saving several $100K’s we could put towards our kids’ college education or other important life choices. But the sellers would need to come down a lot to reach buyers like us.
So many posters on this blog (or is it just a few?) are completely oblivious to location. They look at pretty pictures of spruced up parlors and forget where the house is situated. The very very very first thing a buyer with options looks at is the location. This house has a very poor location. I don’t care if the neighborhood is diverse or artsy, it is a lousy, declasse location.
it will not sell
honestly this should cost $800,000
it will sell for 1,200,000