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
Hi there,
I’m trying to post about 216 14th Street – I actually went to the open house so have some useful info to share.
But my posts are not working – can you check why?
Below is my post:
I saw this house at an open house about a month ago (maybe longer, it’s lingered a bit), when it was priced at about 1.879 – they’ve already lowered the price twice. The realtor explained the owners make a living by flipping houses. I will give them some credit – they did a nice job, and used the space well. But there are a few problems no renovation, no matter how nice, can disguise. Chief among them is that this is a really yucky block. Many of the houses seem to be aluminum siding teardowns and I suspect this will lead to a lot of future condo construction and who wants to live among that? Plus, it’s really close to 4th Ave, which has a long way to go. Secondly, the house is only 35′ deep. While the yard is nice, in my opinion, it’s more worth it to have 5-15′ more of house, and still have 50-60′ garden. Also, while there are technically 4 bedrooms upstairs, the 2 smaller ones are *really* small. As for the school, it is PS 124, not one of the popular ones for folks seeking to live in PS (321, 39, and 107 are the main ones). If this house were priced at 1.3, possibly even 1.4, I might consider it – but even at that price, the location is a major downside. The reality in NYC is that even 1-2 blocks make a huge difference, and this just happens to be, sadly, one of the crappier south slope blocks. I agree with the poster who pointed out that the owners did not play this right since they bought at top of the bubble and were overly optimistic, and now buyers are getting pickier as there is more of a “wait and see” attitude with the market uncertainty. Maybe this will sell, but only because inventories are low.
Thanks!
I saw this house at an open house about a month ago (maybe longer, it’s lingered a bit), when it was priced at about 1.879 – they’ve already lowered the price twice. The realtor explained the owners make a living by flipping houses. I will give them some credit – they did a nice job, and used the space well. But there are a few problems no renovation, no matter how nice, can disguise. Chief among them is that this is a really yucky block. Many of the houses seem to be aluminum siding teardowns and I suspect this will lead to a lot of future condo construction and who wants to live among that? Plus, it’s really close to 4th Ave, which has a long way to go. Secondly, the house is only 35′ deep. While the yard is nice, in my opinion, it’s more worth it to have 5-15′ more of house, and still have 50-60′ garden. Also, while there are technically 4 bedrooms upstairs, the 2 smaller ones are *really* small. As for the school, it is PS 124, not one of the popular ones for folks seeking to live in PS (321, 39, and 107 are the main ones). If this house were priced at 1.3, possibly even 1.4, I might consider it – but even at that price, the location is a major downside. The reality in NYC is that even 1-2 blocks make a huge difference, and this just happens to be, sadly, one of the crappier south slope blocks. I agree with the poster who pointed out that the owners did not play this right since they bought at top of the bubble and were overly optimistic, and now buyers are getting pickier as there is more of a “wait and see” attitude with the market uncertainty. Maybe this will sell, but only because inventories are low.
yeah, i like cobble hill as well.
park slope, cobble hill, ft. greene, brooklyn heights, carroll gardens…all really terrific neighborhoods. love em all.
8:50 – which is why we got out to the more refined and established Cobble Hill area (and plus it’s so much closer to Manhattan)
This block is so far over I can’t even picture it. It is in the outskirts of Park Slope but not even in the better fringe area.
I’m drawing a blank. I can’t believe anyone would pay this price for living in that location. They would be the richest people ever to set foot on that block much less to live there.
I don’t see anything wrong with the facade or the interior, but when it comes to the price – I don’t think so. Of course the market couldn’t care less what I think, so if someone wants to pay it, then there you go, it’s worth it because all it takes is one interested buyer. As for what it was bought for or when – not relevant, really. A high asking price in a flip is a funny thing, if they negotiate down the buyer feels like they got a deal, and the seller still makes a big return. Well, we’ll see how they do….
Wow, I’m surprised that people are guessing $100,000 for the renovation. Did they see it before? The reason I ask is we have a 20-footer we’d like to renovate from a duplex, 2 rentals to a garden apartment and triplex, and this actually looks like a pretty good layout to me. But we are getting estimates of $800,000 – $1 million to do it. Hey, if I could get this quality of work for $300,000 I would be thrilled. And we already updated the electricity and plumbing, and 2 floors. So I’m not seeing where someone can spend $100,000 and get this.
I have no idea how much this should go for, and I don’t like the location, but renovation costs seem to be through the roof these days and I think someone would be fortunate to get their renovation costs back once they sell, at least that’s what I’m seeing. I only wish it weren’t so.
I’d pay $1.6 million for it ……
If I had money to throw away.
I’ll give you $2.50 for it. Deal?
Not commenting on the neighborhoods themselves, commenting on seller’s that are full of themselves (which the two might share in common).