House of the Day: 47 Willow Place
47 Willow Place (along with its three sister houses at 43, 45 and 49) is one of those houses that makes Brooklyn Heights such a special place. The 21-foot-wide Greek Revival structure is particularly notable for the colonnade that runs continuously along the facade of all four houses. The $3,450,000 asking price is on the…
47 Willow Place (along with its three sister houses at 43, 45 and 49) is one of those houses that makes Brooklyn Heights such a special place. The 21-foot-wide Greek Revival structure is particularly notable for the colonnade that runs continuously along the facade of all four houses. The $3,450,000 asking price is on the low end for a house in this neighborhood, but then again there’s only about 2,100 square feet of living space (not including the basement rec area) in this one. 49 Willow Place traded for $2,300,000 back in 2004, though we have no idea what kind of shape it was in. This house, though, has been recently renovated. So what do you think?
47 Willow Place [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
Another vote of agreement with 2:52/3:04/3:12 and 3:18. (And to 3:23, no we’re not haters from another neighborhood – we’re all people who live or are looking in BH and know the market.)
To reiterate – even at the peak of the market in 2006/7, prices in Brooklyn Heights were never more than $1000-$1100 psf, even for a “renovated” home, except for a few true trophy houses that were of the 4500 sf variety. These relatively smaller houses at 2500-3500 sf (or less) never got that, despite all of the listings that trumpeted much higher asks (and continue to do so).
47 Willow Place is a 2200sf house and let’s assume the listing is correct and doesn’t need any significant renovation costs. The street has its pluses and minuses but I think from a pricing perspective based on peak-market comps they’d be hard-pressed to get more than $1100psf. That’s mid $2Ms, not mid $3Ms.
30 Orange is a 2400sf house that needs a complete reno (according to the listing itself). The peak-market comps for a house in that condition/size only support a price in the low $2Ms. Yet in today’s credit meltdown environment, they ask $3.1.
135 Joralemon is a 3500sf house, which is probably about the only house that can claim “recent renovation” since it was a flip done on spec. I think they could probably get a higher PSF because of the renovation, but even $1200 psf gets you only to the low $4Ms. They started at $5.9M and have only gone down to $4.9M so far. (How do you know it’s going back to BHS?)
I say all of this not really to bash to sellers or even the agents – it’s their business to pick a pricing strategy, and I don’t see why a buyer would waste their time being outraged – make an appropriate bid and move on if the seller is offended.
But I do think the fact that these houses sit at those prices pretty conclusively demonstrates whether this kind of price-high strategy works.
Once again, if you want to know the state of the market, ignore the $4M and $5M asking prices that litter the agents’ websites, and just spend 15 minutes looking at the recent sales data on the city’s website. This market is small and it’s easy to figure out what houses are actually selling for.
It’s not about sq ft!
this place is priced a little high, but not by much. they are coveted homes in willowtown. they’re not atlanta subdivision homes, they are genuine civil war era homes.
also, the fundraiser that was held and Obama attended on Columbia Heights was highest ticket price event so far in his campaign
McCain is actually kinda white-trashy. No way he’s Brooklyn Heights, sorry. His wife would be run out of the neighborhood. Ever notice her appalling fashion sense and her heavy NJ-mall makeup?
Here is my 2 cents:
I know the block as I have owned a house on it for the past 11 years. 47 Willow Pl was purchased in ’04 and current owner did a long, and from what i can tell, meticulous renovation. As a condo alternative it isn’t that far off the mark for the area but I am not an expert.
I am not even close to wanting to sell my house so please dont try to say i am pumping area prices, because I am not.
I think it will go for just north of 3 million but who knows.
It is a unique row of homes. (a lone survivor of similiar row is between 2 modern houses across the street.)
The block is surprisingly quiet given its proximity to BQE.
Large modern house across street went for close to 4 million and they have been renovating for almost 2 years.
wah wah wah.
this is too expensive.
this is terrible.
this house has a view of city infrastructure.
I don’t want a big mortgage.
someone will buy this house, and they will pay close to ask, and they will be richer than you and me, and they will be happy there.
Hillary wouldn’t be in brooklyn.
“Upscale” is right next to “classy” in the “I’m from East Orange” lexicon. BH is a lovely neighborhood but not all of it is lovely. Go down to the end of Willow yourself, look at that garage, listen to the perennial gunning of engines as cars and trucks make the climb into what will be YOUR view on the BQE; then please, by all means, assume a lifetime of peonage and buy this house.
She’s not upscale enough for CH.
hmm. No, I think Hillary Clinton would be Cobble Hill.