House of the Day: 266 Berkeley Place
The four-story brownstone at 266 Berkeley Place is a prime property, don’t get us wrong, but the $3,250,000 asking price strikes us as rather out-of-sync with the current market, especially gi. First of all, it appears to not be configured for the most likely family buyer in the this location: The listing calls the house…
The four-story brownstone at 266 Berkeley Place is a prime property, don’t get us wrong, but the $3,250,000 asking price strikes us as rather out-of-sync with the current market, especially gi. First of all, it appears to not be configured for the most likely family buyer in the this location: The listing calls the house “multi-family” while PropertyShark says it’s a two-family. Secondly, the kitchen and bathroom renovations don’t, in our opinion, rise to the level of the rest of the house. (And there’s also the issue of the recessed lighting on the parlor floor—just say no!) While these may seem like nits, most people gearing up to pay the estimated $27,000 a month (that’s per the listing not us) in carrying costs will care about every last detail.
266 Berkeley Place [Bellmarc] GMAP P*Shark
Mr B. You are so right about recessed lights. In fact I am going to send this to my taste challenged husband who thinks that recessed lighting is great in brownstone parlors. BTW I think they are OK in kitchens and of course if the house has been gutted and redone in a modern style. But in the large rooms of a period brownstone -never.
So 17K minus 7 or 8K for the rentals and knock off another few thousand for interest deduction and it’s what…7K per month to own a brownstone in one of the nicest neighborhoods in brooklyn?
not too shabby…
Don’t know where the hatred for recessed lighting comes from but I love mine. Its a very unobtrusive way to add intersting lighting and shadows in dark interiors like brownstones. Don’t know it if you haven’t had it.
Hey Brownstoner – I used to be a fan. But it seems like you’ve gotten a big ego and feel the need to insult people’s personal taste (folding doors, recessed lighting – who the f cares???). Seems like your ass-holish Wall Street tendencies are rearing their ugly heads.
the calculator is wrong. it’s not $27k per month. it’s closer to $17k, assuming a 20% down payment. the calculator is taking the annual property taxes and adding them to the monthly mortgage payment, which inflates the total. $17k is still a lot of money, but not nearly as far into looney-tunes territory as the initial number would suggest. (this is the first time i have ever seen a broker OVERstate monthly costs!)
HA HA I have recessed lightning in my brownstone, The trick is to get the 4″ ones with good bulbs. It really is not so bad. Getting good light fixtures for a reasonable price is very hard to do. Getting Tacky light fixtures for any price is very easy to do. Those bathrooms are horrible, Sorry owner…..For that money give me the Richard Meier Building with its WEIRD AND FUCKED UP Microwave any day.
2:18 “recessed lighting is great if you have a 1980’s Staten Island hair salon. otherwise, not so.”
You’ve obviously spent a lot of time in a Staten island hair salon…I can only guess what that lighting looks like. Ever seen the nice, more expensive stuff?? Bet not.
I’ve never been in a multi-million dollar home which didn’t have recessed lighting.
The aversion to it is really odd. Talk to any high end designer. They ABSOLUTELY use recessed lighting in 2008.
My gf lives on this block and she pays $2000 a month for a 1 bedroom which is half a floor. So at two units per floor, you’d be looking at more 8K in rental income per month.
That leaves 19K a month. Tax deductions on a place like this are at least 5K per month.
That’s down to 14K a month.
Still a lot of money, but as someone said yesterday, people aren’t buying places like this as an investment these days. They will buy it because they are in love with it and the location and want to live there.