House of the Day: 168 Midwood Street
This three-story limestone house at 168 Midwood Street in Prospect Lefferts Gardens is chock full of old-school details and has been recently renovated to bring the kitchen and baths up to date. It’s got a nice feel to it, which is good because the owner (who’s selling it herself) is trying to sell it for…
This three-story limestone house at 168 Midwood Street in Prospect Lefferts Gardens is chock full of old-school details and has been recently renovated to bring the kitchen and baths up to date. It’s got a nice feel to it, which is good because the owner (who’s selling it herself) is trying to sell it for almost double what she paid in 2004. The asking price now is $1,350,000, versus $730,000 four years ago. Of course, prices in the nabe have gone up dramatically in that time and she put some dough into the reno. There was an open house yesterday. Did anyone stop by?
168 Midwood Street [FSBO] GMAP P*Shark
the renovation costs listed here are a joke. maybe if you don’t work and be your own contractor. try double all the numbers.
5k for floors in this size house would be a bargain. Ditto 50k for elec and the associated plaster repair.
I’ll tell you who would spend over 1M for a house in Lefferts Manor- families. The place is being filled with young families who want to stay in the city and have a peaceful pretty place to live, and a big house for the kids and the dog to run around in. That’s why we moved here from our crowded Park Slope 1300 square foot apt. The neighbors are friendly, there is a great social scene of dinner parties in these great houses, and a real sense of community-and I mean a real community of people who buy here and STAY. Most of the houses that come to market are from eldrely people who have lived here for 40 years. The few turnovers, like this one, whose family who owned it for four years, are due to divorce or family issues that have nothing to do with the location.
This is NEW YORK, the greatest city in the world. Buck up and bend over. You can’t expect to get something for the price you pay. Just pay up and shut up.
Jeez. Soon people are going to think that just because they pay over $1m, they are entitled to access to grocery stores. What’s next — wanting washing machines or a/c in apartments? Expecting to be able to walk to a restaurant? Demanding a cultural life? Neighbors who aren’t working 70 hours a week?
Why would anyone pay over $1m for a house that has so few services nearby? I’ve always loved PLG, but you just don’t have the amenities to support these kinds of prices. One or two restaurants and zero grocery stores just doesn’t cut it.
In answer to 8:20AM’s question, there is ONE LM house currently on the market that needs $200 K worth of work–1860 Bedford Ave., the April 28th HOTD. This is VERY unusual in LM (and the rest of PLG) and is a rare exception to 8:20’s accurate observation.
Someone here asked the question “Why is this house priced so much higher than other houses for sale on Midwood Street”. My answer is:
Because this is a renovated three story house, while most of the other houses are two stories, and need work. Only one other house on the block (that’s on the market now) has been fully renovated, and that’s 196 Midwood. The ask is 1.1M, and I think they have a buyer. The other houses need a minimum of new kitchens and baths. One of the two stories needs a complete gut reno. The three story house on the corner of Rogers needs the garden level renovated, and it is asking 1.3M.
All this just to say, this is a nice house and the price is not outrageous.
Yah.. Sure, nobody disagrees that it takes a ton of money to do a gut reno, but what LM house that’s been on the market recently really needs 200k worth of work??
Most of the houses that have been posted on this blog have been in excellent condition, and the few that looked rough just needed cosmetic work and maybe some updates.
The new wiring price I quoted includes plaster repair. 5k for re-doing floors is for three floors. The point I’m trying to make here is that this house has had a good amount of money spent on it by the current owner-much more than 200k.