House of the Day: 540 16th Street
This charming Arts and Crafts house at 540 16th Street in Windsor Terrace started out as a FSBO asking $1,550,000 before it moved to a small, local broker and got a new price tag of $1,499,999. Now Brooklyn Properties has the listing and is offering the one-family house for $1,350,000. It’s a charmer, to be…
This charming Arts and Crafts house at 540 16th Street in Windsor Terrace started out as a FSBO asking $1,550,000 before it moved to a small, local broker and got a new price tag of $1,499,999. Now Brooklyn Properties has the listing and is offering the one-family house for $1,350,000. It’s a charmer, to be sure (kitchen and bathrooms aside). Think the new asking price is reasonable?
540 16th Street [Brooklyn Properties] GMAP P*Shark
MR – Sure, to a point, but I think the Slope has its own attractions apart from affordability that distinguishes it from Manhattan. The same isn’t really the case for WT and PH.
turcod, are you being serious? Do you have a few kids in private school or something? I think the salary numbers that people are throwing around are not representative of the median family incomes for either PS or WT. I think there is a decent amount of trust fund money and other wealth in the Slope, but I don’t think there are a ton of highly paid professionals (some, of course, but not too many in the range you just mentioned).
lechacal-
Probably in about the same proportion to the people who want to live in Manhattan but settle for PS.
Yes, understood. For almost every social rule there are exceptions. But I stand by my statement that PH and WT tend to be magnets for people who want to live in the area and can’t afford Slope prices.
I make $500k a year and I’m struggling to survive in WT.
MR, I don’t think there’s an anti-WT bias – it’s just that this house is overpriced. Plus, the reality is that PS is widely considered more desirable due to it being closer to the city, having more amenities, arguably nicer housing stock (though granted, South Slope is a very mixed bag). That said, as with people, it’s hard to paint with a broad brush. There are blocks of WT – like Sherman – that are every bit as beautiful as some of the nicest ones in PS. There is also the school issue, since a lot of people prefer PS schools (321, 107, 39) to WT (154 and others) though of course some individuals may beg to differ. Any “market” reflects trends, but this does not mean that some people may indeed prefer WT – it’s just not what the overall market reflects.
lechacal–
Hard to believe, but I can assure you there are many folks who would never live in Park Slope regardless of income.
I perceive an anti-WT bias on this board. Perhaps I’m just sensitive to it because I live there. I’m not really sure what the problem is. Where I live is only 1 F stop past Park Slope. A few blocks from the park. Quiet and friendly. Very nice housing stock. I park right in front of my house almost every day, I circle the block looking for a space maybe once a month. A few of the folks I’ve met there since moving include a professional musician, a doctor, a writer with a new book out…
The restaurants? Not great. The bars? Pretty bad.
Is that really the entire quality-of-life issue? Seriously, the bars and restaurants in PS are pretty bad too.
Z;
There was an excellent essay in today’s NY Sun which basically made the same point that you did in your post.
http://www.nysun.com/opinion/homes-haven-or-prison/84313/