House of the Day: 2777 Bedford Avenue
We included 2777 Bedford Avenue in our Open House Picks back in January when it was listed at $649,000. It still hasn’t sold and the price is now down to $599,000. (Judging from the differing sets of photos in the new Mary Kay Gallagher listing versus the photos in the original Brooklyn Properties listing, the…
We included 2777 Bedford Avenue in our Open House Picks back in January when it was listed at $649,000. It still hasn’t sold and the price is now down to $599,000. (Judging from the differing sets of photos in the new Mary Kay Gallagher listing versus the photos in the original Brooklyn Properties listing, the sellers have already moved out, suggesting there may be some urgency to the sale now.) We have a little crush on this house Colonial charmer and hope someone who appreciates its historic details comes along and buys it. For those readers who complain about there not being enough lower-priced houses featured, this is as nice a house as you’re going to find in the $600,000 range. Of course, it requires that you want to live in the Brooklyn College area.
2777 Bedford Avenue [Brooklyn Properties] GMAP P*Shark
2777 Bedford Avenue [Mary Kay/NYT]
Open House Picks 1/25/08 [Brownstoner]
Some here can quote the 20% down formula all they want (and they do it a lot) but it won’t apply to many serious buyers of brownstones. I don’t know anybody who bought a house in NYC with only 20% down. We had a coop to sell and were able to put 50% down. And we’re not rich or in finance; we’re freelancers. Most people we know owned and sold apartments first. Another friend sold a company before buying their house. But that said, how much one can sell their condo or coop for now will affect how much a down payment they have for a house and how much mortgage they will need. Of course if house prices drop too that evens out and helps them.
I could see a prof couple who work at Brooklyn College buying this.
but for no more than 450k
it would have to be a couple making 200K and DAMN certain that they will keep making that much through this cycle.
Chaka, I hope you are right, that a lot of people who live in Brooklyn work in Brooklyn. This blow-out may actually work in their favor as housing will deflate significantly and allow middle-class brooklyn folks to buy homes again.
I’d be a buyer of that at $350k, which might sound crazy at the moment given what else is on the market for that today but give it a few months.
Here’s a list of banks that have effectively gone under today:
– Bradford & Bingley
– Fortis
– Glitner (+ another icelandic bank I can’t remember the name of)
– Wachovia
– the three largest Irish banks
– Sovereign Bancorp
There might be others that I’ve missed.
Of course, just because that’s what I’d offer doesn’t mean that’s what the seller would be willing to accept – which leads us to the other sticking point. Transactions are made only where the buyer and seller can agree a price. If buyers can’t get the funding, or sellers aren’t willing to lower then you don’t get a deal – and the property juts sits on the market indefinitely.
Sam, the other issue is that there are so many people living in Brooklyn who work in Brooklyn. From the looks of what is happening on wall street and in congress there may be a decrease in the jobs available on both Wall Street and in Midtown.
Now that the banks are being rational again, the only people who can afford ‘brownstone Brooklyn’ are those who are selling property and have $$$ for a huge downpayment or those with mega incomes. As Snark says, it is a little hard to imagine a couple earning 200K wanting this sweet house in the Brooklyn College area. I know people who would happily buy it–but their max budget is 450K, which is why they are buying outside of the city.
People always bring up the “real burbs” comparison. But honestly, I looked at houses in the burbs, and prices were just as high anywhere I’d consider living. Also, people who choose Brooklyn over the burbs do so largely because it just doesn’t have that “burb” vibe. Sam, when “burb” neighborhoods would you cite as comps for this one?
It is a cute house but you could get the same size house for the same price with more property in the real burbs, as opposed to the fake burbs in the heart of Brooklyn. The communte from many non-boro burbs to midtown is shorter than from Brooklyn College.