House of the Day: 423 Clinton Avenue
This unusual brownstone at 423 Clinton Avenue in Clinton Hill could be an amazing place—the architectural details on the interior look incredible, despite the gloomy exterior—but it’s gonna take some work! And given the fact that it’s a seven-family building, the deal’s bound to have some hair on it. (The listing does say that the…
This unusual brownstone at 423 Clinton Avenue in Clinton Hill could be an amazing place—the architectural details on the interior look incredible, despite the gloomy exterior—but it’s gonna take some work! And given the fact that it’s a seven-family building, the deal’s bound to have some hair on it. (The listing does say that the 3,750-square-foot house will be delivered empty and there’s no mention of it being and SRO, so maybe our caution is misplaced.) Despite the house’s potential, we think the $1,800,000 asking price is a stretch given how much money the new owner will have to spend on renovations. We just hope it will fall into the hands of someone who really cares.
423 Clinton Avenue [Fillmore] GMAP P*Shark
Exterior photo by Michael Fine
I just don’t understand why people feel a need to replace all the plumbing and electrical in an old house and destroy the walls and all the original detail in the process. If people want to live in a new-construction building, there are plenty of those around. I just don’t understand this mentality that because an old place is not exactly like a new one (no 220-volt wiring), there is something wrong with it. I encounter this mentality everywhere, from buyers to brokers to contractors to inspectors. In 80 or 100 years, the “new” construction is going to be old and it’s going to have a heck of a lot more problems than these old houses do now.
Wow. A 17 year old has more common sense than all of you grown adults. Now a days we do not know anything about buying a house. A house is not about how it looks on the outside but the fine original details it has on the insides. And for the comment about Fillmores website, if your juvenile still looking for pretty picture pages you definetly dont need to be buying a house.
The negative people commenting definetly does not know how to look for a house. There is nothing in this brownstone that has anything spooky about it, it is something called “Originals”. The price is very reasonable with the expenses of Brownstones in the year 2008. If you can not afford a brownstone now wait until 2009.
Thanks, Wasder, appreciate the info.
“why they are choosing Clinton Hill over, say, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, Forte Greene, Bed Stuy, etc.?”
I would definitely choose Clinton Hill over these neighborhoods you list above (though Fort Greene and Clinton Hill are in many ways connected, interdependent neighborhoods). For me it is the family vibe and space for kids that does it. It is a unique urban community in my opinion. Brooklyn Greene, I am with you about the ridiculousness of the house but this is a nice block.
While we’re on the topic of Clinton Hill, can someone please explain who is buying these properties and why they are choosing Clinton Hill over, say, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, Forte Greene, Bed Stuy, etc.? (A serious question, not saying they shouldn’t.)
A gut reno? Please no. Whoever buys it, just leave it alone. Fish through a new electrical line or two for a computer and an air conditioner, restore the multiple bathrooms to original-condition bedrooms, just let it be.
A bit of a spooky haunted house. I would buy it for $700,000. I will take a lot of money, time, and emotional capital to empty that sucker of its tenants. With its tenants, it is worthless.
Harsh, but true.
The so-called detail just doesn’t do it for me. The detail is rather perfunctory and boring. I looked at the 4 photos on the lousy RE website and can’t see how Browner can managed to write “architectural details on the interior look incredible”…
I mean, is there a link to many more photos I am not seeing?
Fillmore is ridiculous. As others state above, I agree: this is a fantasy price. If the house were 4 or 5 blocks closer to BAM in prime FG on a nice block, maybe they could ask this price. It doesn’t make sense for someone thinking of condo-izing it either.
If anyone wants to reconfigure this house into an owner occupied 1-, 2- or 3- family, it’ll end up being a guttish reno, no doubt. It won’t just be about moving walls, ripping out the odd kitchen or two…it’ll end up being a total redo of the electric and plumbing…mechanicals… new kitchens and baths…and then maybe the windows, facade work, and then, bonjour, $400K before you know it. Unless it’s all done by the owner hands-on like those kids in BS who did a lot of their own work putting in their black-and-white tile snowflake motif everywhere…
I hope the broker is reading this. The house should be listed at $1.125 tops considering all the eventual costs to bring it up to snuff.
Oh, and there will be an immense amount of paint stripping on that woodwork. Ugh. Someone will be at it for ages and it’ll cost a fortune.
Braunsteiner…I shopped the Flea yesterday. I probably made one of the higher dollar amount purchases yesterday that wasn’t for one of the GreenJeans furniture pieces…but by the look of it, those kids of GreenJeans may not have had any sales, poor things. With any luck, those who took catalogs (including me) will think about it and make a purchase eventually. Nice stuff…not my exact taste…but some of it wasn’t bad. Let’s just say, I paid the most money anyone probably spent for small items yesterday and would have spent more but had a moment of “Um, will I get in trouble?” (i.e. get home to have to hear “Did you really need that/those?!”). I did buy one thing that was possibly less of a good buy but ultimately it was all such a bargain from one vendor I felt guilty. I also found some decent heavy 60’s vases from another vendor for the mother-in-law who, going bouquet-crazy in the summertime (10 bouquets in the house at once) tends to break a lot of vases.
It’s too bad so many vendors canceled due to the weather.
I mention this again, and repeat that I’m sure you’ve thought/researched this: can you (are you allowed to) get a huge tent set up in the AM on Sundays so lots of vendors know they’ll be protected from the elements? You really should negotiate it with the school to allow you to try it out in November and December when the cold weather is upon us. It’ll be brutal otherwise. Is it too complicated with the City and all?
Hugs!
BG