House of the Day: 271 Stratford Road
The owners of 271 Stratford Road in Beverley Square West paid $985,000 for this three-story house just a year ago. It sounds like they may have performed some renovations in the meantime. To our eyes, the kitchen and bathrooms don’t quite match the lovely details of the first floor, but they’re certainly passable. Renovations or…
The owners of 271 Stratford Road in Beverley Square West paid $985,000 for this three-story house just a year ago. It sounds like they may have performed some renovations in the meantime. To our eyes, the kitchen and bathrooms don’t quite match the lovely details of the first floor, but they’re certainly passable. Renovations or not, the question remains whether this place will really be able to fetch the current asking price of $1,125,000 in this market. Seems aggressive, but you never know.
271 Stratford Road [Mary Kay Gallagher] GMAP P*Shark
ps Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
(from a non-American)
sorry – meant “a third off”, not “a third of”!
Miss Muffet – now you’re cooking with gas!
20% off something not insanely priced means somewhere in the region of a third of the peak? Bide your time and you’ll get what you want for the price you want.
I love Victorian Flatbush too. In fact, I’ve lived here for 29 years. Far from Manhattan? Today the “Q” got me from Avenue H station to 34th Street in about a half hour. Is that considered far? I don’t think so. To have a house with a driveway, garage, finished basement, porch, working fireplace, etc. in the suburbs, if you could find it, would be much more expensive and much further away. We have great schools, some fantastic restaurants, two close by libraries, the Flatbush Food Co-op, etc, etc. Yes, if these houses are not properly insulated, they can cost a lot to heat. But we never have to look for parking (how much fuel is wasted doing that!) Would I trade this in for a brownstone to be 10 minutes closer to Manhattan, no way.
I saw this house a couple of weeks ago; I saw it also earlier this summer. I think it is a flip gone wrong. There is no evidence that anyone has really been living there, although apparently someone has been house-sitting. The renovations are low end. For example, in the summer there was no kitchen sink, now there is one with barely enough room to fit a salad bowl. It is a simple and somewhat attractive house, but no great shakes for that area. What little has been done smacks of the flashy, but cheap, stuff that a flipper does.
Aussie – I’m not so sure how quickly I’ll be (re)joining the owners camp. Yes, we’ve put out a bid here and there, but inventory is so slim that we have not found anything we really love. And, whereas this past summer I was prepared to “stretch” to buy the house I love, I’ve definitely canceled all “stretching” plans. Our goal up to now was to keep our mortgage very similar to what it used to be, or perhaps a bit more. Now, if anything, I’d like it to be smaller than it was previously, just because it would be terrifying to have a larger mortgage and find that our incomes become victim to all that’s going on – it’s starting to happen to too many people I know. Of course, many people will keep their jobs, but many people will lose them too, or suffer wage stagnation, even income cuts (i.e. less work at same or even lower rate). I sincerely hope we’ll luck out and find something sooner rather than later and as I’ve stated repeatedly, we’re not waiting for a bottom per se, but I’m certainly in no rush to buy. The next year or two will see continuing declines that will more than make up for our rental expenses, and I do think that after this initial stand-off/lock-down period, more inventory will hit the market, at adjusted prices.
The thing is, big old houses are expensive. I know this is an obvious point, but still. There is a stupid movie, “Don’t Eat the Daisies” that is mostly notable for the fabulous Connecticut wreck that Doris Day and Richard Niven and their brood move into. When one of their kids remarks that “this house is so big!”, Richard Niven explains, “we couldn’t afford a smaller one.” In a downturn, this point becomes true again. I love Victorian flatbush, but the fact that it’s far from Manhattan and not cheap to heat may become a factor.
“…..honestly, I think the economic downturn has been accepted as reality everywhere except on Brownstoner.”
that’s funny. I would say acceptance is universal at Brownstoner. The degree is up for discussion.
“Im with you Muffy”
All buyers are with Muffy… but Muffy may be joining the owners soon!
Househunt – we offered a full 20% below ask, for a place that was not priced as insanely as some others, but obviously in our opinion still too high. Honestly, we’re not even sure we want to buy this particular house, since we’ve reduced our budget (to be conservative, in case one of us finds our income takes a hit since anything is possible) and the house needs so much work that I’m a bit a worried about the renovation price wild card (who knows what lurks behind those old walls). But my point is that a seller who initially snubbed us is now asking us to come back to the table, which to me means they are rethinking the price to expect given the acceleration deterioration of economic conditions and confidence in the NYC RE market.