House of the Day: 213 Berkeley Place
This four-story brownstone at 213 Berkeley Place in Park Slope is a beauty, no doubt about it. The period vibe on the parlor floor also works nicely, we think, and doesn’t come off as too over-the-top. The backyard is simple but attractive. There’s also a garden-level rental to take the edge off the mortgage you…
This four-story brownstone at 213 Berkeley Place in Park Slope is a beauty, no doubt about it. The period vibe on the parlor floor also works nicely, we think, and doesn’t come off as too over-the-top. The backyard is simple but attractive. There’s also a garden-level rental to take the edge off the mortgage you will likely need given the asking price of $2,475,000. We’ll be surprised if they get full price in this market, but suspect that within 10 percent of it is not out of the question. You?
213 Berkeley Place [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
Thank you CWB and Lechacal! I always say I don’t want to pay top dollar for someone elses choices.
Maybe we’re the minority. I think most don’t want to have to do anything when they move into a home.
cwb: Exactly. I fail to understand why people fall for properties with a bunch of new brand-name kitchen appliances and a huge price hike to go with them. Brokers love to write about that crap in their listings. Makes me gag.
I used to own a house in the suburbs. Really nice big brick house on a couple of acres of some leafy Connecticut suburb. The kitchen was pretty dated and there were a few totally superficial things wrong with the carpeting in a couple of places. I figured anyone who was going to buy a place like that would be able to see through stuff like that. I had a few open houses, and everyone complained about how crappy the fridge looked and how there were spots on the carpets on the basement stairs. So I went to the local appliance store and dropped about a thousand bucks or so (maybe less, can’t remember exaclty) for the fridge. Free installation. Then I went to Loew’s and dropped about fifteen bucks on a little 3 foot by 10 foot piece of carpet and replaced the carpeting on the stairs by myself. Result? No more complaints, offer, brief negotiation, and sold. And do you know what happened between the first open houses and when we did all of this? The blowup of the two Bear hedge funds in the summer of ’07 and the first major collapse of the mortgage market.
Most people just aren’t very smart.
Oh, and I’m the guy in his early thirties wearing a ralph lauren leather jacket that’s falling apart, carrying a canvas messenger bag, and buying … basically anything with alcohol in it. And probably a diet root beer. 😛
I’d much rather buy a place with a crappy kitchen than a place with a brand new kitchen. Every show on HGTV points out over and over that spending $10k on a kitchen adds like $30k to the price of the house … why, then, would you want to buy a place with an already-remodeled kitchen when you know you’re paying 3x what it’d cost to do it after you moved in?
The only thing I’d do to the kitchen, is slap up some new blinds instead of those curtains. The rest of it is more than adequate. I love the cabinets, in fact. I might change the hardware. Per usual, I agree with Lechacal.
As another Berkeley Place resident, I’ll add to the praise for this location! (HOTD could be better, though.)
I don’t know why everyone is so obsessed with the appearance of the kitchen. Have real estate brokers actually convinced you all that slapping up a bunch of new stainless steel appliances adds that much value? I generally avoid newly renovated kitchens becaue I know I will have to pay a large multiple of the actual cost. And I more heavily discount the price on any real estate listing that includes brand names of kitchen appliances. A kitchen is just a place to cook. I cook a lot (often times with fresh cilantro from the asian grocer, in fact) in a kitchen that most of you would pretend to be appalled by. And not once have I noticed that I’m not using a Subzero or Wolf or Fisher & Paykel or whatever. What I DO notice is that I don’t have as much space as I want, I only have one bathroom and I live in a walk-up. Those things matter. But my lack of stainless steel appliances? I just don’t care. This is an amazing property in an amazing location. This is obsession with the superficial appearance of the kitchen just sounds….well, cheap and classless, to be a bit blunt. It’s like you’re looking at a rolls royce and you’re pretending to be appalled by the lack of shiny rims or something.
I think the layout is near perfect.
This will be a good test.
I’m not voting though as I have no idea about prices here.