House of the Day: 29 Maple Street
29 Maple Street isn’t as charming on the outside as a lot of other houses in Prospect Lefferts Gardens but the interior has a lot of charm. The private driveway is a serious bonus, as is the third exposure it creates on the side of the house which results in tons of sunlight. The house…
29 Maple Street isn’t as charming on the outside as a lot of other houses in Prospect Lefferts Gardens but the interior has a lot of charm. The private driveway is a serious bonus, as is the third exposure it creates on the side of the house which results in tons of sunlight. The house traded for $595,000 in 2004. Now it’s asking $899,000. Let’s go to the pricing widget…
29 Maple Street [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
Bobmarvin – I appreciate your take on it – I know I would feel comfortable – it’s my husband worrying about ME being safe. He sees the world through different eyes than I do.
“Joe the Bummer’s story yesterday about being robbed at gunpoint on 7th and Garfield made me very nervous, you too am sure?”
It did make me a little nervous, sure…but I’m aware that these crimes happen all over. There’s a difference though between a crime like that (which is far more awful, but luckily isolated in nature in these parts) and then the feeling I sometimes get walking down a street in East Harlem where people look at me as though I am from a different planet. I don’t even think I look that “gay” I just have a certain style of dress or demeanor that probably gives it away. It’s similar to the looks you probably get as an interracial couple. It’s nothing I can’t handle and some of it might be more curiosity than it is looks of disgust, but it’s just not something I want to encounter each and every day…especially not when I’m spending so much money on a home.
I can be more myself here in PS (or many other neighborhoods all over) than I could in PLG I think. And for that, I’m willing to pay more.
My first impulse was to answer gemini10’s comment by writing that the “pioneer” days were LONG past” in Lefferts Manor, but, on reflection, I realize that wouldn’t be accurate. Lefferts Manor never deteriorated like many other brownstone neighborhoods because the single-family covenant ensured that it would always be a middle class neighborhood. I’ve lived here since 1974 and certainly couldn’t call myself a “pioneer.”
Nevertheless, if gemini10, (or her spouse) think they wouldn’t feel comfortable here, so be it. It’s a shame though, because with the MANY interracial couples here they’d likely be quite comfortable in actuality. The same (IMO) might well apply to”11217″–lots of “REALLY white gay” men here too.
I’ve never been a fan of house pricing debates that are primarily based on looking at a photo on a website. But, since this kind of keyboard appraisal activity has been a staple of the Brownstoner site from the beginning, there’s no point in asking what’s the point of it. In fact, I’m pretty sure that this new ratings system will grow to be quite popular over time.
Still, I think it would lend a whole lot more credibility to the system if those who were doing the guessing were basing it on neighborhoods, blocks and houses with which they have actual familiarity and leaving the untried and untested alone. (Kind of the same way the restaurant reviews work.) Unfortunately, as has always been the case with PLG, you have a lot of people on this site offering their “appraisals” who have never stepped foot into this neighborhood, or did so years ago and haven’t been here recently, or are otherwise basing their guestimates on rumors. (And, no, I’m not addressing these comments to folk like 11217 who says when he comes to my neighborhood he’s not comfortable being here. That’s his reality, after all. What’s to argue?)
BTW, I happen to think that both Maple I and II and Hawthorne I and II are lovely blocks with lovely homes. Hawthorne Street has more apartment buildings mixed in with family-sized houses and it is not part of the historic district. This HOTD is located on Maple I in Lefferts Manor. That location means something when it comes to price. I personally believe that anything in Lefferts Manor can command an $800k price and above — even in this market. And, yes, there is no doubt that my view of this both informed and favorably biased.
Of course…I’m sure there are tons of gays/lesbians over there…they are oftentimes some of the first people to gentrify neighborhoods…
I guess I realized during my home search that even though I wanted (in theory) to be a gentrifier, I am not. I want to live in an area I like and feel comfortable with now. And fully. And I was willing to pay more and live in a smaller space to do it.
It was something I learned about myself when buying my place.
It takes all types…I’m grateful for those who are interested in the gentrification process…I have them to thank for many things I enjoy about Brooklyn.
11217 – I understand how you feel. I wonder all this – b/c my husband might have a perception of the ills of this nabe from when he was more rough and tumble and younger and was more concerned with “keeping up with the streets” perhaps what he experienced and or heard about doesn’t go on so much over there and that part of BK has changed in terms of crime -just a thought… but yes you do pay a premium for safety
however, Joe the Bummer’s story yesterday about being robbed at gunpoint on 7th and Garfield made me very nervous, you too am sure?
11217, you have to trust your feelings, and I’m not doubting you, but I live in PLG and there are two white gay men on my block (that I know of) and one of them is in an interracial couple. And I’ve seen a ton of young gays/lesbians moving into the neighborhood in the two years I’ve been here. Rent is also half of Park Slope.
Gemini ” always been an area of high crime especially drug movement” thats a pretty bold and ignorant statement. When Park Slope was awash with crime, SRO’s and its drug dealing in the early 1970’s, This side of the park was much more tranquil and stately. These homes in the LM Historic District have been single family for over 100 years and have never been chopped up, preserving that tight-nit homeowner community. Its very dangerous to judge a place just by the look of it and the preceptions that get played out in your imagination.
Also 595K was not an insane price for the area in 2004, but right in line with values. You may have thought that in 2004 prices were insane, but this house was half the price of ones in Clinton Hill, FT. Greene, Park Slope etc. Houses in Lefferts Manor have generally been half the price of those other neighborhoods for a very long time. Which means these homes in Lefferts Manor rise and fall at the same pace as the other brownstone neighborhoods of Brooklyn. So if you were buying at any point in the last 20 or 30 years the deal you got was probably close to the prevailing rates for that year. And today the same holds true. Its one thing to say something is overpriced based on your emotional feeling, but looking at comps and the reality you can’t change it. Its not cheap in these five boros and thats the bottom line.
So after all THAT…..I think it is priced fairly and reflects the comps in the neighborhood and is proportionately priced compared to Park Slope as seen over the last 30 years.
I can feel for that Gemini. There are all sorts of variables that throw a wrench into the mix, as you say.
I consider myself pretty confident, but when I’m over in that area (as a REALLY white gay man) I don’t feel totally comfortable myself.
There are amazing houses, the park is right there, and the prices are half what they are in Park Slope, but since this is my home we’re talking about…I don’t want to live (and invest) in an area where I don’t feel comfortable.
It could be in my head (just like it might be in your husband’s head) but most of the time when your body is telling you something, I usually tend to listen.
Some people choose to take the discount in home prices over total comfort, but some people choose to pay top dollar for the level of comfort they desire in their living environment. It’s not to say I don’t love PLG, but I just don’t want to live there is all. No one is right or wrong.