House of the Day: 489 16th Street
It’s not really our cup of tea, but someone’s obviously put a lot of effort into renovating this three-story brick townhouse at 489 16th Street in Windsor Terrace. The look is a little too “new condo trapped inside old house” for us. That said, everything’s new and the location, just a block from the park,…
It’s not really our cup of tea, but someone’s obviously put a lot of effort into renovating this three-story brick townhouse at 489 16th Street in Windsor Terrace. The look is a little too “new condo trapped inside old house” for us. That said, everything’s new and the location, just a block from the park, is very nice. The house was purchased for $925,000 back in 2005 and is now asking $1,595,000. What do you make of it?
489 16th Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
Would the owner or broker of this house stop appraising it at $2.2 Million!
Brownie, we need usernames associated with appraisals!
Sam,
Go to Streeteasy.com, plug in your zip code…I just did mine…you will all the transactions. If you’re in PS also (I think you are) there are sales happening every week. Many more than you might think…
I agree that NYC is expensive, has been for long time, but there’s expensive and there’s irrational. This house should be worth 1.2-1.3 tops given 2005 price (which I agree was too much back then) and renovation, which is strictly OK. We saw this house and while it’s “clean”, the choices are indeed very Lowe’s-ish. Floors look better in person, but still not my taste, as is case with rest of finishes. I’m in the market for this kind of a house, and am lucky to be able to afford it but was nonplussed by this. It could be a good buy for someone who likes the renovation choices, layout and location – but only at the right price IMHO. Yes, there is a NYC “premium”, but even a million dollars for this house (very big bucks for most people) would reflect that, esp in this economy.
CW….you and I are roughly the same age though (I think).
By NYC standards, I don’t consider this house an entry level house…this is something you buy when you’re in your late 30’s, 40’s etc…after you’ve had time to save money from the big money making years of life.
I would not expect that a 1.5 million dollar house is someone’s first home. As you said before…you don’t need a house this big. Neither do I.
My parents started out in smaller homes, gradually moving up the ladder and now live in their largest (and most expensive) home and are approaching their late 50’s.
Lots of New Yorkers want everything NOW, so it sometimes gets lost that those of us who are barely in our 30’s don’t need to be buying multi-million dollar homes. We’re still young!
basementalist – well, let’s consider this:
I paid $750/month for a 1 BR in Philly, in 2004, that was larger and nicer than my current 2 BR that I share with my wife, which costs $2600/month.
I paid $1100/month for a 1 BR in Irvine, California (Orange County – NOT CHEAP!) that was larger than any comparable Brooklyn 1 BR and dramatically nicer.
So yeh, I’d say the rents in New York are out of Whack. But even considering them out of whack, I still choose to live here.
I understand this house isn’t going to go for $650k. Like I said: I priced it at $1.35mm. I just think that the numbers for Brooklyn have been dramatically skewed over the past 8 years from where they should be. 2000-era prices were much more reasonable, for their time period, than 2009 prices are … even post-crash.
sam — just saw this morning that volumes are down 60% in bkny. I think that was q on q
Dees anyone know anyone who has sold or bought a house or even a co-op this year? I may be wrong but I get the feeling that nothing is moving anywhere. The properties near me are going nowhere. I think they are not even getting offers.
cwb & brandedmatt:
The thing is, as one of those dual-income, low-six-figures people, I would not buy a house at this level either. I’m a big believer in living below my means.
But I also recognize that what I would do, how much I would stretch, does not matter. What matters is the aggregate decisions of that small subset of New Yorkers who desire to purchase a house in Windsor Terrace.
CWB, if this house sold for $650K, you’d be living there far cheaper than to rent the equivalent. That seem right to you, or do you think rents are also way out of whack in NYC?
11217 – I’m not really disagreeing with your general thesis: this is an expensive city and people can and will pay a lot to live here.
I just feel like WT isn’t even a prime area of Brooklyn. It’s a NICE area, but not a PRIME area. A solid “B” to “C+” depending on what part of it you’re in, to use yesterday’s discussion. If you can land stuff in A+ neighborhoods for 1.5mm-2mm, there’s no way WT should be encroaching that price zone, especially with the economy collapsing.