House of the Day: 664 Westminster Road
This three-story Victorian House at 664 Westminster Road in Ditmas Park was an Open House Pick back in early May when it hit the market asking $995,000; the price was reduced to $939,000 at the end of May and then again to its current price of $895,000 at the beginning of June. The house clearly…
This three-story Victorian House at 664 Westminster Road in Ditmas Park was an Open House Pick back in early May when it hit the market asking $995,000; the price was reduced to $939,000 at the end of May and then again to its current price of $895,000 at the beginning of June. The house clearly has a lot of charm so that means it should only be a matter of finding the right price. What do you think?
664 Westminster Road [Brooklyn Properties] GMAP P*Shark
That’s what I mean — if you can see that you don’t need to completely redo the kitchen, that’s far better than an unknown that we fill in with the worst case. Also, a totally updated kitchen is not everybody’s first priority. Anyway .. .
Saw this house, (not in the market just looked at it) kitchen is not new but appliances are and it has all the original built-in wood cabinets. You could get away with a refinish of the cabs and a granite counter top. All the bedrooms are big enough to add a bath somewhere on each of the upper floors and the existing bathroom has hand painted murals and new fixtures with a jacuzzi tub. If you are willing to give up the butler’s pantry behind the dining room you could add a powder room on the first floor. (With a lot of imagination you can probably find another location for the bath) The original wood, stained glass and the size (3 HUGE and 2 big bedrooms and another room) and the deck and huge backyard make it million+ bargain. Take a look!
My current thinking as an armchair theorist on such matters is that a photo of the kitchen is better than no photo of the kitchen even if the kitchen is not a new kitchen. Absent a photo, people imagine the worst.
Looks like a lovely house, very similar to the house I grew up in.
good point BH76
This house may need a lot more than just another bath — no photos of the one bath or kitchen — nor mention of their condition. You could spend another $100K right there….
the homecrest areas with the incredibly expensive homes is not just any sephardic community, it’s the syrian jewish community, aka the SYs. here’s an old NYTimes article about them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/magazine/14syrians-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1
My estimate is much higher than the widget on this one, which is unusual.
I agree with the previous posts that it needs a second bathroom, though. How much does that kind of thing usually cost (for decent quality but not highest end finishes)?
Yes, tybur6, they tend to be the Sephardic communities closer to Avenue P and Ocean Parkway.
I’m not totally sure about Borough Park, but there are some high priced homes over there around 13th Avenue, which are Orthodox, but not Sephardic. But not nearly as many.
On the other side of Avenue H (the subway tracks form a natural boundary), is a neighborhood known as Manhattan Terrace. It is once of the original “Victorian Flatbush” neighborhoods. Many of the houses have had extensive renovations/remodelling, and the Victorian character of the neighborhood has been greatly compromised. Cross Avenue J, and you can see a few of the houses that once belonged to the tony Midwood Terrace development, which is close to extinct.