House of the Day: 135 Lafayette Avenue
This five-story, 5,810-square-foot townhouse at 135 Lafayette Avenue in Fort Greene hit the market a couple of weeks ago with a price tag of $2,875,000, unusually expensive for house not on a park block. The house has been updated in a tasteful way and looks particularly spacious in the new Corcoran full-screen photo viewer. On…
This five-story, 5,810-square-foot townhouse at 135 Lafayette Avenue in Fort Greene hit the market a couple of weeks ago with a price tag of $2,875,000, unusually expensive for house not on a park block. The house has been updated in a tasteful way and looks particularly spacious in the new Corcoran full-screen photo viewer. On the downside, it’s right next door to a less-than-scenic deli and doesn’t have much of a backyard to speak of. Reactions?
135 Lafayette Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
Thank you Amp for sharing this!!! So invaluable coming from someone who lived in the house for so many years!
I lived in this house for two years and the people that lived there with had lived in Fort Greene for nearly 10 years, so feel I should clear a few things up. To minard, this is, like several other people said, a very safe location. Having the bodega next door adds a lot of light at night, its really busy, not dark, and we never had any issues there. The neighboring building is a co-op full of families. Its probably one of the safest blocks in Fort Greene. In 10 years, none of us had ever been mugged. Also, it is not a large house that has been cut up into a small tenement. Not even close. The pictures do not do justice to how enormous this place is. Even the entry way is large. The parlor floor is grand and impressive. There are pocket doors that are like 13 feet tall that separate the living room from the dining/kitchen.
Like others have said, this place was boarded up and had squatters when it was purchased and had to be gutted. But some originals remain. Many, if not all, the banisters were salvagable and he had new rails made to match where there were damages or missing parts. In the entry way there are original pencil drawings (plans for the archways) on the brick from when the house was built, which was in the 1890’s I believe. The floors are not engineered or plastic floors. I’m not sure how much of the floors are original but they are the wide plank wood flooring that would have been present in the original.
I can’t say as to whether this is a high asking price or not because I can really only afford to rent, but this is a great neighborhood and a gorgeous house.
Given what was quoted above as the owner’s purchase price and the amount that he put into it, I’d say there is A LOT of wiggle room in the price.
I suspect this would be the highest priced building in the neighborhood if it sold close to this price. 🙁
Back to my original point nomi, no one will pay 2.8 million for this home.
I’ve allways said homes are only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Multiple times. So you’ve just used one of my mantras on this forum as an argument against me.
I guess you missed that because you thought I was being “bitter or unpleasent.”
please.
Yes, I thought you’d say that, MoneyForNothing. I do not believe that the markets are not manipulated. That’s part of what I meant by “problems.” I still believe that the principles of a free market play a large role in the price of real estate in NY. I accept that something is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. You do not accept that. Some might say that THAT is naive.
I love that everyone assumes a buyer would put down 20 pct. and get a mortgage for the remainder.
I just think anyone who would seriously consider this place would put down 40 or 50 pct., (and also, assume that this is the bottom of the market) so that the rentals will cover most of the mortgage. Then, when things eventually improve and rents rise, they’ll be making money.
I think the real stumbling block right now is where the market’s at. It’s hard to know if this really is the bottom or a trench…
Nomi,
that you think this is a free market is hysterical on it’s surface. Nominee for naive comment of the decade.
I’m fairly confident I could educate you thoroughly about investing, markets, and monetary manipulation.
What we have here is the exact opposite, bought and paid fire by your friendly corporate lobbiest. But keep believing that canard they tiught you in grade school. Markets aren’t manuplated here at all. Not at all.
“But I support the free market, with all its problems and, yes, inequities. The alternatives, I believe, are worse. ”
What free market?!? Banks can lend because they were bailout, rates are low because of the fed, market is up because of inflation due to the fed and gov policy. Add to this $8k tax credit and banks delaying foreclosures. Not only you are bailing out boomers’ soc sec, medicare and 401ks, you have to buy their overpriced house.
So you are right the alternatives are worse!
@MoneyForNothing: “Couples making $300+K a year with no debt and six-figure savings are effectively priced out of much of this market until it retracts (and it will). That’s my profile, and yeah that makes me bitter. I suspect I’m not alone.”
You’re not alone. I get angry and frustrated too about how expensive housing is in NY. But I support the free market, with all its problems and, yes, inequities. The alternatives, I believe, are worse.