House of the Day: 902 Union Street
This new brownstone listing at 902 Union Street has some nice old details but we suspect that the busy location and the condition of the house may make the $3,000,000 asking price a bit of a stretch. Don’t get us wrong: We really like the original details and overall vibe of the house but the…
This new brownstone listing at 902 Union Street has some nice old details but we suspect that the busy location and the condition of the house may make the $3,000,000 asking price a bit of a stretch. Don’t get us wrong: We really like the original details and overall vibe of the house but the place doesn’t sparkle the way a house at this price should. (Of course, much of that could be the way it was photographed, but that’s part of the game here.) What do you think it’ll sell for?
902 Union Street [AltaNYC] GMAP P*Shark
11217- Your long-term strategy worked for me. Bought my Park Slope brownstone in ’86 for what was then alot of money. Paid the 30 year mortgage every month. Even in today’s depressed market it’s worth 4 times what I paid for it (it was worth 5.5X), and my current mortgage balance (which is shrinking fast)is less than 10% of current value. I kept the place up, making improvements when the money was available. In 7 years my mortgage will be paid off, I’ll be in my mid ’60’s, I’ll own the place debt free. And I raised 3 kids with room for a nanny and plenty of elbow room in a great neighborhood.
My parents did the same thing- bought a house in the suburbs for $23k in the mid 50’s- lived there until the mid 80’s and paid off their mortgage after raising 5 kids. Sold the house for about 15 times purchase price.
Maybe this phenonemon is over and won’t work for the next generation, but I wouldn’t bet on it. If you believe that New York City will remain an important place in the 21st century world, and you recognize that they’re not building any more single family houses in convenient locations in the city, buying a house in a place like Park Slope is a solid bet.
True, we know families earning twice what we do are snapping up the properties but it seems weird that it’s happening in Brooklyn. I also didn’t realize that there would be so many families making over $600k now. Yes, we are in our early 30s.
I was born in Park Slope in the 70s so the price run-up has been something of a shock. My parents were offered a brownstone on 7th for $200,000 in the 1980s. My dad decided to move to Staten Island instead. He also sold his fruit and vegetable store on the corner of 7th Avenue to move to another store on Church and Flatbush. We must be the unluckiest family ever.
Who are buying these properties, you ask?
-People who made a few million in a business deal.
-People who are in high income professions (some partners in corporate law firms, some specialty doctors who have saved and/or invested, some wall streeters, etc).
-People with large inheritances.
Certainly, your typical lawyer or doctor or wall streeter cannot afford these homes. NYC, however, has a small but strong pool of super-high earners.
I doubt any of these super-high earners would drop 3M to live on that block of Union Steet. But… who knows? Someone might like the location.
possibly people 5-10 year older than you but otherwise exactly the same. how olde are you? early 30s?
possibly people 5-10 year older than you but otherwise exactly the same. how olde are you? early 30s?
> So it makes us all wonder – who are buying these properties?
People making (at least) twice what you do.
There are a lot of them in this own.
My husband and I are a DINK family earning over $300k per year. We have been saving steadily for several years, have no debt, and great credit scores. Let me tell you – we still cannot afford to buy these $2-3 million brownstones. Our friends are in similar situations with similar salaries (doctor/lawyer couples, lawyer/lawyer combos, banker/lawyer, etc.) and they are also not able to afford houses at these prices. We are also all unsure about our jobs and hesitant about laying our net worth on the line when these prices have a large chance of imploding.
So it makes us all wonder – who are buying these properties?
Perhaps, chicken. But most people during those years of ownership are also paying down their mortgage, and hopefully saving a little bit of money too, so it’s not quite as cut and dry as I made it seem. At least it shouldn’t be anyway.
For example, I am now saving money in the goal of coming up with a downpayment on my next apartment (no plan in sight to move, but one day I may want a larger place…who knows) and in my mind fully appreciate that 5 years from now I might sell my place for the exact same amount I paid for it. It’s possible.
But that will mean my next place will be cheaper than it was during the bubble years, and if I come up with the down payment on the next place, I’m just that much closer to paying that next place off.
Eventually the goal (for me anyway) is to own the final place I live in outright so that I can retire with no house payment. Everyone has different long-term goals, but that’s my personal plan and it doesn’t feel like a ponzi scheme.
Right now I’m paying my mortgage every month and adding extra every month towards the principal. With the downpayment and money I’ve paid back, I already own about 30% of my place in just a few years of owning it. You also hope that as the years go by, your salary increases thus making the payments less and less a % of your income as time passes.
tybur–11217 is right that you are taking a hyperbolic look at this issue. Your basic premise is what I did to eventually end up in the house I am in. Now, of course this all went down during the most recent run up but I didn’t see insane returns on the two previous places I had (a one bedroom to a two bedroom to the house) but enough to get the down payment together for the next place. In a crash this doesn’t work and that is the risk in buying real estate. As easily as it worked for me it could have gone very wrong too. life is full of such choices and chances.