House of the Day: 474 Willoughby Avenue
This brownstone at 474 Willoughby Avenue looked like quite a good deal to us at $650,000, but then we learned that there’s a rent-controlled tenant in place. Still, the parlor floor has lots of charm and original detail and the block, between Nostrand and Marcy, is remarkably intact for this part of Bed Stuy and…
This brownstone at 474 Willoughby Avenue looked like quite a good deal to us at $650,000, but then we learned that there’s a rent-controlled tenant in place. Still, the parlor floor has lots of charm and original detail and the block, between Nostrand and Marcy, is remarkably intact for this part of Bed Stuy and chock full of brownstones. Think it’s an interesting play or is that tenant a deal-killer?
474 Willoughby Avenue [Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark
Babs, that seems high to me. If you don’t mind being close to Myrtle in Bed stuy, 500K will buy you a house without RC issues. I would be very surprised if this listing ended in a sale.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, Republicans are de riguer these days”
de riguer? you must mean something else. xenophobic perhaps? Retardetaire?
You cannot get a conventional mortgage with a rent controlled tenant in place.
>Is that a housing project I see just north of this house?
Those are the Marcy Houses, home of Jay Z, and now a regular stop on Brooklyn hip-hop tours, along with Biggie’s apartment building on St. James Pl., and the Lafayette Gardens projects (or the LG, as it’s known to its familiars), home to Lil Kim. (I kid you not, these tours exist!)
And the fact that this house has been listed with a major RE brokerage is a sign that it isn’t a troubled property. An RC tenant isn’t necessarily that big a problem (as DIBS said above, what if they’re stable, rent-paying, good tenants? Might be an OK deal and save someone the headaches of the unknown. Or they could be bought out.). I think this one will end up at over $500K, more if it doesn’t need too much work.
Yes babs, that was the one. I didn’t realize there were title and family issues on top of RC. To me, these houses with RC tenants often end up with shady outfits who use questionable tactics to get a fast return. Anyway, the location was much better that the HOTD. I’m sure it will end up at 350-400K with some investor group that specializes in churning problem properties.
Can you dodge a bullet on your way home?
http://projects.nytimes.com/crime/homicides/map
Type in: 474 Willoughby Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Just saw your post. Awesome!
mopar, Jose finished my floors. They look great.
Maly, do you mean 189 St. James Place? That house sold for $450K in July. This was an estate sale with two grown children in the mix, and was sold for an artificially low price to a company that specializs in preying on vulnerable people (grieving, often unprepared to deal with estate issues, and maybe not prepared to handle the length of a normal sales process) by offering them a fast sale at a low price. This particular company until looks to have been mostly active in Queens, but there are several companies like this in Booklyn as well. They invest a minimal amount in fixing the building up, then sell it for a low price (but still at a profit to them). I know several people who’ve tried to buy houses from outfits like this, but they are always very complicated sales as very often there are title problems, etc. The short answer is I woudn’t consider that one a comp because of the circumstances of the sale. It wan’t only the RC tenant causing the low price.