House of the Day: 156 Lafayette Avenue
This Greek Revival townhouse at 156 Lafayette Avenue in Fort Greene has lots going for it, including period details, three exposures and a two-car garage. Currently configured as an owner’s duplex topped by two floor-through rentals, the property also has potential for some nice rental income (around $4,000 a month, we’d imagine). That income will…
This Greek Revival townhouse at 156 Lafayette Avenue in Fort Greene has lots going for it, including period details, three exposures and a two-car garage. Currently configured as an owner’s duplex topped by two floor-through rentals, the property also has potential for some nice rental income (around $4,000 a month, we’d imagine). That income will come in handy, though, considering the asking price of $2,350,000. Seems a bit rich to us, but it’s a great house in a great location so ya never know.
156 Lafayette Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
I know someone who used to live here and this place needs major work. The subway can be heard but that’s nothing compared to the traffic (car/bus/foot/school) that goes by. The stairs in the hallway felt like they were about to collapse. And the windows are old and drafty – crazy heating bills. Every renovation is cheap – needs to be completely redone. I peeked into the garage once walking by – there’s almost no floor and the roof looks iffy. For as gorgeous as it looks from the outside, it’s very very deceiving.
Configuration AND layout not matching the price point. Not feeling much charm from the interior pics either. OTOH, never underestimate the power of a garage to drive up the price.
Configuration AND layout not matching the price point. Not feeling much charm from the interior pics either. OTOH, never underestimate the power of a garage to drive up the price.
Also, is that mantle original to the house? Looks weird. Shiny.
That’s also a really small kitchen for that price point. The floors in living room look to be only in ok shape? And hiring a landscaper for a couple of hours couldn’t hurt.
Sounds like vibration wouldn’t be an issue — it was just a question that I had, given the location, but sounds like one shouldn’t be worried. That’s good.
Main issue with the current configuration is that the ground floor looked pretty dark and dreary, so if you wanted to keep it as is, you’d be stuck with a pretty suboptimal bedroom floor. Not the end of the world, of course, but I don’t think it would make sense for most folks at that price point.
Other problem is that the renovations in the owner’s duplex were of pretty mediocre quality, as one can guess based on the raised floor and cabinets in the kitchen. Again, not the end of the world, but not ideal for most folks in this price range.
In the end, assuming $500K down, you’d be paying around $10K/month for the mortgage, or about $5K/month (plus heating, property taxes and other costs etc.) for the owner’s duplex, assuming the rental prices quoted above are on target. Pretty rich for what is only a mediocre duplex.
With some money, this place could be turned into something really special, but don’t think the location would yet support a $3 million brownstone. Happy to be wrong though…
Even at 5k/month (which is far more than most people are getting there), the Price/Rent ratio for half the house is around 20-22.
Nobody mentioned the loud and annoying B38 that whines as it goes up the hill after getting stuck at the stoplight.
Wasder we couldn’t agree more with you. We rent two houses from this place and have never had any noise or vibration issue from the subway.
This house is a fantastic with an awesome location. The current configuration can be ideal for a lot of people so no work needed at all….that garage alone is a massive advantage plus the rental income is closer to $5K monthly. This will sell very close to the asking price!
agree w m4l, also not happy about the state of the deck supports in garden. Could have hired someone for a hundred bux to scrape, paint, and maybe sweep the garden before the broker showed up. Makes you wonder what else is wrong. For that price, things should be pretty damn near perfect.