Inside 664 Jefferson Avenue
[nggallery id=”41543″ template=galleryview] UPDATE: THIS HOUSE IS NOT IN CONTRACT! It appears someone with ulterior motives sent in these photos. The only upside is that now a reader can buy this place and restore it to the condition it deserves to be in. When Montrose posted 664 Jefferson Avenue as the Building of the Day…
[nggallery id=”41543″ template=galleryview]
UPDATE: THIS HOUSE IS NOT IN CONTRACT! It appears someone with ulterior motives sent in these photos. The only upside is that now a reader can buy this place and restore it to the condition it deserves to be in.
When Montrose posted 664 Jefferson Avenue as the Building of the Day on Tuesday, it was clearly because of the woodframe house’s architectural interest. Of course, the small For Sale sign in the photo led to heated discussion about what this place would sell for. The owner of the house, curious to know what Brownstoner readers thought it was worth, saw the post and sent in some photos of the interior. It actually just went into contract so it’s an academic exercise but fun nonetheless. Hopefully he’ll tell us the contract price when the widget voting has concluded. GMAP
“Nothing in those photos is anything to be put off by.”
Oh.
Right, you have to assemble Ikea cabinets. No contractor wants to do that. Just slap in the ready made particleboard with the glossy front!!!
I have a few suggestions.
Restore, do not change, original doors, windows, and trim.
Do not move walls. If you want to separate apartments, build a removable wall and door far back in the front hall so as not to close in the stairwell.
If plaster is not crumbling, skim coat, do not cover in dry wall (this should not be more expensive).
I wouldn’t know what to tell them about plumbing. It needs to be changed, but that’s expensive work that no one sees.
As for kitchens and baths, I would leave any original fixtures or features.
Very funny, mopar. “Cutting joists for fun and profit” “When to mask with paint and when to mask with sheetrock laminate” and “Marketing 19th century amenities as charm” would be some other choice offerings.
Slopefarm, I can only speculate, but I think the average contractor prefers a traditional look and also believes, and I do not necessarily disagree, that Ikea is not as well made or easy to work with as solid-wood cabinets. Of course, I don’t imagine flippers are using solid wood. They are probably just buying the cheapest version of the traditional look because that’s what everybody does.
Apartments & Lofts tells builders what the “market” wants, and they build tricked-out modern lofts for single male hipsters in Williamsburg. Isn’t that strange? I think possibly the “market” might mean the owner of Apartments & Lofts, but I’m not sure.
I’m working on some free classes for developers myself: “How to start a bidding war with $1 worth of subway tile,” “Money secrets of the crumbling plaster,” and “Why old, leaking plumbing is always better than new.”
I agree, slope. Still, you can actually get really nice stuff at HD, it’s just that these sort of people rarely have any imagination
Actually, that’s partly it. Also, Ikea isn’t exactly contractor-friendly. Not open at 7am. And they don’t have everything — not big on tile, e.g. and no mill product. But still. The first fliper to figure this out will have an edge.
I bet most flippers and certainly developers don’t even know Ikea sells kitchens.
Depressing, mopar. They’ll probably also high gloss the floors, or overdo the color by using a reddish stain, or both.
A sidenote, mopar, any idea why flippers and cheapo developers don’t save money and get their kitchens and baths from ikea? Not everyone likes it, but, on average, the stuff looks better and costs less than comparable stuff from HD and Lowe’s. And it doesn’t look like the same old flipper and landlord special crapola.