Last Week's Biggest Sales
A couple interesting sales of large condos in historic brownstones this week. 1. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $4,500,000 42 Garden Place GMAP (left) Four-story, two-family, 3,420-sf brownstone in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District. StreetEasy shows the pricing history was thus: Listed for $4,950,000 in September; price reduced to $4,600,000 in December; went into contract in February. Deed…
A couple interesting sales of large condos in historic brownstones this week.
1. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $4,500,000
42 Garden Place GMAP (left)
Four-story, two-family, 3,420-sf brownstone in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District. StreetEasy shows the pricing history was thus: Listed for $4,950,000 in September; price reduced to $4,600,000 in December; went into contract in February. Deed recorded 4/29.
2. DUMBO $2,240,000
100 Jay Street/J Condo GMAP (right)
Another big closing at J Condo, which has made it into the top sales roundup a couple of times in the past few months. Sale was of unit 31A. Deed recorded 5/2.
3. COBBLE HILL $2,050,000
249 Degraw Street GMAP
This 4-bed, 3.5-bath, 2,780-sf condo was marketed as a four-level loft. Per StreetEasy, the property went on the market in October and was listed at $2,450,000; it went into contract in January. Deed recorded 5/2.
4. COBBLE HILL $2,000,000
37 Tompkins Place GMAP
It appears that someone wanted this two-floor, 4-bed, 2-bath, 1850-sf condo pretty badly: StreetEasy shows it being listed at $1,750,000 in late February and going into contract within a few weeks. Deed recorded 5/2.
5. CLINTON HILL $1,725,000
282 DeKalb Avenue GMAP
This Romanesque Revival house was asking $2,200,000 when featured as a House of the Day in November. A commenter on the thread last fall more or less hit the nail on the head: “I would fear that this place is extremely dark inside because there is a building right next to it. I could see $1.75 at max.” Deed recorded 4/29.
Photo of 42 Garden from Property Shark; photo of J Condo by the real janelle.
10:55 – those grandma panties are making you angry.
7:59 – well, although I agree that many people in Bklyn buy homes to live in, not to make money off of, I would regret spending several 100K more for a house than it would cost 1-2 years from now. I mean, I have friends who bought a house in South Slope late last year and now very similar houses on the very same block are going for less – so yes, I would regret buying high instead of waiting a bit. In the long run, it might be OK, but for quite a while, knowing that I could have saved thousands in mortgage payments would irk me. Especially if I lost my job!
As someone who recently sold our apt for over twice what we paid for it, and is going to rent for the next year, I feel fine renting for a year or two. Our sale was motivated by the need to move to a different school zone, and the knowledge that our place would soon get too small – so the question was not whether to sell, just when, and this seemed as good a time as any. It’s a gamble, but we’re sitting on tons of cash (not just from recent sale, but another place also sold high) that hopefully gives us big advantage in buying a bigger place. On bids we’ve put in recently, we’ve noticed that cash down is a *big* incentive for sellers – having to sell to buy is a major liability in this market. Everyone always trashes renters on this site, but many economists agree that there are moments when renting makes sense – and I think we are in one of those times. That said, I totally agree with the need to be frugal and save if you want the stability home ownership can eventually give you. The reason we now have cash is because we’ve been very careful with our expenses, precisely so as not to eat into that capital, and we work hard to bring in income with which to save additional funds. But for people renting/saving now, I think they are in a good position. I also agree you cannot really “time” the market – ultimately you have to buy (and sell) when it makes sense for your life. In the case of buying, that means you buy something that you can afford, that you really love, and if you plan to stay for a while you’ll probably be fine in the long run. But if the prices are sky high, as they are now, and you are not seeing things you like, what’s the rush now? Even the bulls on this list seem to concede that prices may dip or at least flatten for a while. Other than 37 Tompkins Place, these sales seem to confirm that – and I think there are still the “last throes” of irrational exuberance in the current market that could account for a bidding war here and there. But I will be surprised if they keep up – things still are NOT “normal” (prices are still VERY high by all historical standards) but I anticipate the market will continue to calm down as this year progresses. So I say, keep looking and saving and be patient and when you see the right thing, go for it, but take your time and don’t feel frantic – for a change now, buyers can have the upper hand…
and that holds true, even with the addition of yours, 10:40…
i think it might be you that sucks…not the blog.
seems others are having a great time.
you do take the award for most hypocritical post of the day though.
good job!
the last comment that actually referred to the original post was at 2:10… this blog sucks.
MY
MY
MY!!!!
What a contentious back-and-forth.
We *are* in rocky times if everyone flies off the handle like this. Very volatile…
Anyway, look.
Renting can be really lousy and sometimes okay. Can have lots of upsides and downsides.
Owning can be pretty sweet and/or a hideous burden. Can have lots of upsides and downsides.
Number 1: I would be careful what I wish for.
Number 2: I would not advise others to fling themselves in any particular direction.
* * * * *
Why would they regret it, 6:12?
Most people buy homes to live in. To raise families, etc.
The only people who would regret it are speculators (practically non existent in Brooklyn) or people who suddenly have to move because of a job transfer or birth or something of that sort.
So really…the people who might “regret” their decision to buy a home are what…like 5% of the population??
Your logic is unreasonable. No one times the market like you seem to suggest. Lots of the people who now are sitting on millions probably bought right before things crashed in the 80’s and you know what….they continued to live their lives, raising their families and then woke up one day and realized their house was worth a lot more.
That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Not to BUY the house with the intention of it being a money making machine.
You are the kind of person who is partially responsible for this housing crisis to begin with…someone who looks at a home as an atm machine instead of as a roof over your head.
We’re glad you’ll be ok. That has nothing to do with whether it’s a good idea to buy now. The fact that buying in 1998 made a lot of sense doesn’t mean it always makes sense. If prices drop 20-30% from here — as they did between 1988-1993 — and then stay flat for another three years — as they did in the mid-1990s, anyone who buys today is going to reget it. End of story.
NYC has never crashed 50%, 6:01. Not even in the absolute worst of economic times. Even in the crash in the 80’s, prices went down about 35% on average. Your comment makes you sound so incredibly pathetic and desperate. I’m being dead serious. Did you…a grown adult really just write that?
Even at half, you still couldn’t afford a studio, much less a brownstone so what do you care?
I’ve seen 300% appreciation over the last 10 years. I’ll be ok if it drops a bit.