Open House Picks: Apartments

Re: BH apt – Is it just me, or would others prefer more bedrooms in that much square footage? If you have kids, then having the privacy of enclosed spaces is more important than having an extra big bathroom or living room I think. I think of this apt as being for either a childless couple or a couple planning on having one kid only. Maybe they are Manhattan transplants hoping to be near the BH private schools? I have no idea what the public schools are like there. The apartment feels a little soulless to me, and I would find that location annoyingly busy/congested. But again, maybe that’s just me (I have 2 kids). And again, what a high maintenance! I wonder if one would not be better off in a 3BR coop/condo with lower maintenance …

I must agree with The What too – there is wisdom in today’s rant that is at lot more grounded in specifics than the usual. We used to live in Fort Greene and were looking in Clinton Hill for a while, and while it’s a lovely neighborhood, it does not merit that kind of price, especially for a tacky loft space, however large. I would find that space very depressing – good luck to the seller.

The Clifton place looks dark and kind of cheesy – like a porn-film set. The PS place is hard to gage – given the current cost of living in the hood, the price does not seem wildly off the mark, but hard to say without knowing the square footage, and I think having only 1 bathroom is a drawback for a “family” apartment. I think folks in this price bracket would like to not have to wait in line to go pee with kids. Also the PS maintenance is on the high side. I think the comment about 321 being less of a draw these days is interesting. With all the fears of 321’s overcrowding, it’s true that I’ve been hearing more folks talk about 39 and 107 as increasingly attractive alternatives, and even less well-known schools, like 10 and 124 (which got an “A” on the recent city school report card) might be the next gems.

As for the bubble bursting, I pray it finally does, but when? We’ve been holding cash for our “trade-up” for over a year and alas have been seeing our purchasing power erode, but I hope to hell there’s a correction that will at last allow us to do so. How long can NYC be immune when pretty much every other US market, including west coast and east (i.e. Boston area) have significantly cooled? There are investment bankers there too, but somehow they are not willing anymore to pay these unbelievable prices anymore…

Here’s what I found interesting to note – isn’t the Park Slope 3rd street coop located inside PS 321 district? It is, right? And yet here you have a family-sized coop in PS 321 and the realtor doesn’t mention the school district in the listing. It might say something about PS 321 starting to be less of a draw. Not that the school has become unappealing, but maybe just not such a hot selling feature anymore.

Are there any apts in these neighborhoods for less than 600K?