Open House Picks
Carroll Gardens 447 Sackett Street Brooklyn Bridge Realty Sunday 12-1:30 $1,299,000 GMAP P*Shark Prospect Lefferts Gardens 42 Midwood Street Jackie Wong Saturday 3-5 $1,150,000 GMAP P*Shark Midwood 1431 Glenwood Road Fillmore Sunday 12-1:30 $969,000 GMAP P*Shark Bedford Stuyvesant 366 Putnam Avenue Century 21 Sunday 11:30-1 $739,000 GMAP P*Shark
Carroll Gardens
447 Sackett Street
Brooklyn Bridge Realty
Sunday 12-1:30
$1,299,000
GMAP P*Shark
Prospect Lefferts Gardens
42 Midwood Street
Jackie Wong
Saturday 3-5
$1,150,000
GMAP P*Shark
Midwood
1431 Glenwood Road
Fillmore
Sunday 12-1:30
$969,000
GMAP P*Shark
Bedford Stuyvesant
366 Putnam Avenue
Century 21
Sunday 11:30-1
$739,000
GMAP P*Shark
I also saw 42 Midwood back in 2006. The house needs a lot of work but does have good potential. I would agree with Brooklynlove that $999,000 would probably be a decent price for it, although in the current market I’d try for less. I looked at a number of places in Lefferts Manor, though we ended up buying elsewhere. I agree with other comments that the prices in the area are too high for what the area offers and are likely to drop as the market softens in the next year (see the article in Sunday’s Times Real Estate section). But if you could get it for low 900’s you’d probably be safe in the long run.
The Glenwood Road house may be close to the Q train but that doesn’t mean that it will be noisy. I rented an apartment in a house whose backyard was adjacent to the the Q. Granted it was on a block where the train was not at street level but you could not hear or feel the local train as it passed. You could faintly hear the B express which traveled the middle track at a higher speed. The owner of the home had soundproof windows and insulation which I guess made the difference. This Glenwood house seems to be priced accordingly and although not my choice in decor or finishes, seems to be in move in condition. If it were not near the train it would list for more.
great post, MM! I had a close friend who lived in Bed-Stuy then and I used to visit. The first time I went there I met them at the train station (in the 80’s) on Nostrand and Fulton. I waited upstairs and the only person who ever accosted me- in all the times I went to that area over the years- looked am me and said” Honey, with your white face you stand out like a candle in the night- do you need some help? Are you lost?” Compare that to asking someone for directions in lower Manhattan. Wall st. types simply ignore you.
10:07 they do in Crown heights too.
I just wonder if the market is simply shaking down to where it would have been without the pumped up real estate mania of the last few years? NYC it seems, is still a good investment for real estate and certainly seems to be bucking the overall national trends.
I also ownder if the market is looked at in the long run, we would see that these “brownstone” neighborhoods- and by that I mean older areas filled with town and row houses, and older Victorian homes- don’t retain their overall desirability or their potential much more so than neighborhoods filled with high rises and feders condos. All the granite countertops in the world don’t fulfill a need for neighborhoods that are made for livibility. (I think that’s a word?) Even neighborhoods that have fallen to the bottom of the scale seem to retain an innate appeal and come back up- it just seems to take longer, and over a longer period of time.
I’ve lived in projects, hi rise co-ops, a victorian mansion and townhouses. There is a real difference in how the architecture affects the neighborhood- or the creation of a neighborhood. If you dehumanize the building, you dehumanize the neighborhood- Bed-Stuy- for all the news reports and people flaring their nostrils in fear at the mere mention of living there- was always a neighborhood. And the core of that neighborhood endured. Generations of families live there, and in Crown Heights and PLG- and no- not because they are on welfare. I warrant if you check back in 10 or 20 years to the Hi-rise apartment building I lived in in the Bronx, the majority of them have not lived there more than 10 years. The error devolpers are making today is that they don’t build for context.
There are apartment complexes that also create neighborhoods- Amalgamated in the Bronx is one. Generations of families live there, the scale is human, and beautiful, and the area has been stable for over 80 years.
Posted by: at January 12, 2008 11:35 AM
Regarding the Putnam house, once again. I lived right around the corner from this house for 17 years, through most of the 80’s and all of the 90’s. There is nothing anyone can tell me about living in the hood, while crack ravaged SOME blocks, and dealers plied their trade on almost every corner, that I don’t know. I could tell the sound of automatic weapons fire from revolvers and shotguns, and the park on Thompkins and Halsey, 3 blocks away, was the scene of more than one shooting over the years.
In spite of that, I still felt safe enough on my block and in my home. I was never robbed, never shot at, never bothered, never had my house broken into. We had a block association, and more importantly, we had wonderful people on the block who knew everyone, looked out for you, and became great friends over the years. They are all still there, doing the same for the old and new people now on the block. They were the classic definition of real neighbors.
Through the 90’s and beyond, more and more people of means started to move in the area, a cafe opened on Marcy. And seemingly overnight, Thompkins Ave turned from a pharmacutical supermarket into a destination spot for antiques, home furnishings and unique clothing. A vet and a dog groomer moved onto the block. Brooks Valley opened on the corner of Hancock and Thompkins, and Common Grounds opened on the corner of Thompkins and Putnam.
By the time I bought my house in Crown Heights in 2000, and moved about 10 blocks away, the most police cars one ever saw on Putnam were there to escort Hillary Clinton and other politicos, when they went to Concord Baptist Church, to speak, which they all still do, quite often. Concord is one of the most influential churches in Brooklyn, and along with Abbysinian in Harlem, are two most powerful black churches in New York. It has far reaching social programs that have helped the community for over 60 years, and has a congregation of thousands. I went there for years, and to be in a congregation of proud, well to do, high achieving, black folks of every age and occupation is still thrilling. Boys High School is also on the other corner of this block, once again providing quality educational opportunities through the three magnet schools that operate out of this landmarked, magnificent terra-cotta beauty.
I have nothing to do with this house or any realtor. Like NOP, when he reminisces about Crown Heights, I remember a great neighborhood that held on when it was bad, and emerged from the worst times,to begin to shine again. Anyone wanting to live in such a community, and add to the care and preservation of it, would do well to begin here.
Most houses in Bedford Stuyvesant are not 1 million.. You can find a nice brownstone in southern Bedford Stuyvesant for 600-800K and even cheaper on the northern end. Most of the mom and pop real estate co in the area have the best listings.
Glenwood house is right next to the Q train line – so it will definitely be NOISY.
Don’t let realtors convince you that “oh you don’t notice it after a while”
Also, I would bet you that the realtor has some classical music on in the house to help you not notice the train noise.
Don’t fall for realtor sketchiness!!!
If it’s not Park Slope, it’s CRAP!
People forget that Bed Sty is huge with wide diversity. Clearly there are unsafe areas that affect the stats, but I do believe there are nice areas comparable to better neighborhoods.