Open House Picks: Six Months Later
Comment: Seriously reduced selling prices on Berkeley and Warren! Open House Picks 9/12/08 [Brownstoner] Previous Six Months Later Posts [Brownstoner]
Comment: Seriously reduced selling prices on Berkeley and Warren!
Open House Picks 9/12/08 [Brownstoner]
Previous Six Months Later Posts [Brownstoner]
BrooklynGreene, even in an up-cycle, relying on a simple formula (comp + reno = $$$) can skew your pricing. Recently sold, actual comparables can be helpful guides (assuming relative proximity, occupancy and time frame), but there are usually many more elements that combine to determine a property’s list price “sweet spot”. Quantifying a renovation’s (or lack thereof) effect on list price can be equally problematic. Sometimes a mediocre reno can put more downward pressure on a purchase price than blanker slate.
The uncertainty of the current selling environment only makes pricing to the specs and context of your particular situation that much more critical. As Miss M said, there are buyers out there waiting for their price–price it right according to the attributes and condition of your particular property at a given time and it will move.
11217, insideschools is very anecdotal. Check out the teacher reviews on the nyc.gov site:
http://tinyurl.com/bc9wbv
All the scores are mediocre and there is widespread dissatisfaction with the principal. Only 60% of teachers think the principal has the kids’ best interest at heart.
Everyone I’ve talked to says that 282 is to be avoided. And, sadly, there aren’t many other options in 11217.
The T&G website (like some other brokers) leaves stuff up on their site that says “recently sold” for a very long time so that may account for what seems like a lot of sales – many may be quite old but because they don’t bother to update things there’s no way to see that unless you’ve followed market closely enough to know when they sold (which I have in some cases)…
I just checked out the listings on the Townsley website. Lots of things listed as “Recently Sold”, some with pretty hi asking prices. Curious how much (little) they sold for and when. Does anyone know? For example: #119 at $2.55mm ask; #88 at $2.09mm; #118 at $1.6mm.
Are all of those listing their “exclusives” or just MLS / open listings? Sure seems like a lot of sales from one agency.
That’s really interesting nan, because according to insideschools.org, the comments and reviews of the principal at ps. 282 are nothing short of spectacular overall. There are a couple bad ones (no doubt one of which is probably posted by you) but the majority of comments for the principal are raves from what I can tell.
Sounds like you might have an ax to grind.
It also sounds like they have incredible music, art and gifted and talented programa, and is recognized as a “noteworthy school” for their excellence.
The problems with 282 are mostly concerning the principal. She is a nightmare and all of the teachers hate her, from what I understand. You can’t have a good school with unhappy teachers. There have been three first-grade teachers in one year. Also, a good principal knows how to budget in tough times in order to save enrichment programs and so on, and from what I understand this is not the case with 282. The neighborhood should get together to do what they can to get rid of this woman. The school cannot improve with her at the helm.
Oy, I meant so say above that the academics, discipline etc. does NOT mean 282 is a bad school (please no flaming – just a typo – perhaps I’ve been on bstoner too much today since I’m making lots of typos).
Re: PS 282 – the common perception among many PS parents is that it is a more “traditional” school – meaning emphasis on pretty strict academics, discipline, not a lot of free choice, etc. That does mean it’s a bad school – in fact, there are definitely people who like that approach and think highly of the school. But there is another approach to education that favors more free choice, a more “play” oriented approach to learning, ample outside time etc. The District 15 schools (321, 107, 39, etc.) seem to appeal more to the those who favor the latter approach. Frankly, I have wondered if racism has also been at play among those who disparage 282 since the student body is overwhelmingly non-white. I myself never toured 282 so this is really more about what I hear through the grapevine since so many PS parents are understandably obsessed with what their public school options are…
Brooklyn Greene – it’s very hard to answer your question since there are so many variables. Re: using Berkeley house to compare – as I, guestia and others have pointed out, that house may not have needed much renovation; it really depends on the new owners. There was a house on Sterling a while back that many insisted needed tons of work, and then the new owner came on this list and pointed out they were basically just going to repaint. Also, what do you mean when you say the house like yours sold “not long ago”? There is a world of difference between 3 months and a year ago, and even between 3 and 6 months. Basically, there is pre- and post- crash, which started last Sept/Oct. Finally, how serious are you about selling? For sure, there are some buyers on the sidelines (I’m one of them and there are others on this list i.e. lechacal) and we might bite quickly for a house that is truly well-priced but that means that the seller is building in not only the declines that have already started to happen, but those that are expected for at least the next year (and if you are reading this list and the news regularly, those continuing declines are expected to be large).
It really is hard to throw out a specific number or percentage to you since each situation is very specific and that’s why in this climate more than ever, if you are a seller, you need a very saavy broker to help you navigate the waters. Key things to keep in mind are that this climate (for sellers) will get worse before it gets better, and the out-the-gate price is especially important: I’ve been watching numerous properties that initially overreached and now are lingering with more and more price cuts, and I suspect they probably would have sold faster and possibly higher had they been more realistic from the start.