Open House Picks

CGDad, if the main component of a home’s worth is still location, I’m not sure it’s fair to compare a house on 2nd Place with the house on Sackett. Yes, the 2nd Place house is narrower, but the location is still better, not just because it’s on one of the few place blocks with front gardens, but because it’s also zoned for 58 instead of 32. Although you are correct that it’s certainly possible that someone could luck into one of the charter schools, most buyers still prefer the certainty of knowing they can attend their local zoned school (and Miss Muffett, despite the DOE’s threats to the contrary, I believe it will be a long time before any zoned kid is turned away from a school like 58, 29 or 321 — it’s just politically impossible). For many years, homes in the PS 29 and 321 zone were more expensive than homes in less desirable school zones, and there’s no reason for that to change. PS 32 is still not going to be the choice of most people willing to spend $2 million on a home, and while that may change in the future, prices should reflect the current reality, not some future possibility. So I don’t think $2 million for a townhouse on that block is any great bargain at all. Sadly, PS 32 would probably improve much faster if those homes were priced for middle class families with some incentive to work to make sure 32 became a good school quickly, which is what happened in the other neighborhoods, where the schools got better BEFORE the house prices got high sky.

Muffett,

It’s not as bad as all that. I have kids in this zone; middle school options are among the best in the city, and there are lots of good public elementary school options for this area — charter schools, gifted & talented programs, lottery schools, variances, and yes, PS32 has a really good PreK and many parents staying on for K. There are a multitude of opportunities, and families fortunate enough to be able to afford beautiful townhomes in this area of Brooklyn are probably also smart enough and resourceful enough to explore and find good options to get a good public education (if they are not going the private route.) As for this house, it looks move-in ready and it is a great tree-lined block — Smith St by Sackett is a stretch with some of the best restaurants and shops in the ‘hood. Neighborhood is great, and they aren’t making any more land and they aren’t making any more 19th century townhomes. NY Times ‘Residential Sales Around the Region’ today shows a CG house on 2nd Pl that is only 16′ wide that just sold for $2 mln, and pictures of that in my opinion don’t look as nice as this Sackett St house which is 20′ wide and has central a/c. Best of the bunch on the open house list imho and price is good, unlike a lot of listings out there.

I live in area and Sackett St is on a nice wide block close to really nice section of Smith St restaurants. PS32 happens to have an excellent PreK program and many kids on that block attend Brooklyn New School, Children’s School and PS58. District 15 also has excellent public middle school options. Sackett pics look nice (owner must have a zillion kids) and price looks good next to neighboring house on corner of sackett and hoyt that corcoran has listed at 2.85 mln.

SNARK ALERT!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/realestate/03cov.html?hpw

“Still, many brokers say courting attention online is tantamount to parading a fatted calf among jackals.”

…growls, bears teeth…

sebb, what about PS 84 in Manhattan? Don’t they offer a French dual language program also? My understanding is that 1 or 2 others started the same time as PS 58’s. I just don’t think it’s necessary to say a school is “top notch” or oversell it (“more desirable than PS 29”) because it will only leave disappointed parents whose expectations aren’t met. A good school can stand on its own merits, honestly. We agree on your point, that PS 58 is a good school, in any case.