Open House Picks
Cobble Hill 26 Bergen Street Prudential Douglas Elliman Sunday 2-4 $2,375,000 GMAP P*Shark Boerum Hill 123 Nevins Street Nancy Mckiernan Sunday 2-4 $1,399,000 GMAP P*Shark Crown Heights 1211 Dean Street Yvette Braham Saturday 1-3 $899,999 GMAP P*Shark Bushwick 369 Menahan Street Corcoran Sunday 11-2 $549,000 GMAP P*Shark Prospect Lefferts 237 Empire Boulevard Alexis Finigan Sunday…
Cobble Hill
26 Bergen Street
Prudential Douglas Elliman
Sunday 2-4
$2,375,000
GMAP P*Shark
Boerum Hill
123 Nevins Street
Nancy Mckiernan
Sunday 2-4
$1,399,000
GMAP P*Shark
Crown Heights
1211 Dean Street
Yvette Braham
Saturday 1-3
$899,999
GMAP P*Shark
Bushwick
369 Menahan Street
Corcoran
Sunday 11-2
$549,000
GMAP P*Shark
Prospect Lefferts
237 Empire Boulevard
Alexis Finigan
Sunday 11-2
$525,000
GMAP P*Shark
RE Empire Blvd: The idiot who made the gunshot comment obviously has no idea what life in PLG is like.
That said, I wouldn’t call the Empire Blvd house a “steal” or “underpriced.” The price seems reasonable for a nice house on the edge of a good area but in a not-so-good location. While gunshots is not something to worry about, there are plenty of signifcant downside to the spot.
The Nevins street house has a not-so-hot layout — lots of wasted space and weird winding corridors. There are ways to fix it, but it would cost a lot…hence the price, I guess. Also, most of the detail has been stripped out. I loved the fact that it was a corner, and gets lots of light, but that doesn’t make up for the rest of the issues.
For someone on a tight budget, Empire Boulevard is a steal
The Bergen Street house had awesome wideplank floors and beautiful tin ceilings. The kitchen and bath renos are not my particular taste, but it’s a great house nonetheless. The broker (June) was less than friendly and wouldn’t answer any of my questions.
Also went to another Elliman property at 306 Union that seemed like a better deal as a legal 4 family with some nice details on an arguably better block and a nicer garden at the same price as the Bergen Street house.
They’re back!–thanks for your intelligent and insiteful comment Rob.
The house the red door is on Warren, not State. It is right up against the tall wykoff gardens. I agree that no one wants to pay $$$ and face the projects. I just think people are fooling themselves if they think that they’re safer if they buy on a block that’s 2-3 blocks away and doesn’t face a project. I’ve lived in Caroll Gardens or Boerum Hill for 17 years. My guess is that there is more crime on Smith than on either Nevins or Bergen.
There is a difference between
(a) having very tall projects 1 block away (as is the case with nevins st – and not the smaller “cuter” wykoff gardens ones either, they are the taller ones I don’t know their name)
and
(b) having projects 4-5 blocks away.
Property prices time and again show it to be true. Even if YOU don’t care, you have to sell the house one day, and everyone else appears to care.
There is a property on state st I think with a red door, with projects at both ends of the block, that hasn’t sold in maybe 6 months despite multiple price drops. This isn’t just because of a few unfounded fears of some unhip xenophobic crackers. Projects means loud teens, base heavy car stereos, mamas screaming at odd hours, guys with the pimp roll, more litter, an edgy playground for kids, and yes the odd gunshot or police action. And by the way, I’d say the same if it was a tower block of whites, this isnt a black or hispanic thing – if you pile humanity in very small apartments that they do not own vertically 20 stories high and 5 deep, and they have little prospect for self-improvement, then you get what you get.
Screw this attitude that projects are not a consideration. Sure they will always be somewhere in your neighborhood but given a choice someone putting down $1m+ to own a house prefers grimy post-war brutalism blocks, with all the chaos they contain, do not overlook their back garden. And give a million to anyone in a project to spend on a house and guess what – they are going to have exactly the same attitude.
other than that I agree bergen appears over-priced but it is still a nicer location than nevins, just not $1m nicer.
To poster 8:28 PM, Whtehter you want to recognize it or not, almost any place in Cobble Hill or Boerum Hill is within 4-5 blocks from a project. From that standpoint, I don’t see much difference between the Bergen St. property (which is 3/1 2 blocks from the Gowanus Houses) and the Nevins/Dean property (which is 2 blocks from Wykoff Gardens). Hard to see the reason to pay a $1.0 milliom premium to Live on Bergen. From an aesthical standpoint, Dean St. is far nicer than that part of Bergen.
Strolled past the nevins st place – that corner of nevins seemed pretty busy with traffic. The bergen st place is a IMO a much better location for subway and shops, and not any worse for traffic.
The nevins house itself has an unremarkable street frontage, which is why they don’t show it. There is a gate into the high-fenced garden. Just one block south and you’re into the projects.
I guess the cheaper price is a result of the location, the corner (getting traffic on two roads) and the layout (1500 sq ft and have to share the garden with the lower tenant). If you look at it as spending $850k for a 2bedroom duplex (rent supports the balance) .. well, it doesn’t seem so super.