Price Cut at 273 Berry Street
The three-story townhouse at 273 Berry Street at South 1st Street on Williamsburg’s South Side hit the market last February with a price tag of $1,129,000, which is where it was when it was an Open House Pick in March. On Monday, the asking price was reduced by 7 percent to $1,049,000. The interior has…
The three-story townhouse at 273 Berry Street at South 1st Street on Williamsburg’s South Side hit the market last February with a price tag of $1,129,000, which is where it was when it was an Open House Pick in March. On Monday, the asking price was reduced by 7 percent to $1,049,000. The interior has about as much detail as you can expect to find in this part of town. The owner’s also willing to provide financing. Further to fall or about right now? GMAP
Heather has nailed it.
This building has way more charm than the gut job on Wythe- I went to both open houses. That said, I think we can all agree that a lot has changed since the wythe house sold last summer/fall (there were two gutters on Wythe that sold in the 800’s, actually!) and this house still needs a lot of work to make it ready for a young family, IMO. Still could be a cool, cute alternative to a condo, family or no…but it needs to be below a million. The thing to do would be to make the attic into a fourth floor with a master suite! But, whew, too much work for too much money for us.
Seller financing is really spelled out on the Virgin Money site- they help you register the seller held mortgage and organize a payment schedule. It seems like something that could work out very well for both parties, if traditional bank financing is not going to happen for whatever reason.
Over on Wythe a similar brick one sold in the high 800s, it was a complete gut job with foundation issues. I have not seen the inside of this one but it certainly is not that bad. Someone will buy this in the high 900s. I don’t think the price of condos has much impact on this property. They are simply not building more brick 2 family row houses.
People, many have gotten rich doing seller financing. Have any of you looked at an amortization chart lately? What do you have lose? If this guy accepts a 10% dwnpyt and finances at 6%-it is a sweet deal at $999k for a couple with kids. It is pretty close to the Northside. It isn’t a gut job. In fact, if I had an extra $100k, I’d try to buy it myself.
A year ago that price wouldn’t have raised eyebrows. Williamsburg townhouses have been selling at the million-dollar mark for a while, and not as nice ones as this looks like it might be. That is a great location — not the closest to the trains, but close to restaurants, schools (PS 84, I think it is across the street) playground, vet, etc. Long-term, as long as condos hold a fraction of their value, I think this is not a terrible deal. After all, if you split it into three units they’d probably be the same size as most condos in the area that are (optimistically) selling for 500-600K.
And these modest little brick houses are sort of rare in the burg. There are a few strips of them and this is one. If comparable square footage in the Mill Building is going for more than this (and I think it did?) than this isn’t outrageous.
I think it’ll sell fairly easily. Whether or not the stylist that buys it then loses their job, defaults on the mortgage and moves back to Argentina or Australia (I may be projecting…) well, that’s another story.
Jessi’s got claws! Meowwwww….
“Generally, sellers will only agree to owner financing when they and the buyer strongly believe that the property is worth more than the banks do.”
ROTW – Is this what you mean by circlejerk?
This concept reeks of denial. How sad.
***Bid half off peak comps***
http://www.foreclosure.com/statelaw_NY.html
Are deficiency judgments permitted in New York?
Yes. Adeficiency judgment may be obtained when a property in foreclosure is sold at a public sale for less than the loan amount which the underlying mortgage secures. This means that the borrower still owes thelender for the difference between what the property sold for at auction and the amount of the original loan. The Plaintiff must file a motion within 90 days after the property sale auction to enforce this right.
Apologies due to jessibaby for second time today?
Owner financing: Bklnite has the mechanics right.
In the bad old days, when most of brownstone Brooklyn (and Manhattan) was redlined by the banks, owner financing was the only way to get a sales price over what buyers could pay in cash. Owner financing was standard until the Civil Rights Act ended redlining in the late ’60s.
Generally, sellers will only agree to owner financing when they and the buyer strongly believe that the property is worth more than the banks do. So it hasn’t been an issue in the financial bubble years.
Recourse/Deficiency Judgment:
Mortgages are recourse in NY, but I think not fully — I believe the lender is allowed EITHER to sue on the debt (and collect from the borrower) OR to foreclose on the house, but not both. So no deficiency judgments.
If I have the law right, you would expect lenders nearly always to choose to foreclose. The house is usually going to be worth more than you would get from chasing around an insolvent individual debtor. And banks are bureaucratic enough that they’ll rarely even look for the exceptions.