The Long, Hard Road to Buying a Downtown Fixer-Upper

The Real Deal has a story about how it took the current owner of 50 Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn almost a year to close on the townhouse, in part because of the condition the property was in (“urine-soaked newspapers blanketed the third floor”). The owner, Margaret Cuonzo, had to supply the bank with “crazy documentation” that included proving that she doesn’t have a mortgage on another home, but she was still denied a mortgage after an appraisal report deemed the building to be in sub-par condition. Cuonzo then had to have contractors make repairs to the house before she bought it for $705,000. At present, Cuonzo is documenting her $250,000 renovation on a blog that includes posts about stuff like the flea bites she got after the old occupants moved out as well as happier progress reports, such as one on the installation of environmentally friendly windows.
The (Other) Brooklyn Flea [TRD]
Photos from My Big Fat Green Renovation in Downtown Brooklyn.