Scrappy Doo or Scrappy Don't?: 468 Carlton Avenue

Another Hanna-Barbera reference today! Today's pick is two doors down from a fave of ours, 472 Carlton. 468 Carlton is in the same row of houses over here in this quiet, kinda grimey pocket of Fort Greene just off Atlantic Avenue. This house doesn't have the same renovations we see two houses down (namely the finished basement with 2 extra bedrooms), which would explain the price differential. We like to think of it as Scrappy Doo - the smaller, wimpier version of its bigger Uncle Scooby, packing much more bark than bite.



...at least as far as the listings go. Built in 1996, you can't expect the condition to be that unpresentable, but we sure would love to see. It's very unlike Corcoran to not have any interior photos of a property after listing this long. They don't have to do the full all-out staging treatment & over-do it, but the exterior photo off of Property Shark was the best they could do? We expect a little more. Although, 472 Carlton took about two months to get interior photos posted, so maybe that's the case here. Just listed on 10/26/10 at $995K, 468 Carlton just price dropped $20K to $975K. Likewise, its neighbor just dropped $25K to $1.075M. There have been open houses in both properties almost every weekend the past few months. The price drop on 468 is an update, mind you, that's hit Streeteasy so far but not Zillow.

Given the $300K-ish price point all the owners in this row of houses got in at, there's a lot of built up equity, along with rentals that have come up significantly. We were surprised to see 468 Carlton in Lis Pendens, filed 9/28/2010. Property Shark has the "Document Type" listed as "Partition Of Property". Anybody know what this is all about?

It's worth checking this place out at one of the upcoming open houses. Definitely stack it up to 472 Carlton. There's nice potential for an owner's duplex with a yard and rentals carrying the better share of all costs. On a different block, these places sell in a heartbeart. Corocoran should know, they sold one of our favorite places 175 Greene Avenue, which closed just last fall for $1.192M.

Pro's: cheaper than 472 Carlton, new construction, good layout with real 2BR rentals, general location

Con's: housing projects across the street, doesn't have the renovations of 472 Carlton, Atlantic construction project around the corner, might never fetch the same price points as a true brownstone

Ideally: there's a chance it's a better overall value than 472, and the pro's outweigh the con's for someone.