Open House Yesterday: 536 Court Street

Okay, okay... so the open house was yesterday. We're a day late (and a few hundred thousand dollars short). Would've liked to give you more of a heads up, but who has open houses on a Tuesday anyways? No biggie. Today's post is all about quality over quantity, and getting what you pay for. 536 Court Street is a stellar modern renovation on the bottom edge of Carroll Gardens. As usual with Corcoran's pricey listings, we can let the bright & shiny pictures do most of the talking:





We're loving the deck, the garden, the interior staircase, and the marble around the fireplace. From the A/C to the radiant heat floors to the sound system, someone definitely played "Pimp My Ride" with this house.

The new translucent glass front is an interesting way to jazz-up the old store front:



It makes over-priced places like this in the Slope oughtta be ashamed of themselves. And don't even get me started on the embarrasingly-mispriced 137 Adelphi again. The pricey 2-Family game is a well-documented market on our pages, and this one stands head and shoulders above many. A 2-Family above $1.5M isn't our kind of play, personally, but if you're in that market, you've gotta go for best of breed. And it's nice to get a finished product in this neighborhood for this price range compared to, say, 297 Court Street or 432 Clinton Street.

Granted, this edge of the neighborhood is also funky. You're as close to the lovable Prime Meats and Frankie's 457 as you are to the detestable BQE overpass. Surrounded by grimey areas on many sides may not appeal to the average buyer in this category of house. It can be a pretty industrial, Gowanus-y walk to the Smith-9th Street stop. And 2 or 3 blocks in any direction but north and - Dorothy, we ain't in Carroll Gardens anymore...

Pro's: totally turnkey & modern renovation, back yard & deck, close to the train, neighborhood to the north has lots to offer

Con's: being right on Court street is noisy and hectic, only 3BR's, only 2,500 sqft, at the very end of Carroll Gardens

Ideally: if you fall in love with this house, there's some room on pricing. However, if you've got this kind of dough, there's also plenty more out there to love.