Clinton Hill Mixed-Use: 469 Myrtle Avenue

Much like Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights, Myrtle Avenue in Clinton Hill is a bustling avenue with existing businesses and new ones coming in all the time. Lots of sales activity has been going on too - at some reasonable prices. 469 Myrtle Avenue is another mixed use play, just off of Washington Avenue listed for $1M. It's around the corner from residential buildings in a similar price range like 204 Washington and 193 Washington. Buildings a few blocks away on this same avenue have sold from $850K to $1.2M to $1.6M depending on size, condition, rental income, and seller's circumstances.

This one looks pretty good at first, but it's hard to get a full read on. Massey usually does a really thorough job, so it's a little odd to see only the Property Shark picture and no rental income. Property Shark lists the building as 20' x 35' with 2,100 sqft on an 80' lot. The listing itself has the building standing at 20' x 80' with 3,000 sqft. Doesn't quite add up at first glance. Then there's 4 apartments, but 3 stories. The listing explains, "The commercial tenant only occupies 700 SF of the ground floor, which measures a total of 1,600 SF." We're also told the property "can accommodate an additional 2,520 SF of development rights" - which is a huge plus.

Although we're not given any picture of the rental income, we are told the apartments are free market and month-to-month, which offers lots of flexibility to a potential buyer. Similarly, the commercial tenant's lease end in August 2011, given flexibility to resign the tenant or find a new one. The building would take a commercial loan, but as that market goes, this looks like an opportunity with lots of potential. And people have certainly put $300K down on worse. Also, compare to similar plays in Prospect Heights. See what condition the apartments are in, what rents they're getting now, and take it from there...

Pro's: curb appeal, reasonable price, rental income potential, bustling avenue

Con's: commercial loan needed, some lack of clarity on building dimensions & condition & rents, noisy avenue to live on

Ideally: if the building's even remotely turnkey, this is the price. Even if it needs lots of work, the price isn't far from here. Probably won't last long.