SRO Dealbreaker: 268 Dean Street

Across the street from a school in a "no man's land" stretch of Dean Street that isn't quite Boerum Hill, Park Slope, or Gowanus comes the re-listed 268 Dean Street. This 4-story, 3,600 sqft brownstone is a great size and a decent location, but the SRO factor is the dealbreaker. We've documented before some of the pains of the SRO, and this one's got 'em all. 268 Dean Street has a C of O from 1954 talking about 3 rooms on each floor. The listing says the house comes without a Certificate of Non-Harrassment and with tenants. The interior needs work to even be nice, the SRO takes lots of time and money to remedy to any other status, and that's IF the tenants are co-operative. We don't imagine the tenants are in any hurry to leave with the yearly rent roll at just $44K.

By the time you throw in how impossible these SRO's are to finance, at $899K you've got something that's barely feasible or desirable to even the most wealthy buyers. More earthly buyers might not even be able to handle it at half the price. Case in point, the current owner bought in 2003 for $450K and took out some additional loans in the coming years which led to a Lis Pendens in September 2010 for $360K. Even before the Lis Pendens, they'd listed for $995K in December 2009. After the Lis Pendens, the house was shortly-relisted in November 2010 for $895K. Even with the turn in the market since the original listing, we don't see who'd be in any hurry to swoop up something with so many uncertainties. Especially with all the other similar & superior deals out there for those who could even consider affording this.

Pro's: large, decent location, techinically a low pricepoint for the neighborhood

Con's: SRO, no Certificate of Non-Harrassment, impossible to finance, needs repairs, delivered "As-Is" with tenants

Ideally: even as SRO's go, this isn't very appealing