Prime Park Slope Brownstone: 135 St. Johns Place

When we showed you a seemingly-underpriced $1.35M listing in Prospect Heights, it looked like there might be a catch. When a closer look revealed "$40K tops" in renovation would be all it took remedy all problems, it was no surprise to see the thing go into contract within weeks.

Now for a look at another seemingly-underpriced $1.3M listing in prime Park Slope, 135 St. Johns Place. What's a 4-Family on a beautiful brownstone block between 6th & 7th Avenues doing for $1.3M? What's the catch?

Barney Rubble went into contract for $1.3M pretty quickly and that place needed plenty of updating.

Corcoran usually shows interior pictures, and you'd expect if they were only gonna show the exterior that they could do a better job than Google Maps Street View:



This is a gorgeous block, there's gotta be a catch, right? It's got us wondering, "Where's the beef?"



Oh yeah, it's an SRO. We've seen how SRO status can be a huge deal breaker up & down Brooklyn. Especially with the listing declaring the property "currently, is partially occupied", that can be a huge road block beyond just SRO status. The listing also acknowledges, "The house is being sold as is, and will require an all cash purchaser." Some other houses on similar lockdown, in much less preferable locations, are trying to fetch $1.2M. 135 St. Johns Place stacks up favorably to that. But, if you're not married to Park Slope proper, 544 Pacific is a better play for a pure investor, just across 4th Avenue, but still well-situated. We can see something happening around this price if the obstacles are surmountable.

Pro's: location, curb appeal, great block, priced where many shells sell for quickly in this area

Con's: partially occupied, renovation needed, need more clarity on tenancy and condition, takes an all-cash buyer

Ideally: tread cautiously unless you have the funds and really know what you're doing, but there's a couple scenarios where this is a great buy. Might not last long.