Open House Today: 1618 8th Avenue

A gorgeous 3-Family brick building on 8th Avenue in Park Slope wouldn't last long at $1.599M if everyone knew it was for sale and everyone knew what they were selling. That's why Corcoran's "priced to sell" 27 Park Place won't last long, even though one reader tells us it's "a total gu[t]." 1618 8th Avenue has an open house from 1:30pm - 2:15pm today. This is a short window to get in and see a place that could be a great buy for someone. Maybe they're expecting it to be short & sweet. The listing tells us that "with a little TLC" it "can be lovingly transformed into your dream home." And the few pictures of the interior we do get show a nice living room with crown molding...



And a pretty generic, dated kitchen...



Besides how well they market their properties and service their listings, at this price point Corcoran would give you a layout and number of bedrooms at least. Here we're not even told there's 3,000 sqft and not sure why house hunting is sometimes still a guessing game in the million and a half dollar range. To this day, it boggles our mind.

Afterall, this isn't a $1,200 studio rental on Craigslist, people! All the buyers we know who can afford a purchase of this magnitude are savvy, discerning folks and deserve to be treated accordingly. They also have a right to know what they're getting into. So why do they have to call random agents all over town just to squeeze basic info out of them? Is it too much to ask for a listing to do an extremely expensive property justice? 338 Clinton Avenue, we're looking at you. You get more details on a listing for a $20K used Honda Accord on Cars.com! And to think, this agent stands to net at least $20K on the purchase of 1618 8th Avenue alone.

For just a touch less money, we might rather go with the nearby, much larger 502 Prospect Avenue that has an open house tomorrow. But it's a matter of taste there too. Or you could go to Prospect Heights or Clinton Hill for equally gorgeous housing stock and WAY more bang for your buck.

Pro's: location, curb appeal, nice interior at times, open house, not on everyone's radar

Con's: needs TLC, pretty short open house window, maybe not the best in breed, "brother, can you spare a layout?"

Ideally: there's lots out there in this price range, so be selective, but this is the perfect place for someone, in spite of this half-baked listing