Another Tree Falls in the Forest: 986 Park Place

Another great buy in Crown Heights for under $700K? Not on StreetEasy or NYTimes or Corcoran.com? Another tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it? 986 Park Place was a screaming buy for a long time, even if it started & failed to fetch its price in 2008. We've all seen what wash-ups from 2008 finally managed to deserve their price when the market caught up to them. With a list price around $700K, a rear extension on 2 floors, and all leases expired, this thing was ripe for a reposition. Par for the course, it was listed virtually nowhere, had no interior pics or true set-up, and was pulling teeth to get a response from the agent. No wonder it just sold last month for only $600K.

When people hear about barrel-front brownstones that owners picked up in Park Slope in the 90's (the 1990's, folks, not the 1890's), there's shock & awe. $600K got you an amazing house in the Slope back then. "Who could possibly be selling those things for those prices?", they wonder. Well, where were you in the 90's when those were the prices? Spare us the woulda/coulda/didn't... we'll cover the "Time Machine Effect" tomorrow.

This article claims that "economists are baffled" by the inefficiency of the real estate market in the United States and how realtors are responsible for an estimated $8 billion a year in "social waste". And that's before we even get to Brooklyn (and all of NYC for that matter) where pricepoints are many times higher than they are in the rest of the country. Supposedly transactions happen all the time in Britain for 2-3% commission, but here in Brooklyn you can't get a realtor off their bum half the time, or to even take a decent picture, for a 6% commission. Let alone how fractured it is with all the various places you have to visit to even try and find half the listings. One day (and we're working on it), we'll figure this all out, and sit back and laugh about the old days... but until then, there's always BK to the Fullest!

Pro's: curb appeal, size, leases expired, undercover listings have great opportunity

Con's: gone already, little info, most won't realize this was a good buy until 3-4 years from now

Ideally: buy, reposition, rinse & repeat