Thursday, January 10, 2013

Closings of Note: Year End Push Continues


Sure, 2012 might be long gone, but the closings are still pouring in.  We've told ya for the longest that comps are a lagging indicator.  Some homes take as long as a year to close, for various reasons.  And the sales aren't usually recorded publicly until some weeks after that.  So if you're hitching yourself to those numbers negotiated months & months ago, you're gonna be behind the curve.  Crown Heights takes the cake again this week with killer closings that are some of the best values in town.  This corner house with sick interior details at 120 Brooklyn Avenue is no exception.  A straight-up mansion for the price of a Park Slope condo?  On Platinum Member radar for months, this house joins many other mansions we've been screaming about in this neighb' for well over a year now.  Grainy pics aside, this thing is a winner.  Just peek inside:




The house is a monster 42' x 40' on a lot with a little extra space for greenery.  "Who would pay $1.2M for this?" you might ask.  Why, none other than somebody who's already moving their 17' wide 3 story brick house in Prospect Heights for closer to $2M.  If that doesn't show ya where the market's heading, we don't know what does.  $1.2M may sound high for Crown Heights to the untrained ear now, but this buyer copped the best house on the block forever.  While people are losing their minds over what passes for $1.1M - $1.3M these days in Bed-Stuy, a unique piece like this is another Crown Heights crown jewel.  This is Crown Heights' pre-renovated answer to what passes for $2.2M in borderline Bed-Stuy.   Just like another under-marketed gem in Crown Heights at 871 St. Marks Avenue, this sale is another shot across the bow that it's okay to drop $1.2M on a mansion in what some still think of as the hood.  It's a pretty good bet that the next round of houses that want $1.2M won't be nearly this sweet.  Can you imagine what Corcoran could've gotten for this house if they gave it a proper listing and the 261 Hancock treatment?  Stick with BK to the Fullest and we'll get you into another underground turnkey beauty on this block that's still well south of $1M.



For a killer rental income investment in this same stretch, look no further than 60 New York Avenue, a ginormous 30' x 70' limestone 8-Family that just sold in an estate sale for the great price of $925K.  Platinum Members are scoping an 8-Family estate sale this size in prime Park Slope at an equally choice price.




For this same kind of money, maybe you'd prefer a condo in Fort Greene.  Get ready for the new pricepoints at the Toren.  Unit #3606 just sold for $1.18M.




One broker tried to tell us that, adjusted for inflation, NYC real estate prices are stagnant over the past 120 years.  Hmm.  Well, if you needed anymore of a glimpse into what prices have done in our lifetimes since the lulls of the post-crash dip in 2008-2010, check 49 Douglass Street, which we covered back in 2010 when it sold for $1.5M with less than $400K down.  This 25' wide Boerum Hill 4-Family just sold last month for $2.925M.  Not a bad return on your investment in just a few years.





And don't think for a second that 49 Douglass Street pushing $3M is some BoCoCa pricing outlier.  Skip on over to 380 Degraw Street, which Brownstoner asked, "What do you think of it for $3,475,000?"  The answer?  While commenters hemmed and hawed from the sidelines, it sold for asking price last month.  Like Jay-Z says, "We can talk, but money talk, so talk mo' bucks."  Don't look now, but even the 20' x 38' 232 Baltic Street over here just sold for $2.8M as an estate sale too.




If you want a WAY better deal, hop on over to Bed-Stuy.  Just like Crown Heights, this "emerging neighborhood" has trains and brownstones like the most coveted neighborhoods, but some lagging commercial for some people's taste.  Also, for some, there's the "aura of danger" as one out-gentrified man wrote about Fort Greene for the NY Times in 2009, that - once it leaves - the neighborhood's "many charms can no longer be hidden".  258 Jefferson Avenue sat at $1.1M for a while, back & forth'd, then it closed last month for $999K, just under the number where the "mansion tax" kicks in.  This is a good look at the quintessential 4-Family.  There are a few buys just as good as this still dangling in the wind now for those with the funds, the vision, and the guts to take 'em down.




Crown Heights has another townhouse deal at condo prices?  Say it ain't so.  1114 Prospect Place - even as a 16' wide 3-story that's pretty far east - is another deal for the area.  Even sailing a bit above its asking price, this is a good look.  An extra-deep yard with a renovation, it closed at the end of November 2012 for $714K.  Platinum Members are picking up a 4-story in an even better Crown Heights location for this same price.  If that search for a turnkey house under $700K west of Bedford has proven a little tough for ya, this should be more evidence of why. 





And, finally, from "the sky is falling" report, this 3-story 2-Family by the highway in Bay Ridge at 805 73rd Street closed in an estate sale last month for $740K.  Part of the reason why a 2-Family in prime brownstone Brooklyn is - and will only become increasingly - hard(er) to find.  Don't say we didn't warn ya!


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