Diary of a Wimpy Bid: 610 Eastern Parkway

If you were more than a day late and a hundred thousand dollars short for an easy-to-find Corcoran listing like 10 St. Charles Place in the spring, and the same thing happened to ya on 355 Eastern Parkway in the summer (listed with the same broker), what makes you think the third time will be a charm?  You may presume it's time to put your cape on and Captain Save-A-Home, but it should be no surprise that 660 St. Marks Avenue is signing their contract in a few days.

Same goes for another Crown Heights gem we've been bullish on for months.  Some people thought it was time to do them a favor with a $900K bid, when these sellers are also about to sign their contract (with multiple back-up offers) in a few days.  610 Eastern Parkway is another 3-Family winner in Crown Heights, for all those who still want a townhouse at condo prices.  Hate on the generic interior and paved backyard if you must, but this is a great look at the value ~$1M still gets you, especially compared to a condo in Park Slope.

We've been loving these houses as alternatives to Park Slope for months, like this home's cousin 676 Eastern Parkway.  Yet people who live just a few blocks from here swear they're doing these homes a favor by gracing them with their presence and their below-ask offers.  People got that Dowager Countess swag - hating on everything, but too broke to even afford the house & lifestyle they insist is the only one worth living to them.

Meanwhile, a Corcoran broker reports yesterday that the open house in Clinton Hill on Sunday had 375 people.  "When's it going to stop?", he asked us.  Perhaps when the 374 other people who don't get that house finally find their houses, it might slow down a little bit.  Until then, it's just a supply & demand story, as it's always been.  And for any one buyer to think they're not one of hundreds is just silly.

While people scoff at 1148 Sterling Place as too grimey and too far east, it's in contract with a cash offer.

While people call 1329 Pacific Street over-priced and hate on the SRO status & all the work it'll need, there's a bidding war with cash offers.

Sleep on Crown Heights (and any "emerging neighborhood" for that matter) at your own peril.  Opportunities still abound, and Corcoran.com and Elliman.com aren't the only places to find them.  But if you do find one listed with those guys, please don't be surprised when you're not the only one.


Pro's:  curb appeal, value, in an historic row of homes, move-in condition, set back from Eastern Parkway

Con's:  gone already, no secret, interior is too generic for many, backyard is paved, not everyone likes to be on Eastern Parkway

Ideally:  pick this place up and make affordable upgrades as you go along.  Try not to faint when these are fetching $1.5M by next year, if only because that kind of money has nowhere else to go.