Prospect Heights Value Quickly In Contract: 474 Dean Street

Some buyers think they've outsmarted the market when they say, "Don't send me Corcoran listings."  But Corcoran's just as much a part of the market as anyone, and just because they actually market their properties properly doesn't mean that there aren't great Cocoran deals.  Savvy buyers don't care who has the listing; they want the best house for the best price.  When 474 Dean Street hit the market in Prospect Heights under $1.5M, we were pleasantly surprised by what we saw...

The house is totally turnkey with super stylish renovations that sure clean up nice in pictures, new mechanicals... Oh, and did we mention a yard?

All this for a cheaper price than 678 Dean Street.  Is there a catch?  Sure, if you think Barclays across the street is a deal breaker.  But lots of people are about to be living across the street from Barclays...

Many Atlantic Yards neighbors have been pleasantly surprised by its day to day impact on the streets so far, and most have taken a "can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach.  The New York Times already tried to assess the scene, but we saw 474 Dean Street as a plus.  Even on a concert night at Barclays, it's not even noisy inside the house.  And that's before anyone bothers with double or triple pane windows.  The listing agents also touted the "land-banking" play on the house as another angle with value, which we agree with.  Whether they got the right buildable square footage or not, this house is worth over asking price as it sits now, and the land-banking is just bonus.  If we were getting paid tens of thousands on a listing like this and marketing it to families, we'd make sure we knew what school district our listing's in, but houses this choice pretty much sell themselves, so we can't expect too-too much from the listing agents.  No harm, no foul.


Pro's:  totally turnkey, super stylish, great pricepoint, prime location, backyard

Con's:  gone already, busy location, tough to pin down the precise land-banking value

Ideally:  if you want a condo alternative with a yard, it doesn't get much better than this