Finally In Contract in Bed-Stuy: 271 Decatur Street

We told you last time around that the next-best deals in the "emerging neighborhoods" of Brooklyn are going down while some people are walking around with mischaracterizing questions like, "Who would pay a million to live in a crime zone?"  The REAL question is, who wouldn't want a great fixer-upper just over a million, on the same block as a house in contract closer to $2M?  A million dollars isn't some magical barrier, the point is that prices in any market are all relative.  271 Decatur Street on a killer block in Stuyvesant Heights couldn't get $975K or even $925K back in mid-to-late 2010.  Oh hey, and the Dow was in the 9,500's back then too.  Nowadays the Dow's breaking records above 15,000, but has housing moved up 50% also?  Nah, actually just 24% in this case.  Here's a 3 year chart to illustrate the journey of the Dow vs. 271 Decatur since 2010:

But what's the Dow got to do with it?  Pricing's all relative.  And the top-notch product in Bed-Stuy commands as much as $1.8M cash on the open market today.  With a latest asking price of $1.15M, we told Platinum Members is was time to play ball on 271 Decatur Street as soon as we saw the offers coming in well above $1.5M for the house across the street.  There are updates to be made, and some repairable damages to the building, but the inside has a lot of the same stuff everyone's looking for.  Here's a nice room with the stained-glass on the arched windows that give the facade such character...

 

And there are more original details throughout...

Even dim, haphazard interior pics are worthwhile here, and give you a sense of what we're workin' with.

People want Bed-Stuy to look like "Boerum Hills", but guess what?  By the time that happens, you think anyone will still want these prices?  Sellers will ostensibly want more.  Just see how easily the prices in Boerum Hill have cruised above $2M recently, and how even the most encumbered pieces now command prices once thought of as absurd.  Luckily, Bed-Stuy's got even more streets than Boerum Hill with even better houses.  Remember "the good ol' days" - 9 months ago - when $1.29M seemed like a high watermark in Bed-Stuy??


Pro's:  curb appeal, original details, relative value, 4-stories with a yard around the corner from an A express train

Con's:  tricky deal to pin down, lots of updates to be made, gone already

Ideally: when new price records are being set in upcoming neighborhoods, even homes that were once a pass can become the next-best relative buys.