We were excited to reach out to a local broker in Crown Heights for leads on any properties they might have in Brooklyn. When they pitched us a 2-Family in Bed-Stuy for $1.1M, it was potentially interesting. We felt a little played when we looked up the house and saw it listed on Zillow for $999K, down this month from the initial asking price of $1.3M. But, it's not the broker's fault. Brokers are at the whim of their sellers. And if the seller wants $1.1M, they can hold out for that price. We told them if they have $999K already, they should take it. So they showed us the house. Take a look at 459 Lexington Avenue, 'cause "I got 5 on it". It's a renovated 3-story 2-Family in Bed-Stuy...
All new mechanicals, kitchens, and baths. You get a 3BR/2.5 bath duplex on the bottom with an okay yard, and a 2BR floor through on top.
Washer/dryer hook-ups in the bottom duplex, and a unit already installed on the top floor...
Finished basement is clean and use-able space too...
As a condo alternative, it's makes sense. You get a yard, 2 floors, and a rental. They took advantage of the space with rental-friendly layout and very usable basement. There's some walk-in closets, a few other touches. As generic gut renovations go, 459 Lexington is not quite as stylish as north Fort Greene's 179 Park Avenue, another 3-story 2-Family which listed for $999K and sold for $910K this month. They didn't even put a dishwasher in either kitchen of 459 Lexington Avenue. We put dishwashers in $1,600/month rentals!
Even in this market, you need some real bells & whistles to command $1.1M or higher for a 3-story deep in Bed-Stuy. As we covered this month, end users are coming deep into Bed-Stuy and paying over $900K for small renovated flips and other properties. Including 730 Hancock for $999K, 486 Halsey for $975K, 937 Greene Avenue for $920K, 768 Hancock for $980K, 652 Halsey for $1.07M, 419 Halsey for $935K, and 434A Jefferson Avenue for $999K. A buyer from Chelsea bought 380 Herkimer for $950K and a buyer from the East Village bought bought 946 Greene Avenue for $1.1M. But that was a 4-story. 684 Greene sold for $1.2M, another 4-story.
A 3-story on a block that's not super quaint and isn't super close to the train, we're not seeing $1.1M quite yet. But soon you'll be seeing this house listed with a seasoned big broker aiming to fetch that price or higher. The big brokers' pitch is they'll get you 10% more and charge you 6% to do it, and often they're not wrong. (The buyer's brokers at the big firms, by the way, also tell clients to bid 10% over ask if they want the house, so it's kind of an insular, self-fulfilling prophecy.) We bet the owner the house doesn't go over $1.1M. They raised the stakes and a fist bump serves as the handshake. So, "I got 5 on it", and we're interested to see how it turns out. As always, the market will tell the story.
Pro's: totally renovated 2-Family condo alternative, backyard, washer/dryer for each unit, finished basement, do-able pricepoint for dozens of buyers, chopped into rental-able bedrooms
Con's: run of the mill reno, would've been so simple to install a dishwasher, wants more than asking price, some bedrooms are kind of small, not the most prime location
Ideally: perhaps a big broker can bless the house with a big sale price
Sold for $950K in October 2014
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