Open House at Our House This Sunday: 1134 Bergen Street

This Sunday there's an open house at one of our fave houses in Crown Heights, our house at 1134 Bergen Street.  This 3-Family with original details throughout and modern upgrades seems priced right to us given that total fixer-upper dogs off of Nostrand are fetching $1.5M-$1.685M effortlessly in and out of peak buying season.  Afterall, who wouldn't love this row of limestones?

But don't take our word for it.  Set up as an owner's duplex with 3BR's and 2 baths & huge south-facing back yard on the 127' lot, along with 2 floor thru's on top, this house is a crown jewel for all kinds of buyers.  The market understands nice product best when you put that Corcoran shine on it, and the pictures turned out great.  Banana yellow hallways and old linoleum covering the original oak treads and risers had to go, because this...

..is a great a improvement over this...

While not even optimized to its full potential yet, the kitchen in the owner's duplex has always been a fan favorite...

And creative tenants nailed it in the kitchen with this sweet breakfast nook!

The bedroom on the garden level has original oak flooring, a pocket door, a mantle in perfect condition, and original built-in mirrors and cabinets...

Since that ground floor ostensibly gets less light than the parlor and upper floors, the builders wisely went with a lighter wood on that floor and darker wood up top.  But it was all the same to Django...

There's also a washer/dryer on that floor, and jacuzzi tub and a shower built into the bathroom on an extension on that floor...

The extra-deep backyard actually doesn't show as well in the Corcoran pics as it does in person...

But just peak across at the neighbor's homemade trellis and landscaping to see what a magical mystery garden can be housed on these dimensions.  Django even tolerated it in the snow...

The reading room upstairs on the parlor features original parquet flooring, and turned out great in pics...

We built a wall to separate the front of the parlor and the reading room to make another bedroom.  So while we lost that grand effect of looking through the woodwork 20'-45' through to the front of the house, we also gained an extra bedroom that garners great rent.  Made sense to us because removing the wall if needed is as easy and damage-free as building it in a day was.

 

The renovated en suite bathroom on the parlor floor came out great too.  Simple, but a huge improvement over what was there before...

The rentals upstairs have newer floors, original details, and some strategic bath & kitchen upgrades.  Grossing $8,200/month as-is, close to the A/C and 3 trains at Nostrand.  Bike line on the block and at Dean Street.  Near Franklin Ave and Berg'n and every other coveted brownstone Brooklyn neighborhood.  This limestone hits the sweet spot.  One sip of the "Bergen Motel" cocktail at newly-opened King Tai on this very block and you'll get a sense of what direction folks feel this neighhorhood is heading in.

Pro's:  curb appeal, totally turnkey, original details in amazing condition, updates abound, great rental income from great tenants, extra-deep backyard, easy train & bus access for commuters to the city or other parts of BK, can be spruced up even further very affordably with the right touch, compares nicely to fixer-uppers trading for not much less than this, brand new hot water heater last year and mechanicals updated in this decade

Con's:  not as stunning block as Dean on this column, Nostrand isn't as hip as Franklin just yet, "18' not 20' wide" they'll groan, may feel a little chopped up to boudgie end-users the way we've configured it

Ideally:  a killer building with an open house this weekend makes it easy to see if it'll be "limestone love at first sight" for you like it was for us