4-Family in Cobble Hill: 348 Baltic Street

We'd love to snag a nice 4-Family in Cobble Hill - who wouldn't? That's why 82 Butler Street was such a good pick-up and went so quickly above asking price. Especially now that the just-plain-silly prices have popped back on the scene, if a frame house like 193 Washington can mark itself up an extra $450K, why can't the pricest neighborhood in Brooklyn give it a try? 348 Baltic Street is a tall, skinny 4-Family in the heart of things in Cobble Hill. In this market, we know where their pricing is coming from. While the property is totally turnkey "and boasts new stairs, updated electrical, dishwasers [sic] and granite counters", nothing in the pictures really wows us either for this price range:





Sure, over here people pay up for the school district, the avenues, the F train, at almost more of a premium now than in Park Slope. At $822/sqft, though, we'd dare say you're better off with a great condo. While not as embarrassingly bad as 137 Adelphi, $1.975M seems a little steep for 16' wide and nothing special on the inside - even in Cobble Hill. While some readers lamented to us yesterday that their $2,400/month 1BR rental in this area might be headed towards $2,900/month - we're still not sure that's grounds to overpay here. Especially if $1.975M could get you something better. Lots of better places come to mind. Contact us for more details...

Pro's: 4-Family, turnkey, great location, backyard space, "private terraces" on 2nd & 3rd floors

Con's: 16' wide, price, inflated premium for the location, layout is probably only 1BR rentals, doesn't "wow" us on the inside

Ideally: get MUCH more for your money somewhere else.

Prices on the Rise, Again: 193 Washington Avenue

If this frame house looks familiar to any of our regular readers, that's because it is. We covered 193 Washington Avenue way back in September 2010 after they accepted our offer of $975K last summer, and later demanded $999K. The market has turned since then, to be sure, but has it turned to the point where it makes sense to re-list this badboy for $1.3M on 6/24/11 and rise THAT price to $1.45M this week?

What do you think?

Is Washington the New Vanderbilt?: 704 Washington Avenue.

You know we love Prospect Heights. And last month we took a look at all kinds of mixed-use activity on the main commercial drag over there, Vanderbilt Avenue. Two avenues away another commercial stretch is budding, Washington Avenue. Readers of ours just rented a railroad 1BR apt renovated with decent finishes for $1,800/month on this stretch of Washington. A handful of standard 20' x 40' commercial spaces are listed over here for $4,000/month or more. These sound like Vanderbilt prices. Accordingly, Corcoran has come out with 704 Washington Avenue for $1.365M. This 16' x 66' mixed-use building has a storefront on the first floor and two apartments above that. The storefront appears to be vacant when we walked by, even though the listing adds, "Commercial storefront is currently set up as a coffee bar." They're obviously flossing the new stadium as a selling point too. To hear the market tell it, you might assume you could get $1,800 for each apartment and $4,000 for the commercial space, for a decent monthly gross. But if places in much better locations like 637a Vanderbilt or this one between Vanderbilt and Flatbush can't get over $1.35M yet, who's going to spend it all the way on Washington down the hill?

Interestingly, two other listings for the same property can be found for $1.3M here and here. Perhaps Corcoran doesn't have the exlusive listing.

From what we can tell, the owner is sitting on all equity. So if they are at all motivated, perhaps there's room to make a deal at a more reasonable number.

Pro's: budding commercial area, pretty raw canvas, curb appeal

Con's: narrow at 16' wide, no sense of tenant situation or interior condition/layout, down the hill from the train, Washington Ave at Vanderbilt prices

Ideally: not sure if the area needs another coffee shop, or if this is the price for this avenue yet. We'd make at stab closer to $999K.

4-Family in the Slope: 268 9th Street

We continue to be astonished at the fractured, bootleg state of Brooklyn real estate. An article featured in the New York Times real estate section 2 weeks ago chronicles the shift many brokerage firms are making towards sharing their listings. Is this honestly a novel approach to anyone? In the Information Age, we search & compare prices for everything from pizzas to airlines tickets to iPods, but nobody can be bothered to supply their clients with $1,000,000+ to spend that same luxury to find their house? Is it really because they simply don't want to co-broke? What good is an exclusive listing if it's underground and nobody can see it, so it never sells?

50% of something is something. Last time we checked, 100% of $0 is zero.

Prudential doesn't appear to be on board with showing other brokers' listings yet, but at least they get the word out pretty well about their own listings. They caught our attention with this totally turnkey 4-Family in Park Slope. 268 9th Street is an 18' x 35' brick townhouse right next to all the trains on 4th Avenue and 9th Street. The inside looks great and the price just came down from $1.676M to $1.598M:





The house is on a pretty busy block with 2-way traffic, very close to 4th Avenue, and the funeral home directly across the street. Nice homes, however, trade at a high premium over here, so the price isn't that far off. Buyers in this price range, though, are usually looking for more than just a 1BR for themselves, and usually lean towards 2-Family properties with the double duplex set-up. On the other hand, 1BR's do get lots of rent over here - and in this market nothing would surprise us.

Pro's: turnkey, good rental income, backyard space, close to lots of trains, close to 5th Avenue amenities, rental income potential is high

Con's: small, just 1BR for the owners unless you combine or convert, not the most residential-feeling block

Ideally: worth a look-see for people in this price range who want turnkey in the Slope

Quickly In Contract: 238 Bergen Street

We go on vacation for 3 weeks, and it only takes this place 3 weeks to go into contract. 238 Bergen Street is a healthy 20' x 50' 2-Family brick building "in the Greek Revival style" that went in a flash. We're kind of surprised since - while Bergen is a great street - being between Nevins and 3rd Avenue is kind of "no man's land". We saw this with the SRO 268 Dean Street. However, this 2-Family on Bergen is no SRO, delivered vacant, and only in need of modest updating. That said, we know this market's turned - but Jeez!! 238 Bergen isn't anything special on the inside either. Looks like laminate flooring, so-so finishes, and just a lot of white paint:



And if you're paying for just nice big bones, wouldn't you want a better location? For the same money we would much rather have gone with 491 4th Street or even 432 Clinton Street. This BoCoCa area sure commands some top dollar, somtimes even if it's only shell. At this rate, you'd think 82 Dean would have sold by now. Nobody brings 'em out like Corcoran, though.

Pro's: curb appeal, huge, original details, yard (even though it's paved), entry into overall high-end market, buildable FAR

Con's: in need of modest renovation, ain't cheap, far from the train & amenities, went really quickly

Ideally: is $1.6M is the new $1.2M?

Carroll Gardens Best of Breed Back on the Market: 473 Union Street

Look past the pebbly exterior, the tiny size, and the Gowanus-y location... because this is hands-down the best condo alternative on these blocks.

473 Union Street has been relisted for $799K!

We first covered it back in September 2010, but then it disappeared.

In terms of comparative quality, this shouldn't last long. In terms of marketing, probably nobody knows it's out there. So go snatch it up!!

Recent Closings Of Interest: Bullish

A few pretty hefty sales of nice places just came in:



287 DeKalb Avenue, our all-time most viewed post, started at $2.25M last August, came down to $1.995M in February, and just closed for $1.8M.



116 Willoughby Avenue, a fancy 2-Family, closed just $10K under list price at $1.585M.



121 Vanderbilt, another quality 2-Family, listed for $1.499M and just closed for $1.425M.



491 4th Street, a Park Slope shell for sale by owner, closed for $1.6M after wiggling around that price.

The market's really turned...