Christmas in Prospect Heights: 463 St. Johns Place

Listed two days ago, it's a Christmas Miracle!! Okay, not really. It's more like a little too far and little too pricey and a little too overly-yet-jankily renovated. It's 463 St. Johns Place. The Streeteasy listing even has more info than the broker's site itself.

There's definitely been a renovation here. Some of the highlights include:







The owner picked it up in 2003 for $250K, and might've put the same amount into rehabbing the place. But the kitchen and bathroom remain dated-feeling in their style and don't really match the rest of the house. We wish we'd see this kind of wood, windows, and fireplace in something that wasn't so far away. We don't mean to be scrooge-like about it, but with the 2-Family loan limit sitting squarely at $960K, there's way better places to put 20% down on. That said, you can pick up a fine house if they'll go to $999K. There should be plenty of equity built in with which to do so, but that doesn't always translate to seller capitulation.

Pro's: renovated, backyard, deck over yard, great wood floors & original mantles, close to the train, museum, and Prospect Park

Con's: date-feeling kitchen and bath (even if they're recently renovated), 17' wide, price

Ideally: $999K

Soaring Prices: 345 Sackett Street

Just a few doors down from 341 Sackett, the unfortunate fakey brick place we held a Hater's Ball for some months before a fire half collapsed the joint, comes a solid 3-Family that can hold its head high: 345 Sackett Street.

We're pretty sure we've seen this signage up outside the building and the listing up for a few months, but Property Shark, Zillow, and the nytimes.com/realestate all just got hip to it this month. Streeteasy knows nothing of it, mind you. The group that has the listing, Vespa, specializes in pricey properties in this area, many above $2M. Indeed, the average list price on these blocks is the highest in the borough at $1.54M. And you can't argue with the location. Just in from Smith Street, by the corner where Bar Great Harry is, the walk to any amenity and the F/G trains is super convenient. But does a rising tide actually lift all boats?

345 Sackett was purchased in October 2005 for $1.35M, and would get snatched up at that price today. Even around the neighborhood average of $1.54M, we're not sure you'd see too much resistance. The listing would have us believe, "this is a great opportunity to own a property in the neighborhood for under $2M," which is quite a paradigm shift in price-point.

Let's see what we have. The exterior looks great:



The inside of the one apartment they show looks livable, nothing special, nice mix of orginal details & freshening up. Nothing that 159 Luquer doesn't offer just a few blocks deeper and for much less money:



Don't forget the yard!



So what justifies this going above $1.5M again? Rental income? Funny you should ask. Rents are high over here & we don't see that changing any time soon. But how fast are they rising? The listing on the broker's website claims, "collect over $9000/month in rent, or move into one level and still collect approximately $6000/month from the rents." While the NYTimes listing claims, "Fully rented, the building yields just shy of $10,000/month in income for an investor. Take one apartment and still receive nearly $7000/month from the other units." Sounds like a fish tail to us. Check back tomorrow to see if it's making $11K/month.

Also note, Property Shark lists the building as 19' x 40', while the broker's listing generously has it standing at 19' x 56' (but with the same square footage). "The camera adds ten pounds"??

Pro's: curb appeal, great block, close to trains and amenities in one of the best neighborhoods, high rental income potential, turn-key condition, backyard

Con's: high price, listing inconsistencies, same price point gets much more house than this

Ideally: for this price you get yourself one of the nice 4-Families we've covered, or see if this place has room to move closer to $1.5M

Clinton Hill Neighbors: 105 Greene Avenue

Kind of in that lovable no-man's land between Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, right across the street from Prospect Drugs, comes 105 Greene Avenue.



It looks like the current owner's got it in '05 or 06 for $1.5M-something. They quickly went into Lis Pendens by 2007, which would make them a short-sale candidate at this point. Now listed for sale at $1.65M? Does anyone throw that kind of money around lightly? They could at least show something on the inside for that inflated price. At least 107 Gates from earlier this week could do that. Especially since there's any number of over-priced 2-Family homes out there, such as:476 DeGraw, or the equally-mysterious but way better situated 228 Cumberland, or 61A South Elliot Place.

They're barely even showing us the outside of the place. The picture on the listing shows signage and scaffolding:



However, we were able to uncover some shots of the inside from an expired Corcoran listing - who else, right? Even when they don't have the listing anymore - and it was only a rental listing to begin with - they're still more on top of it than the current listing broker is! That's like doing your job better than your co-workers, long after you've quit.



But Corcoran doesn't quit. Right next door they have 103 Greene Avenue. The good sister. The pretty one. Owners paid $2.1M a few years ago and are probably just looking to move on, even though they may still be over-priced at $2.35M - which can buy a heck of a lot of house in all kinds of neighborhoods these days. The listing is another pro job for sure by the agent and Corcoran's group, but we don't see any rush at this price with what else is out there.




Lots of things are holding 105 back here too, but we'd love to see the whole current inside and find out if there's a price where it's interesting.

Pro's: around the corner from Brooklyn Flea, curb appeal?, "look at the lovely $2M home next door!"?

Con's: 2-Family status in the first place, no pics of the inside, price isn't competetive at all for the 2-Family market

Ideally: the price action moves down agressively and we get some idea of the interior.

Another Good Buy Deep in Carroll Gardens: 152 Luquer Street

Right across the street from 159 Luquer, which we covered a few weeks ago before it quickly went into contract, we noticed the recent sale of 152 Luquer Street. The sale closed for $1.15M at the end of October and was recorded last week.

159 went into contract quickly with a decent interior and a not-too-high price point. We expect the final number to be close to asking price.

152 looks to be an estate sale and we're not sure where or if it was every publicly listed for sale. If it were, we imagine it might've fetched more.



Pro's: neighborhood, curb appeal, relative price point

Con's: a little off the beaten path, boxed in by the BQE edges of Carroll Gardens, condition?

Ideally: there's a few more plays like this at a nice entry point to a good neighborhood.

Another Nice 2-Family: 107 Gates Avenue

In the heart of residential Clinton Hill, at the corner of St. James and Gates Avenue comes 107 Gates. According to Zillow, this place was picked up on 4/20/05 for $1.1M, listed with Corcoran on 9/11/09 for $1.499M after a great renovation, quickly dropped price by $100K, and now listed with Prudential for the same $1.399M. Property Shark has the original list price in 2009 at $1.575M.

While being on a corner is great, the exterior is not what it could be. We appreciate the renovation being clean & shiny, even if it's kind of dinky. We're not sure how much was spent here, but the flip certainly hasn't panned out.





We think the Zillow listing reveals what the problem over here has been all along, "Once lived in as a four unit but now gut renovated to house two units." Two units is obviously not the ideal use for this space. Nobody needs a five-bedroom triplex and one bedroom rental. And who wants to compete against these gorgeous 2-Family's? If they had simply converted this to a 3-Family and done essentially the same renvation, someone could have bought this for $1.3M-$1.4M a long time ago. Instead, this barely competes with 64 Lefferts at this rate. The 3-Family loan limit approaching $1.2M could have kept this sale in the game. This place just shoots itself in the foot. Sure, the backyard is great; but who's gonna pay this much for an owner's triplex, and not even get access to their own backyard??

And the listing doesn't do the house its full justice either. For example, if the place has parking, we'd love it if the agent would come out and describe it. Instead, we get the uselessly playful, "PARKING anyone?" Even poor old 204 Clermont might get sold before this place does.

Pro's: corner lot, decent renovation, great neighborhood-y block, close to the train, backyard

Con's: layout, price, 2-Family status, backyard goes to the 1BR rental?

Ideally: they had converted to a 3-Family in the first place. If you consider how much money they paid, when they bought, and what they'll get now, it's just shame so much money was put in without adding that much value.

Huge 4-Family Relisted in Outer Clinton Hill: 347 Greene Avenue

We first noticed this listing last fall when it was going for $1.495M (with Brown Harris Stevens, according to Street Easy). Now 347 Greene Avenue has been relisted for about a month at $1.64M. This huge, 25' wide 4-Family brick building is 65' deep providing a huge floorplate that can fit 4BR's and 1.5 bathrooms. The layout and photos from the previous listing indicate this is fitting that much per floor is very do-able:



(photos to small to include)

The old listing says the rentals were getting a very believable $2,700/each, which puts the gross rental income for this place above $10,000/month. That would justify its original list price, but not this one. The location is pushing it a bit too. The block is a little odd. There are Pratt student rentals for sure, but the trains and amenities aren't all that. The little garden next door is a nice touch. The construction project on the other side is probably finished. Who can argue with 8,000+ sqft?

If 312 Greene could ever consider $1.5M, this place certainly might fetch close to that.


Pro's: huge size, 4BR rentals, more than 1 bath per apartment, rental income potential

Con's: off the beaten path, what's with the price jump?, what's going on on that block?

Ideally: there's something to justify this price leap, but we're not seeing it.

In Contract SRO: 280 Park Place

On one of our favorite tree-lined blocks in Prospect Heights comes 280 Park Place. When you're right next to Prospect Park, around the corner from the ever-more-awesome Vanderbilt Avenue, and on one of the most stately blocks around - that's gold, Jerry!



The bottom two floors are a huge 20' x 72'. The SRO status is what's killing the price here, because the condition looks great with lots of original wood details:



There's been lots of activity on this block recently in this price range, including right next door. 282 Park Place closed for $1.8M on 4/28/10. But don't even get us started on that lovely estate sale that just closed on the other side of Vanderbilt. We never even saw it hit the market, but 209 Prospect Place closed for $1M on 9/2/10. According to Zillow, this listing for 280 Park Place was removed in the spring of 2010 after first hitting the market on 8/25/2009. And it's still sitting in contract?

We're not sure if a condo conversion is the best play, as the listing indicates. And whether or not they can provide a Certificate of Non-Harassment is huge too. Throw some Norah Jones windows on the unattached side, and you're in business!

Pro's: delivered vacant, size, proximity to park, trains, and amenities, great block, condition looks great compared to most SRO's

Con's: curb appeal compared to rest of block, priced like a non-SRO, time and money needed to change SRO status

Ideally: can't wait to see what it closes for. Could be a great buy if played right, but too rich for our blood.