Sticker Shock: 338 Clinton Avenue

We love Clinton Hill for all kinds of reasons - the incredible native architecture, the bubbling up of new businesses, the Pratt influence, the value over all kinds of other neighborhoods, Brooklyn Flea, not getting mowed down by strollers yet the hipster-y vibe is so much tamer than the likes of Billyburg. With the bargains still left to be had around $1M, it's almost like Park Slope housing quality at Bed-Stuy prices. But it's not all milk & honey either. Lots of places with nice interiors want price points you might see in Carroll Gardens & Park Slope, like 59 Cambridge. And for many buyers they probably should go to those places if they have that cash, unless something's really calling your name or you know what superior value proposition you're getting into. What, then, is a brand-new listing in Clinton Hill doing at $2M with no pictures and no rent roll?

338 Clinton Avenue is a 2-Family used as a 5-Family, while Property Shark will tell you it's a 4-Family. The listing has it at 23' x 50' with 5,500 sqft, while Property Shark has it as 21' x 50' with 4,442. These aren't the most puzzling discrepancies, granted. However, after you've untangled that knot, you at least wanna see what your $2M is getting, right? Wrong. There are no pictures and no rent roll to be found. Not even the rose colored glasses pro forma rent roll Massey Knakal is often known to wish upon a star with on their set-ups. To be fair, the place looks great from the outside, not many properties this big on this great a block come to market that often. But even this half-baked listing for 473 Clinton Avenue is a better stab at fetching $2M and up than 338 Clinton is. 338 Clinton is a giant among men, with not much reason to back it up.



Pro's: size, curb appeal, great landmarked block

Con's: no pictures, no rent roll, high price, 2-Fam used as a 5

Ideally: they've got some explaining to do, but this may not be a bad play at all after a haircut. We'd put in you in 5 places better than this in Park Slope for this price or less before you should even nibble at this though.

Closings of Note: Park Slope & Friends

290 8th Street, a nice 2-Family with a garden atrium in prime Park Slope closed on 9/26/2011 for $1.445M. This was just a touch lower than its latest asking price of $1.475M after orginally listing in May 2011 for $1.575M and then dropping in June.



158 Garfield Place sold for $1.62M on 9/21/11. This Park Slope 8-Family has a great exterior and some pretty killer income. Marcus & Millichap keep their listings pretty under-cover for the most-part, though. Even still, they were proud to announce:

"The appetite for well located, rent stabilized multifamily assets in Park Slope is insatiable... In a matter of 30 days, we generated 30 offers in writing and were able to negotiate a completely non contingent contract $95,000 above our asking price. This is the most competitive we’ve seen buyers in over two years.”



1080 Dean Street listed for $695K in April 2011. This 4-Family brownstone on a pretty block in Crown Heights, just over from Prospect Heights, closed above asking price for $770K on 9/22/2011.



36 Cambridge Place, a 3-Family frame house used as a 2, with incredible interior details closed for $1.715M on 9/21/2011 after listing for $1.725M in May.

Quickly In Contract: 364 Union Street

It's not everyday we cover a property as high as $2.5M, but it's also not everyday you see a great-looking, turnkey place with decent income and lots of upside potential for $333/sqft in Carroll Gardens. 364 Union Street hit the market in August, was barely marketed from what we can tell, and quickly went into contract with multiple back-up offers in about a month. It's not everyday you can get a gorgeous brick building that's almost 7,500 sqft in this prime of an area. In a neighborhood where decent end-user 2-4 Family properties can command $2.5M and up, and where 3BR apartments can rent for much more than the average rent here of $2,750/month, and the median condo price is $700/sqft, and nice condos can command much more than that, this place has huge potential as a buy & hold or a condo conversion. It's no surprise it didn't last long and that so many people put in back-ups. The cell phone tower on top may actually bring in additional income.

The space inside looks totally turnkey, and nothing special either...





But the HUGE 22' x 67' floorplate gives anybody who knows what they're doing lots to work with. We think without even lifting a finger, there's plenty of upside in these rents anyways.

Pro's: location, curb appeal, size, 3BR's plus den on each apt, rental income potential, rental upside, condo conversion candidate

Con's: lots of money needed to acquire, went quickly, cell phone tower on top might give some the willies

Ideally: this was on our radar early for Platinum Members. The best properties go fast, gotta be ready to strike.

Wouldn't Be the Worst: 27 Park Place

27 Park Place wouldn't be the worst thing you could get in Park Slope for $1.399M. As we saw on 238 Bergen Street, $1.6M is the new $1.2M (or even $1.75M) in the nicer parts of town - and sometimes even in no man's land. 27 Park Place is on a nice block, only 16' wide, only a 2-Family, but we have to agree with the listing that it "is priced to sell." If you have money for more, you should get more, but this is about the best value you're going to see in the Slope for this price. Especially with things like Fred Flintstone's place quickly going into contract for $1.3M.

You're not going to see 3,000+ sqft of better-than-salvageable, unencumbered, nice brick in this nice of a location that often for this price. You may or may not like how they opened up the floor plan pretty severe, and we mean they took out the floor...



Collect your below-market $1,775/month from the garden apartment and put a little TLC into the owner's triplex, and you'll really have yourself something. Lots of listings with deceptively-low price points in Park Slope require some serious reading between the lines to know what you're getting and why, like 135 St. Johns Place. However, you've got a pretty straightforward play here on Park Place that we don't imagine lasting long.

Pro's: curb appeal, location, price, great floors, 3 working wood burning fireplaces

Con's: 16' wide, 2-Family needs TLC, might need reconfiguring to maximize its potential

Ideally: this is a great value and worth a look

Skinny Slice of Vinyl Siding: 413A Prospect Avenue

Welcome to South Slope, where people can flee the high prices of Park Slope and get just off the beaten path at a value, right? Ooops, unfortunately, maybe not anymore. 413A Prospect Avenue is a 13' wide, vinyl siding 2-Family that wants what a great brick 3-Family in other neighborhoods might cost you, $999K. Don't get us wrong, we'd love to be this close to the park, the F train, and this stretch of Prospect Park West - but is this the way to do it? At first glance this seems like a tiny, mispriced place, but look a little deeper...



The listing gives us 8 photos, a break down of the rent roll, a floorplan, the property address, lots of details about the way-decent renovation, and even valuable information for potential buyers such as the building "could be delivered occupied, partially or completely vacant." Using the building as a 3-Family has increased rents substantially, we always love skylights, and the wooden deck in the backyard is a nice touch. This house surprisingly feels like a home.






With bigger places asking less money in Clinton Hill, and with one of the best buys in Brooklyn dangling out in Fort Greene for less than this, we can't say this is best of breed or anything, but at $491/sqft we can see value here for someone as a condo alternative. Both of these listings, however, are living under a rock. So, if an incredible deal falls in the forest, does it make a sound?



Pro's: location, totally turnkey, decent renovation, wooden deck & backyard, used as a 3-Family for income, flexible tenancy

Con's: curb appeal, 13' wide, financing the used-as-a-3-Family might be tricky, a much better deal is waiting in Fort Greene

Ideally: know what you want, know what you're getting, and get the best

"DO YOU HAVE THE GUTS...?": 466 State Street

Jay-Z wants his cake, and he wants to eat it too. On the track "Brooklyn" in 2007, he bragged about "half a billie in the bankroll." Granted, this was prior to the financial crisis of 2008 and the potential double-dip we're experiencing now, but we imagine his half a billion dollar net worth shouldn't be too depleted these days. Afterall, on one of his latest singles, he asks, "What's 50 grand to a [mofo] like me, can you please remind me?" in reference to the NBA fining the New Jersey Nets $50K for minority owner Jay-Z appearing in the locker room of a supposedly-amateur college basketball team. But apparently all the braggadocio comes to a screeching halt when the subject of Brooklyn real estate prices comes up. In a recent Daily News article, Jay-Z says, he's "thinking about" moving to Brooklyn, but "prices are really high." Maybe he should have thought about that before bringing the Nets to Brooklyn, as Malcolm Gladwell uncovers in this article.



On the hit track from last year, "New York", Jay-Z also brags about his earlier days in more illicit activities, "...took it to my stash spot 560 State Street," which has now been converted to faux-fancy condos around the corner from the future Barclays Arena for his Nets. Boy, have times changed! Also on State Street, in a no man's land stretch of downtown Brooklyn we'll liberally call Boerum Hill here, comes 466 State Street. Ordinarily a 2-Family in Boerum Hill that needs even lots of work for $899K would be interesting. This place has some major caveats, though. The listing claims, in its original all-caps, "THIS PLACE NEEDS TO BE COMPLETELY RENOVATED FROM TOP TO BOTTOM. THERE IS NO NEED TO LOOK AT IT."

We honestly love the candor of the agent here. And it gets better:

"The tenant on the top floor will not leave. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO???????????DO YOU HAVE THE GUTS TO DEAL WITH THIS????if yes please call!!!!"

We like the Sgt. Slaughter-esque challenge by the broker to potential buyers.



It's not everyday that agents come this clean upfront about the flaws in their property. There's lots more to say about this place, but the listing's said enough for now.

Pro's: price point, curb appeal, technically very centralized, blank canvas

Con's: entrenched tenant, odd location, stop work order, lis pendens, SRO restricted, various complaints & violations filed with the city

Ideally: only a real trooper should take this on, and there's WAY better places to tackle if you've got this kind of might

Large Windsor Terrace 3-Family: 502 Prospect Avenue

Windsor Terrace is a great little neighborhood just off of Prospect Park with a commercial stretch and housing stock that rivals even parts of South Slope. While this definitely isn't Park Slope proper, we're categorizing this as Park Slope for the time being because it's as good as any play in South Slope to us, and Windsor Terrace is so small and so rarely covered by us, it's hard to justify as its own neighborhood category so far. Plus, we think anyone looking at this seriously has Park Slope in mind, and they aren't too far off.

502 Prospect Avenue is a HUGE 3-Family brick building that boasts a healthy 20' x 55' floor plate and over 4,500 sqft. While $1.559M sounds like a price you might go to Park Slope proper for, $341/sqft for an area with all the same kind of upsides as Park Slope is pretty compelling. The listing tells us the house is "currently used as an owner's top floor apartment with two rental units, which can generate $4400 per month in rental income." That's not going to carry your mortgage or anything, but pretty impressive income in our book for a floor-through that's supposed to be a 2BR, but really looks more like a railroad-y 1BR with an office. To remedy the railroad-y aspect, it might be worth reconfiguring the layout a bit, which shouldn't be too expensive. The look we get at the interior space is pretty standard, and nice:





Some other added bonuses inclued a "a semi-finished basement, currently used as an artist studio/workshop"...



A nice 25' deep garden...



And "a stair case leads directly to the roof with unobstructed views, ideal for creating your own private rooftop oasis..."



And, indeed, the building has plenty of FAR to work with too. All in all, you get a pretty well-conceived listing that pitches what the property has to offer. We're not sure if this is the right price, but we wouldn't be surprised to see someone pay it. We might go to Prospect Heights with this kind of money for better value and the same proximity to the park that Windsor Terrace offers, but true Slope-sters know Windsor Terrace is its own great little pocket too. Compare to another turnkey place in Park Slope proper around $1.6M, 706 Degraw, for example.

Pro's: curb appeal, size, full listing, rental income, Park Slope-esque neighborhood, backyard, finished basement, turnkey

Con's: railroad-y layout, pricey, interior quality looks fairly generic

Ideally: you've gotta see the rest of the inside and judge how well the layout plays, but it's definitely worth a look.