Closings of Note: Short Supply in the West, Value in the East

Where do buyers in prime Prospect Heights go when they want value?  East!  475 Sterling Place, #3A was a great look at a condo on the Crown Heights end of Prospect Heights.  It listed for $715K and closed for $775K, and buyers are spiffing it up even further.  It's a migration pattern we've seen before.

And when you want a renovated house for the price of a condo, you go even further east.  409 Madison Street sold for $780K, after failing to fetch even $750K two years ago.  Whether you like the interior, exterior, or neither - this is a great look at value for four stories in Bed-Stuy.

Around the corner, the Corcoran treatment brought $1.05M across Marcus Garvey Avenue for 3 renovated stories at 442 Hancock Street.  Buyers from Clinton Hill made it happen further east.

 
Even 3-stories deep in Bed-Stuy with the right renovation commands over $750K now.  399 Bainbridge Street listed for $799K and closed for $775K.  This is the Ralph Avenue train stop, people.

 
294 St James Place, just off Atlantic Avenue in Clinton Hill, sells for $1.189M.  Once chopped into 8 apartments, this 5-story 4-Family is 17' wide and won't wow you with style, but is a turnkey interior making great rental income at a great price here.  Compare to 286 St. James Place now asking $1.6M.

Seems like just yesterday that dozens were pouncing on the shell at 596 3rd Street last winter in Park Slope for over asking price of $1.8M cash.  Well, a finished product in that same row of 'argyle sock' houses like 592 3rd Street now commands $2.8M.  Good luck digesting the price per squarefoot on that.  Over $1,000/sqft for a single family on a park block.  That's the market these days.

Barely 17' wide for over $2.5M?  Welcome to today's prices in Fort Greene right off the park where 11A South Elliott Place lists for $2.75M and goes $25K over asking price.  This isn't the 1980's-90's Fort Greene anymore by a longshot.

A great value in Crown Heights in the fall, 568 Park Place tried to play us when they had an accepted offer that wasn't actually in contract yet.  But we barged our way in there for Platinum Members and were able to make it happen above asking price of $689K up to $715K.  Still a deal all day in this market.

 
594 St. Marks Avenue for $860K, with most of it financed, is a great buy in Crown Heights.  It joins the likes of 567 St. Marks Avenue at a similar price on the same block.  More reason why we like the limestone at 660 St. Marks Avenue anywhere under $1M.

Trading at $999K in March, then $1.8M in less than 2 months?  69 Greene Avenue demonstrates the power of sourcing and unlocking SRO genies in coveted areas.  There's an even better example of this coming up in Prospect Heights.

Over on the Prospect Heights side, across from Park Slope, 267 Flatbush Avenue on the corner trades at a stunning $6.2M.  An incredible turnaround for the group that bought it not long ago for less than half.  Some people just have to have this location, though.  Another example of why we were so bullish on the Montrose Morris gem across the street at an asking price around $12M.  And we weren't the only ones thinking the same thing.

Three 3-Family buildings in a row just off the G-train deep in Bed-Stuy?  $1.8M got it done on 686 Willoughby Avenue.

743 Dean Street is a tiny little blip of a property, but the location got them $904K.  Yowza!  Is this tear-down time?

15' wide next to the autoshop yard didn't stop the 4-Family at 680 Washington Avenue on the Prospect Heights & Crown Heights edge from fetching $1.2M.  And the $2,000/month 1BR rentals are already up...

Finally In Contract in Bed-Stuy: 271 Decatur Street

We told you last time around that the next-best deals in the "emerging neighborhoods" of Brooklyn are going down while some people are walking around with mischaracterizing questions like, "Who would pay a million to live in a crime zone?"  The REAL question is, who wouldn't want a great fixer-upper just over a million, on the same block as a house in contract closer to $2M?  A million dollars isn't some magical barrier, the point is that prices in any market are all relative.  271 Decatur Street on a killer block in Stuyvesant Heights couldn't get $975K or even $925K back in mid-to-late 2010.  Oh hey, and the Dow was in the 9,500's back then too.  Nowadays the Dow's breaking records above 15,000, but has housing moved up 50% also?  Nah, actually just 24% in this case.  Here's a 3 year chart to illustrate the journey of the Dow vs. 271 Decatur since 2010:

But what's the Dow got to do with it?  Pricing's all relative.  And the top-notch product in Bed-Stuy commands as much as $1.8M cash on the open market today.  With a latest asking price of $1.15M, we told Platinum Members is was time to play ball on 271 Decatur Street as soon as we saw the offers coming in well above $1.5M for the house across the street.  There are updates to be made, and some repairable damages to the building, but the inside has a lot of the same stuff everyone's looking for.  Here's a nice room with the stained-glass on the arched windows that give the facade such character...

 

And there are more original details throughout...

Even dim, haphazard interior pics are worthwhile here, and give you a sense of what we're workin' with.

People want Bed-Stuy to look like "Boerum Hills", but guess what?  By the time that happens, you think anyone will still want these prices?  Sellers will ostensibly want more.  Just see how easily the prices in Boerum Hill have cruised above $2M recently, and how even the most encumbered pieces now command prices once thought of as absurd.  Luckily, Bed-Stuy's got even more streets than Boerum Hill with even better houses.  Remember "the good ol' days" - 9 months ago - when $1.29M seemed like a high watermark in Bed-Stuy??


Pro's:  curb appeal, original details, relative value, 4-stories with a yard around the corner from an A express train

Con's:  tricky deal to pin down, lots of updates to be made, gone already

Ideally: when new price records are being set in upcoming neighborhoods, even homes that were once a pass can become the next-best relative buys.

Next-Best Buy in All of Crown Heights: 845 Prospect Place

Platinum Members were in & out of this house at a lower asking price weeks before 845 Prospect Place switched up with this latest broker and hit StreetEasy for the easier-to-find masses to descend on it.  And why not?  This place is a gem that wasn't meant to be nit-picked or brow-beaten as "secret listings" so often are.  Now with multiple offers and back-ups on the table, good luck getting a showing on this 4-story limestone-looking townhouse whose modest asking price of $899K makes any condo in Manhattan (and most even just a few blocks west in Brooklyn) blush.  Yes, while cry-babies on the local forums spout impossible demands for a crime-free zone for a million dollars - and their consolers continue to erroneously claim that yours truly is a real estate agent in Brooklyn, and that we go around urging that "people should buy quickly" - sensible folks with less myopic views of the landscape and a healthier dose of actual facts are making the next-best moves in town.  We've covered the phenomenon of people who can't even afford Bed-Stuy, for example, magically deducing that they're too good for Bed-Stuy.  "But who would pay a million to live in a crime zone?" is a bold question to ask, as if crime doesn't also happen in more precious places like the Upper East Side, or Park Slope, or Brooklyn Heights, or Carroll Gardens, or Tribeca - you know, the richest zip codes in the country.

Or are they?  One reader and friend of the blog, who recently bounced from his ~$2,600/month 1BR rental in Brooklyn Heights because the management company was set to raise rates to $3,000/month or higher, told us that Brooklyn Heights isn't one of the richest zip codes in the country.   Hmmm, well if you look at merely "Income Per Return", it's true that Brooklyn Heights (zip code 11201) is rocking a comparatively-paltry ~$73K per year.  But that stat alone is a misnomer because old money doesn't need to make money.  Their money already makes money for them.  While their income averaged $73K, the "adjusted gross income" for over 21,000 tax returns filed in Brooklyn Heights is averaging over $1.5M per.   When folks have that kind of revenue coming in, we can imagine it's kinda hard for them to find the inspiration to get up in the morning and earn six figures or more when they have other assets throwing off ten times that.  (We tolja' the lion sleeps 'cause it can...)  All this is to say that, (1) no neighborhood, no matter how absurdly wealthy, is immune to crime, and (2) if an historic townhouse from 100 years ago can still be picked up in Crown Heights for 30% less than tens of thousands of people are making in passive income a year just 3.5 miles west, is the pricing in the "emerging neighborhoods" of Brooklyn really "man bites dog", or just another case of "dog bites man"?

Is a $12 cocktail "objectively worth" twelve dollars?  Of course not!  But that's the economics of the cocktail bar.  Either pick your drink, or get out of the over-priced cocktail bar.  But stop coming in and scoffing at the prices!  Jeez, and if you managed to find a cocktail for a fraction of that price and you STILL have something to complain about - then, boy, we really can't help ya!

One developer told us yesterday that $1,200/sqft is the baseline rate for finished product in Manhattan, and yet you can still rock a townhouse filled with original details for barely over $200/sqft in Brooklyn??  Heck, even Brownstoner said a study revealed the average cost of a renovation in this area is some $178/sqft, and we're talking about picking up a whole house for barely more than that??

All on a block with an amazing, unique variety of historic townhomes - both free-standing & rowhouses - in different styles...

Let us not forget that affluent people built Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights, then a moratorium on lending from freaked-out banks after The Great Depression (and other economic cycles & socio-economic factors) made affluent people leave those neighborhoods for dead for generations.  So, sorry if you're just re-awakening to these neighb's again and their stellar housing stock, and also finding that - ahem - great minds think alike and the affluent people are coming back.  Is the house in estate condition?  Totally.  Is it live-able?  Sure.  Does it reek of oil from a leaky tank & burner that needs to be changed to gas?  Yup, and that's way-affordable too, btws!  Is the kitchen floor on the garden apartment almost totally caving in?  Right again, but this all comes with the territory.  Show us the next-best house delivered vacant just off a thriving commercial strip, on a block with this much character for under $1M.

Don't get us wrong, $1M is a lot of money, but it doesn't make you bulletproof.  And, really, what is a million bucks anymore when anyone with even $50K down and a six-figure income can still leverage over 20-to-1 at interest rates in the mid-3%'s fixed for 30 years - a cost that pretty much keeps up with inflation anyways?  And this town is crawling with people who can easily swing loans like that.  So when even a few of them decide they'd like a townhome in Brooklyn, then that's what townhomes in Brooklyn start costing.  The same supply & demand story we've been screaming for well over a year now.  It's all about perspective.  Let's keep in mind what unique numbers we're dealing with in New York in the first place.  Half the world, over 3 billion people, still live on less than $2.50/day, the base fare for a one-way trip on the subway in our neck of the woods.  When you can still cop a house for a quarter of the price of homes 1 stop away on the A train, sure, there may be a few other trade-off's involved too.  But that doesn't mean it's not the next-best move in the local ecosystem of Brooklyn real estate.


Pro's:  curb appeal, great block, original details, delivered vacant, under $1M!

Con's:  didn't show well on first go around, updates to be made, smell from leaky oil tank is pervasive, estate sale may take time if it requires court approval, spectators will still throw rocks at the throne of the best buy in Crown Heights 

Ideally:  a top-notch purchase while many still don't know what they've got 'til it's gone

Listings: 2-Family in Bed-Stuy - 104 Malcolm X Boulevard

When one of our favorite Bed-Stuy specialists said there was nothing west of Malcolm X Boulevard available anymore for less than $1M, it sounded like a sign of the times.  New to the Listings section of the blog, it's 104 Malcolm X Boulevard asking $875K.  This 20' wide 2-Family between the J and A/C trains in Bed-Stuy is currently set up as an owner's duplex with a rental upstairs.  Interior pictures show some original detail and some unique decoration...

Even the kitty made its way into the corner of this pic...

The Bushwick end of Bed-Stuy can be a plus or minus, depending on who you ask.  We've seen some great rental values over here, and this probably fits the bill as a condo alternative for lots of folks.  Make a few updates and max-out the finished basement.  Keep the yard paved, or greenify that badboy further.  "Fruit-bearing Asian pear tree" in the back?  Check!

Pro's:  totally legit turnkey 2-Family, under $1M, original details, backyard

Con's:  too far east for some, not everyone's down with the J train, updates to be made

Ideally:  we see a happy compromise coming here

Closings of Note: We're Bullish for a Reason

Over 6 months before it was listed, we paraded a handful of would-be buyers through the top gem in Prospect Heights for its pricepoint, but they didn't even wanna pay $1.3M for it.  Then Elliman got their hands on 181 Park Place, on the cusp of Park Slope and Prospect Heights, not even a block from the train.  They listed for $2M & got it.  The closing price of $1.815M reportedly included $200K buyouts for the tenants, and months of carrying charges at the expense of the buyer.  But you got another 21' x 45' 5-story brownstone on a 131' lot in a location this prime in mind instead??  When we're bullish on a place, y'all, we ain't kidding.  This sale is well over a year in the making and STILL well worth the wait.  Nowadays you can feel free to surf on-market, and even off-market deals in this neighb' that are well over $2.5M, and even over $3M.

Speaking of "over $3M", do big prices in Park Slope even surprise anyone anymore?  They shouldn't.  Guess who got $3.75M last month - almost full ask on their $3.99M listing?  174 Garfield Place imitated Jenna's pricing and succeeded.  And guess where the buyers are coming from?  An apartment in the West Village, y'all!!  Try buying a fixer-upper for this price on West 16th Street in Manhattan, let alone a decked-out house.  We told ya over & over that Brooklyn is a bigger story than you bargained for if you think it's supposed to magically stay your personal Discount Shoe Warehouse of housing forever.

Coming from the West Villlage in Manhattan over to the dregs of Brooklyn?  It was good enough for a $3.75M sale, and it's also good enough for a $969K condo at 191 Luquer Street, #2A.  Call it "generic" and "too far south" if you must, but buyers from West 19th Street in Manhattan are calling it home.

They begged us for the comps in Bed-Stuy to justify the rising prices.  Ah, but we told 'em over & over that comps are a lagging indicator.  Were you there in the crowded open house line one Sunday last fall just before Sandy to see 406 Putnam Avenue, filled with stunning details, listed for $789K?  Were you there with us later that week across the street to see an off-market house at an even lower price?  406 Putnam Avenue just closed a few weeks ago.  Not for $789K, or $800K, but for $999K - to buyers from Clinton Hill.  If you were waiting for that sale to register to get the green light on Bed-Stuy, then you're over 6 months late, hundreds of thousands of dollar shorts, and you'll be rudely awakened to prices well over $1M & counting.  But this is still one of the primary valleys of the best value and best housing stock in town.

Since you can't actually get a multi-family in prime Prospect Heights for anything under a million anymore, some opt for condos.  618 Dean Street, #12C - a 1,400 sqft condo in a walk-up building - just sold for $910K to buyers from the Upper West Side in Manhattan.

 
But what does a real townhome look like for under a million these days.  Head on over to norrrrth Clinton Hill/Bed-Stuy border where 189 Classon Avenue just sold for $899K.  Far from the train??  13' wide?  3-stories?  Less than 2,000 sqft?  Welcome to Brooklyn!  This is still a well-situated piece for a value to the right buyer.

And the sellers of 189 Classon are no dummies.  They've seen this movie before.  So they took their gain and moved it over to 182 Seeley Street.  It closed for its asking price of $899K.  While some jokers are sleeping on the fringes of the top neighb's, savvy folks are makin' moves!  Even less than 13' wide, we're sure they'll know just what to do with it.

What else actually costs under a million with some size?  Crown Heights brownstones still do.  1076 Dean Street was on Platinum Member radar with a big "BUY" written all over it.  With an asking price of $999K, but chopped into many units, we knew this gem would trade at a discount.  Indeed, the winning price was $825K, but please keep this off your 1-4-Fam townhouse comps list.

Under $1M in Crown Heights?  Yeah, hop on over to 969 Lincoln Place, which closed for its asking price of $879K.  And don't go calling it "too far east", unless you're ready to spend significantly more.

Or maybe you'd rather chase a tiny piece of Gowanus at 112 14th Street, listed for $949K.  Just closed for $959K.  But when you run up the hill to 275 14th Street, the price jumps to $1.45M

Or maybe you'd rather have a funky little part-frame looking house in "center Slope" between 4th and 5th Avenues.  253 8th Street closed for $1.36M, a modest $10K over asking price.

Or you can "bring your architect" to prime Park Slope and get a fixer-upper for $160K over asking price.  744 Union Street closed for $1.76M.

Flying under the radar of many, 48 Downing Street in Clinton Hill closed for $1.59M.  Just wait until you see what the next off-market pick-ups over here look like.

When you want a prize corner piece in Clinton Hill, it's going to collect a premium.  The gem at 81 Willoughby Avenue listed for $2.35M and sold for $2.75M.

619 Washington Avenue won't wow you, but as an under-marketed piece, we saw value.  It closed for $750K, another total bargain for the Prospect Heights border.  Platinum Members passed on an accepted offer at an even lower price!

We tried to tolja' about the open house at 521 Crown Street.  With an asking price of $825K, this nifty little piece just closed for $760K.

5 floors in Bed-Stuy that need a total gut with a cash only closing?  Come on down to 124 Bainbridge Street for $879K.  "Utica is too far" rolls off the tongue easily, but you'd be surprised how nice the houses are and how much is happening over here.  The next 4-Family coming up on this street wants $1.6M, we're told.  Don't be too surprised if they get it.

Not feeling these prices?  Then flee to Bushwick where 426 Jefferson Street (not Bed-Stuy's Jefferson Avenue) is a vinyl-siding piece that listed for $689K and sold for $715K to a buyer from Clinton Hill.  Call Bushwick too far, if you must, but you ain't finding a townhouse for the price of a condo in Clinton Hill anymore these days.

Projects: Prospect Place, Pt. I

Cousin John was kind enough to invite us back to cover a project of his in-stream that we thought readers would be curious to follow.  John's been commissioned to build a 20' wide x 25' deep rear extension with an elevator on 3 floors in a townhouse in Prospect Heights.  Taking advantage of one of the extra-deep 131' lots - like 213 Prospect Place has - the owners are looking to expand the house substantially, which is no easy task.  Even before you take on the daunting construction, you've gotta get approval from all sorts of entities.  Now that all approvals are in, we wanted to take a preliminary look at the project, and track its progress over the next few months.

The rear of the house ain't too shabby now, but it's going to undergo a lot of changes...

A model was done of the existing conditions...

On which various proposed extension shapes & designs could be mocked-up...

This cross-section shows the interior proposed.  In addition to an elevator, the extension will have all new mechanicals, including radiant floor heating and central AC.  Plopping 1,500 additional square feet onto the rear of a rowhouse is tricky, and we're looking forward to seeing how it goes...

Closings of Note: Can't Sleep on Clinton Hill

Not on your Trulia, your StreetEasy, your New York Times, or your Zillow... 461 Washington Avenue is a King Kong corner piece in Clinton Hill.  A 25' x 75' 6-Family that's all free market?  One block from the C train?  Yes, while 375 people were lining up for 102 Gates Avenue across the street, this mamoth piece was flying under the radar of most.  Platinum Members were sniffing this deal since the end of last summer, but someone talked this owner into closing for $1.8M, a recorded price many hundreds of thousands lower than multiple offers that were on the table.  Still trying to wrap our heads around this one.

Just to show ya what on-market product can do in Clinton Hill on this same street, 556 Washington Avenue listed for $2.25M, had a contract in 2 weeks, and closed for $2.6M to buyers from Williamsburg.  Note, 5-stories, but only 16.67' wide, people!  And hundreds of thousands over asking price in 2 weeks.  Platinum Members are scoping out 2 off-market 5-story houses just like this over here as we speak, one that wants $2.5M or higher, and one that's under $2M (so far).  And those are both 20' wide, not 16'.

It won't win any beauty contests, but 43 Garfield Place in Park Slope is about the cheapest townhouse & condo alternative you're going to find in the area.  A Corcoran broker picked it up for $999K.

Brooklyn Heights is no joke either, with a banner sale at 40 Willow Place double-dipping for $7.65M.  Even 34 Hicks Street goes for $2.475M, and now you can rent a 1.5BR upper duplex for $5K.

132 Kane Street over in Cobble Hill gets $3.1M - shocking to some who haven't been paying attention, but a nice price for a "rare assemblage" to others.

You know, 5%-caps - they're not just for Manhattan anymore.  These brokers barely list their stuff, and we get on their heads about it on the regular, but they swear to us that marketing their properties all over town "isn't in the best interest of our sellers."  How on Earth someone can buy something they never knew was for sale in the first place is beyond us, and would actually seem to shortchange a seller, but they're the ones making tens of thousands a transaction on this stuff, not us, so who are we to say?  Regardless, whether you knew it was ever available or not, this monster 40' x 60' 8-Family piece at 378 Lewis Avenue in Bed-Stuy closes for $1.8M.

1185 Lincoln Place may seem deep in Crown Heights to you newbies, but this is again one of the best looks at an actual townhouse for a condo price.  This 20' x 55' barrel-front 2-Family on a 120' lot sold for $565K last month.  Did the sellers pick it up last year in foreclosure for $332K?  They sure did, but what's that got to do with how sweet a sub-$600K look this is this year?  If you're not hitting the streets doing foreclosure deals in cash yourself, don't be mad when someone else who is flips you their spoils.