South Slope Open House: 577 6th Avenue

A well-renovated 2-Family in South Slope for $1.245M?? The Property Shark exterior picture of 577 6th Avenue won't entice you, but the interior will...



It's a wonder what a few nifty details and even an Ikea kitchen can do:



Corcoran doesn't even bother with an updated picture of the exterior. They know the power of squeeky-clean pictures and accentuating the positives. Everything in the house is shiny & new. They'll get a bunch of activity and give the house the best chance of getting the top bid possible. Much like 536 Court Street, a nice renovation off the beaten path deserves nice pictures and can find its buyer. Throw in an open house and you get things rolling right away. 577 6th Avenue is worth checking out this Sunday 2-4pm for anyone in the Park Slope market looking for a turnkey value not too far away from what people love about the Slope. Especially if you want a little deck, a little terrace, and a little yard. The triple threat! The feel over here on this block might not be as residential, but see if this house stacks up favorably to 279 13th Street. Way more bang for the buck than some of the other shiney 2-Fam's in the $1.4-$1.6M+ range, like 209 8th Street or 354 5th Street.

Another quality over quantity play, and at a price relatively within reach. You'd think it would inspire a stale, over-priced listing on a KILLER block like 308 Clermont, to roll-up their sleeves & take a nice picture or two. Throw an open house, give yourself a chance. Until then, at least there are a few professionals out there.

Pro's: squeeky-clean renovation with nifty details, fairly priced, proximity to park, trains, and Slope

Con's: not the most neighborhood feel to the block, not the biggest house, someone's bound to overbid ya

Ideally: We'd snatch this up for $1.1M in a heartbeat, but someone might pay as much as $1.3M. It's also encouraging to see how nice a manageable renovation can come out.

South Slope Flip-a-roo?: 490a 7th Avenue

490a 7th Avenue is a 3-Family deep in South Slope, towards Windsor Terrace. One goes out here for proximity to the park, the trains, and prime Park Slope, but at South Slope prices. This listing with Century 21 (the people who brought you the 96 St. Marks debacle) has a list price of $1.195M. Anybody interested at this price would have like it much better at Prudential's list price of $899K that lasted only a few days on the market. Not sure if someone was able to buy it in that time and is now trying to flip it.

This stretch of 7th Avenue starts to get more residential than the north end, but it still makes for hectic surroundings to have a house. The bus stop a few doors down on the corner doesn't help matters. The interior has that 70's Ladies' Man feel not seen since the likes of 238 Lafayette and neighbors like 313 12th Street also in South Slope. The house obviously will need plenty of updating to maximize its potential:





If you look at the layout, the 6' wide "Bedrooms" in either corner don't really count, and you end up with a windowless interior living room. That should be re-worked, probably into a master 1BR with a more open layout. We're not in any hurry to drop ~$1.2M for something that needs this much work in south Slope. There are a handful of houses with more promise for the same money on these same blocks if you're married to the Slope, and even better opportunities in Clinton Hill.

Pro's: a true 3-Family, location has lots to offer, delivered vacant, backyard

Con's: noisy avenue to be on, layout, needs updating, 1BR rentals, are we buying a flip here?

Ideally: we're hard-pressed to drop even a million over here with what else is out there.

A True Home: 116 Willoughby Avenue

The fancy-pants 2-Family market is alive & well. $1.595M for a 2-Family is not our speed, per se, but we keep you posted. 116 Willoughby Avenue is a gorgeous, landmarked 2-Family limestone that sits on the north side of Clinton Hill. Willoughby is a quiet, one-way street with some great-looking houses, just a block from all kinds of commercial amenties on the ever-growing Myrtle Avenue. Although, the G is very close, the walk from here to a city-bound train can be draining on a daily basis. Many take the bus down Myrtle to the train. That said, the house looks immaculate and the proximity to nice stretches of Myrtle and DeKalb, Fort Greene, and the park give this place lots of charm and value to buyers who want a building with a true home feeling.





Fireplaces everywhere, nifty style, great floors, owner's triplex, and a backyard make the house a hands-down YES to us. Being across the street from some tall housing complexes on Clinton Avenue might be a turn-off to some buyers. The neighborhood might not trade with the same premium as Carroll Gardens or Park Slope, but that's why people come over here. There's a different feel and often more value. Speaking of value, what's the flexibility on the price? Considering the owners paid $1.4M in 2005, probably not much. And there is lots out there for $1.5M and up. If we're going to spend $1.6M for a great 2-Family, we'd rather have 407 Sterling Place.

Pro's: great house, curb appeal, backyard, amenities abound, private entrance for rental unit

Con's: 2-Family, hike to a city-bound train, across from some tall housing complex, maybe not the best in breed

Ideally: you'd really have to fall in love with 116 Willoughby Ave to make it happen at this price, which we're not ruling out, but make sure you've checked all the other options out there first

South Slope Winner: 531 11th Street

531 11th Street looks like a great 3-Family house on a great block. It's close to the park, close to the train, on a tree-lined block between 7th and 8th Avenues in south Slope. It's a healthy 20' x 50' building with a backyard and sparkling interior that shows the owner's nifty touches:





The listing is great, complete with pictures, a layout, the rental income of $4,600 from the non-owner occupied units, and the lease dates. We want this house. Conspicuous in its absence, however, is the property's address. Maybe the sordid listing history for this house is something they'd rather not drag up. StreetEasy shows this property first hitting the market in August 2008 for $1.895M, just a month before Lehman Brothers went under & the financial crisis kicked into full gear. The rest is a familiar sight in the post-crash world of real estate:

08/07/2008 - Listed by Corcoran at $1,895,000.
12/05/2008 - Delisted temporarily.
03/23/2009 - Re-listed by Corcoran.
03/23/2009 - Price decreased by 5% to $1,795,000.
06/25/2009 - Price decreased by 5% to $1,700,000.
09/30/2009 - Price decreased by 3% to $1,650,000.
10/01/2009 - Listing is no longer available.

A few years later, is $1.575M the price? There are opportunities in South Slope here and there, but no 3-Family's as turn-key as this one. 443 11th Street had a nice price point and the same broker Brown Harris Stevens got that into contract pretty quickly. The newly-relisted 345 13th Street has a nice price point too, but needs extensive renovation. It's also worth comparing to 706 Degraw. The owner has a quality house here at 531 11th Street, we're pulling for her, but the equity situation is looking tough. We love the house, but can't really get behind the price for our purposes.

Pro's: location, curb appeal, rental income potential ($2,300/month 1.5BR's?), stylishly renovated

Con's: basically 1BR per floor, renovation may not be your style, pricing pressure

Ideally: it's a shame to see owners getting hung out to dry from the financial crisis, but this is probably $1.5M in somebody's book, right?

North Slope Renovation Candidate: 405 Douglass Street

405 Douglass Street is a 3-Family in north Park Slope, just off 5th Avenue that "is ready for your renovation." The listing also boasts "its original details including fireplace mantles, pocket shutters and mouldings." Take a look inside and see for yourself:







Great original details wasn't the first phrase that came to mind. Lots of renovation is needed and it's unclear what the ideal end-product would be. Your neighbor 632 Baltic can't fetch $1.5M and it'll take more than $200K to get up to speed with him, so the whole isn't greater than the sum of the parts. 405 Douglass is still a way better buy than our pick 292 1st Street from earlier this week at their current list prices, but anybody with this kind of money and renovation budget should take a look at 432 Clinton Street. We'd be kicking ourselves even at $1.1M.

Pro's: location, delivered vacant, close to trains and amenities

Con's: curb appeal, funky block, lots of work to do, pricey

Ideally: if you can afford the renovation, give the owner an aggressive offer.

Less Than You'd Expect: 292 1st Street

We don't really specialize in homes as pricey as $1.895M. Then again, this same broker Century 21 also listed 96 St. Marks for $1.9M last summer and it closed for $1M even. So you can't really set their list prices as your benchmark. 292 1st Street is a 20' x 40' 2-Family brownstone in Park Slope with some neat-o blue cornice molding up top on the exterior. Of course the location will lure the Slope-o-philes with its proximity to trains, the Park Slope Food Co-op, Union Hall, etc. But does the price match the interior?





The pictures kind of speak for themselves. Some serious updating is in order to keep up with the pricing. The only thing we could say is that at least this place isn't thin and it's in a better location than some of the other over-priced 2-Family's out there. Around these very blocks, though, way better things can be picked up for these prices or less like 290 8th Street or 596 Carroll Street. Which kind of tips Century 21's hand here, if you ask us, showing that they're unapologetically overpricing and just hoping to lure that buyer.

Pro's: location, curb appeal, a bit of a yard

Con's: price, interior condition, not a lot of BR's

Ideally: with tons of equity and work to be done, $1.4M starts sounding interesting.

Prime Time Cobble Hill: 362 Degraw Street

If you like the BoCoCa vibe (Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens), then the location doesn't get much more prime than this. 362 Degraw Street is just one door in from Smith Street, surrounded by lovable places like Zaytoon's, Cafe Luluc, and Bar Great Harry. The exterior looks great, and "with a nearly finished conversion by its architect/owner" there have been lots of nice updates, including a bulkhead on the roof with a roof terrace. Let me repeat: ROOF TERRACE

How about this nice, bright space with the exposed beams and the interior staircase?



While other parts of the interior have more of a cottage feel...





You even get a small yard on just a 60' deep lot. Oh wait, that's also because the house is only 32' deep. Listed as a legal 4-Family on Property Shark, the listing calls out only one garden rental 1BR, putting this more in the 2-Family category. As the pricey 2-Family market goes, this one certainly holds its own at $1.675M. Either way you cut it, somebody's gonna wanna pay top dollar over here, even if the interior style isn't always up to their taste.

Pro's: LOCATION, curb appeal, renovated & updated, ROOF TERRACE, cute little finished backyard

Con's: no pictures of the roof terrace, interior look is fresh-but-dated, 32' deep

Ideally: a great quality-not-quantity play in a primo neighborhood, especially closer to $1.5M