Closings of Note: What's Surprising to You?

When a 3-story 2-Family fixer-upper in Crown Heights at 355 Eastern Parkway lists for $869K with Corcoran, is descended on by yuppies, voyeurs, and developers alike; has offers ranging from $750K to the mid-$900K's, and closes for $945K last month - should anyone be surprised?  We'd be more surprised at how comfortably the $2M-$3M+ range has settled in for BoCoCa and Park Slope, if we had to pick something to be surprised about.  But that's just us.

251 Clinton Street was a 3-Family Cobble Hill beauty that was asking $3.2M in the Summer and got $3.227M last month.  So much for low-balling.  We're sure if they had asked $2.6M, someone would've bid $2.2M and wondered why they didn't get it.  Price anchoring is an amazing thing.  And yet more people will probably be surprised that a Crown Heights home under $1M goes for $76K above ask, than people will be surprised that a $3M home goes $27K above ask.

There are original details for days in this North Slope brownstone at 226 Lincoln Place.  Even with an asking price just under $4M, it barely lasted 2 months on the market and closed for $3.7M last month.  All the more reason why this under-marketed beauty just around the corner for ~$1M less should be flying off the shelves if these ballers knew what was good for them.

A gorgeous Carroll Gardens townhouse comes out this Summer for $2.65M?  328 President Street wasn't going to last long.  This 3-Family sold last month for $2.45M.  This is why everyone hunting in the $1.5M range over here shouldn't be surprised when all they find is shells, fixer-uppers, and condos.

"Well, how come 177 Warren Street just closed for a mere $2.1M last month, then?" you might ask.  Well, silly, that's because it's an estate sale fixer-upper with "mechanical systems, kitchen and baths [that] need upgrading", that had been in contract for over a year, with a contract price negotiated within barely a month of it coming on the market last August 2011.  Besides, we told you last year that it was already one of the best buys under $2.5M.  So if a fixer-upper that takes a year's worth of sitting in contract for $2M+ isn't what you were looking for, you may not want to look in Cobble Hill anymore.

Brownstoner said they didn't think the 18' width would matter much on this $3M listing for 501 4th Street in Park Slope.  Indeed, it sold for $2.65M last month.  Boy, if you could've gotten 352 4th Street for over a million dollars less this Spring (like Platinum Members), you must really be kicking yourself!  And it wouldn't've taken too much vision (but a lot of funds) to pick up the FSBO neighbor 491 4th Street once upon a time (2011) for a mere $1.6M.

Unicorn Hunters, don't despair!  You can still get something for around $1.5M.  Only it's a trapezoidal, bombed-out building zoned as a factory on the edge of Prospect Heights and Crown Heights.  735 Bergen Street closed for $1.575M last month and we can't wait to see what someone does with the many thousands of buildable square feet left on this wide lot.  The exterior's been re-done in brick since this Google Streetview was taken, fyi.

Listed with no one you've ever heard of, 319 7th Street was an estate sale fixer-upper in Park Slope that closed for $955K in August.

You can get your Gowanus on at 105 2nd Street - a small single family "awaiting your TLC" that listed for $970K in March and closed for $875K last month.  Wouldn't you rather pay $76K above asking for 355 Eastern Parkway than $95K below asking for this?

Back Again: 126 1/2 Washington Avenue

While cash offers well over a million dollars for fixer-uppers in Bed-Stuy are being rejected these days, people still hound us for turnkey houses in some of Brooklyn's most sought-after neighborhoods for under $1M.  Go figure.  The former listing agent for 126 1/2 Washington Avenue told us the house had sold a few months ago.  Turns out that must not be the case because the house is back out a few days ago for $999K.  Now this wouldn't be the first time this lesser-known listing agent needed help moving an under-marketed listing.  Corcoran took a house in Bed-Stuy off their hands that wouldn't move for months at $1.1M until they stepped in.  Now Fillmore appears poised to do the same thing, but at an even higher price point than they were originally asking.

Yes, for "just" $999K, you can land this 3-story brick house with no interior pics, that sits barely 17' by 30' on a 100' lot.  The listing claims, "This home does need some cosmetic updating but the price is right and reflects that."  The only other look we're given is of the backyard, which will need some cosmetic updating of its own:

This house is located on the north edge of Clinton Hill, just off of bustling Myrtle Avenue, near Pratt, near Fort Greene.  It's deceptively well-located, but it ain't too cheap these days either.  Corcoran wants over $1.3M for a similar 3-story house next door at 128 Washington Avenue.  We were told that 126 1/2 Washington Avenue had sold for $825K, so that was obviously a do-able price for the seller recently, but who knows where their head is at now?

Pro's:  under a million, Clinton Hill, relative value potential, basketball courts and prime Myrtle Ave around the corner for Bed-Stuy prices

Con's:  no interior pics, narrow & shallow floorplate, price has gone up without sweetening the pot

Ideally:  there's gotta be a price between $825K and $999K where this makes sense for both buyer and seller

Falling Up the Stairs: 308 Clermont Avenue

They say, "It's better to be lucky than good," - and they're right.  Even if you don't know what the heck you're doing, you can luck into a better situation than those who tried to deliberately plan it all along.  Such is the case with lots of low-ball buyers who never bought a house during the 2006-2008 boom, then suddenly in 2009-2010, their low-ball offers stuck and they lucked into great houses.  Many still didn't know what the heck they were doing, mind you, but suddenly fate swung their way and they get to look like geniuses in retrospect.

As is the case with sellers over the same time period.  Some tried to sell after the crash in 2008-2010 for prices that simply weren't tenable in that market.  Those who held out for irrational figures then are actually seeing the pendulum swing back their way now, but out of no brilliance of their own.  More stubbornness, really.  Because they still don't know what the heck they're doing.

Take the turnkey 3-Family brownstone in Fort Greene at 308 Clermont Avenue, for instance.  We covered this bad-boy back in July of 2010 when it wanted $1.694M.  Back then, for that price, you could pick up way more prime pieces.  And people hadn't woken up to Fort Greene or Clinton Hill entirely yet, and there were still plays to be made within the (gasp!) FHA loan limits.  The price on 308 Clermont made no sense.  It was a pre-crash price in a pre-rebound market.  If you think that price was bad, you really didn't want it the next Spring of 2011 for $1.9M.  Again, tone deaf price with no rationale and a terrible marketing strategy.  Flash forward to the Spring of 2012, and they come back out on the market for $1.39M, as a "short sale", listed nowhere besides the Long Island MLS (of all places!).  This is our fractured Brooklyn real estate market, people!  That's right, the market did a 180 degree turn and this guy thinks it's suddenly time to sell for ~$300K less than his post-crash price and list in a place where no one can find his listing?  They list it as a "short sale" even though the asking price is hundreds of thousands above what he owes the bank??  The owner's obviously flailing, trying to make sense of this market.  And to say that the involvement of his real estate agent was "the blind leading the blind" would be generous.

 

As soon as we saw that a little reality might've set-in and that the place was mis-priced again (this time in the buyer's favor), we put the bat signal out for Platinum Members who pounced on the house on its first weekend.  The offers poured in from $1.2M financed one week, then $1.25M cash the next week, to $1.32M financed the following week, finally to the full asking price of $1.39M.  As one reader put it, "He wakes up every morning and his house is worth another $50,000."  And to this owner's "credit", it would've been irrational to stop the music at any point and take one of those low offers when all he has to do is wait another week for a higher offer.

The music didn't stop there.  There was $1.45M, then $1.5M, then $1.55M.  We sat with the owner and his agent at a diner over coffee to proudly present an offer of $1.6M.  The owner - who happens to be a commercial real estate agent - waxed poetic to us about the good old days of real estate.  Yes, long before e-mails and faxes, people used to meet in person and shake hands and give each other $100,000 checks the next week without even signing a contract - as his story went.  He longed for the days when people met face to face and were accountable for what they said they'd do.  We figured our sit-down was perfect for these nostalgic yearnings of his.  Sitting at a table, giving him a signed offer in person, shaking his hand.  We told each other we'd look forward to his response over the weekend.  And what do we get after all that?  Never heard from him again.  Our buyer was poised to go to $1.65M if necessary, but instead of countering, the owner went MIA.  We hounded his listing broker, who had little input.  We rang his bell months letter and he sent his grandson down to tell us he's not there.  Meanwhile, he's raised his price again, and finally taken urgings from more sensible brokers and gotten his broker to put the listing - now $1.75M - on Streeteasy at least, finally.  This chart shows the list price vs. market value for this house over the past few years.  As you can see, we put the bat signal out at the highest discrepancy in favor of the buyer:

Yes, this owner is clearly falling, but in this market he's fallen up the stairs.  The motivation to sell in the first place was his inability to pay the mortgage.  The bank put a lien on his property in 2009 for $1.1M.  Many will remember when the economy was sliding off the cliff back then, banks were taking multi-billion dollar write-downs each quarter for bad loans, some even willing to negotiate with owners struggling to make their payments.  We'd heard this owner was even given the chance to settle his outstanding balance for a lower sum back then, somewhere in the $800K's.  Mind you, he refused to take the offer at the time, but these days we hear he wants to have his cake and eat it too.  He wants to sell his house for more than it's worth, and pay the bank back less than he owes.  That's simply not how it works.  He could've taken that deal on the table then, but that deal's not on the table now.  If he sells, the bank ostensibly wants the full amount now.

To hear them tell it, "This property may not be much on original details, but is in the heart of the Dekalb Restaurant Row and at this price could be considered a bargain."  Someone will eventually snag this great brownstone on a great block, lodged between the Brooklyn Flea and the hipness of Dekalb Avenue.  But how and at what price is anyone's guess.


Pro's:  location, turnkey, quintessential 3-Family with owner's duplex, yard, and rentals above

Con's:  no original details, generic renovation, shallow lot, paved backyard, senseless pricing, untrustworthy seller

Ideally:  someone will forge ahead on this place before the bank takes it away, but it won't be easy

"Bet You This is Gone in Two Weeks": 14 Prospect Place

This morning we get an e-mail from a developer who says, "Bet you this is gone in two weeks," and sends us 14 Prospect Place.  Yes, this shiny 4-story 2-Family in north Park Slope just off of 5th Avenue wants $2.5M mere weeks after a fixer-upper on the same street on a deeper lot just across Flatbush in Prospect Heights listed for $2.15M and is rumored to have bids pushing $2.5M itself.

Is 14 Prospect Place a $2.5M in this market?  Certainly!  Might it go in 2 weeks?  A definite possibility!  But the irony of this is, the e-mail's coming from the same developer who's astonished that a winner like 489 Park Place exceeded bids of $1.15M cash.  The same developer who told us, "I have a bad taste in my mouth from Williamsburg" because he only made $1M on his last deal there.  Yeah, 'cause we all know what that icky one million dollar taste feels like...

This coming from the same developer bragging to us this time last year that his condos well over a million in Park Slope didn't have to come any lower than 3% off their asking price to sell, while he's happy to offer other sellers 30% below their asking prices.  Which is silly, because obviously everyone wants to get the most money for what they have.  That's a two-way street.  Yet, trust us, there are scores of folks running around offering 20-30% below asking price in this market and still thinking that's an actual bidding strategy.  We believe "Sweet Brown" said it best when she said, "Ain't nobody got time for that."

As we realized yesterday and Tweeted this morning, anyone can offer 20% off asking price, but the real savvy buyer is the one who can identify which properties are worth even 20% ABOVE asking price and bid accordingly.  People with many millions in the bank swear they're shrewd investors 'cause they run around town with low-ball offers waiting to see which ones come in.  In this market - very few.  Meanwhile, the real movers & shakers are getting great places at great prices.

Oh yeah, so back to the house.  Yeah, don't be surprised when someone who just sold their lame condo in midtown buys this Corcoran listing on a great block in Park Slope for over its asking price of $2.5M:

In a word:  Yawn!

Pro's:  location, shiny pics, floor to ceiling glass out to the backyard, open house, Park Slope

Con's:  ain't cheap, ain't a secret, ain't gonna last long, PS 282 makes precious parents run the other way

Ideally:  can't think of too many scenarios where this goes for under $2.7M

Listings: 22 Weirfield Street

Our second post in the Listings section of the blog is also our first post that's entirely in Bushwick proper.  22 Weirfield Street may be vinyl-siding, but it's also a renovated 2-Family with a finished basement, a few original details & moldings, around the corner from the J train for the price of a condo.  With Bushwick as a neighborhood seeing the highest percentage rental increases in the past few months, with the average 1BR price pushing past $1,250/month, it's hard to deny the direction of the neighborhood.  Newbies to the city and young professional grads right out of college are finding it a sweet spot between Williamsburg and Bed-Stuy prices.  With a purchase price ripe for the picking, well under $500K, we can already hear some cheering the value and others booing the exterior:

We'd love a picture of the yard too, since that's one of the other major selling points about going townhome over condo in this price range.  But, regardless of your taste, an owner's duplex with a 2BR rental above makes financial sense over here for anyone with the funds to swing it.

Closings of Note: Some Real Winners

It doesn't get more clutch than a corner opportunity like 71 Irving Place for those who have the funds to swing it.  This should've sold last year, but the contract fell through and Platinum Members had a 2nd chance at it this Spring.  This is simply Clinton Hill at Bed-Stuy prices.  Or, put another way, under $200/sqft in a neighborhood with "meh" condo comps around the corner above $500/sqft.  No matter how you slice it, a great buy.  If you have the money to pull this off, but can't wrap your head around this one, we can't help ya.  It doesn't get more point-blank range than this.

Another 3-Family fixer-upper "deep" in Bed-Stuy (by some accounts) goes in a flash over asking price.  581 Greene Avenue closes for $760K this month.  We heard the contract price was even higher but the appraisal came in a little low.  Oh, don't worry... the comps are coming.

Even with fancy-pants developers tripping over themselves to make cash offers due to the seemingly-prime location, a lot of hair on the deal made 466 State Street fall to $695K at the end of last year.  Seems like someone picked it up, dusted it off, and flipped it for $850K last month.  Not the most impressive flip, guys, especially given what people are doing in Bed-Stuy on the regular.

The same broker who scoffed at the view this Clinton Hill home has of the projects, also stuffs his face with bacon, egg, & cheese from Choice two doors down on the regular.  310 Lafayette Avenue was dying to be picked up at a premium above its post-crash price.  And this latest closing price of $1.15M this month is a steal if it's actually arm's length.

Many hated on the dated interior, but others saw a chance to finally get their Unicorn on!  465 11th Street in south Slope fell all the way from $1.72M in the Spring to close for $1.5M this month.

Step right up and get your Boerum Hill shell at 270 Dean Street - which closed for $1.55M last month.

Brownstoner asked if the $2.995M list price for 778 Carroll Street was right, and the market spoke.  It closed for $3.05M this month.  Makes this neighbor who'd do $2.85M look like a steal.

Continue to doubt & misunderstand Brooklyn if you must, but a corner 3-Family at 299 Clinton Street in Cobble Hill fetches $100K above its asking price of $3.6M last month.  Still a screaming value over what this would cost in the West Village, people.  And - no surprise - that's where these buyers are coming from.  Listed at only 20' x 36' with a "price [that] looks high on a per-square-foot basis" according to Brownstoner - you do the math.

The Crown Heights single-family with original details and modern upgrades at 661 St. Johns Place sells for $775K.

680 St. Marks Avenue was a Crown Heights beauty chopped into six 1BR's over an owner's 2BR garden apartment.  Sick detail on a great block at a 7% cap rate??  Yes, please!  Closed for $845K last month.

Some people insist they "won't go past Bedford" in Crown Heights.  Well, good luck cornering yourself into just 2 avenues width of a neighborhood that sprawls out beautifully for blocks and blocks east.  A gorgeous 3-Family at 1461 Pacific Street closed for $740K last month.

How do you get to Park Slope for under $1.5M without getting a gut or an SRO?  Apparently you go to Windsor Terrace on the other side of the highway for a nice 3-Family like 22 Seeley Street that closed for $1.2M last month.

If you don't think Bed-Stuy is the next shoe to drop, check out the inflows of capital.  Long after folks were picking up the estate sale 11,000 sqft 8-Family in Clinton Hill at 234 St. James Place for $1.6M, now a 13,000 sqft 8-family at 92 Decatur Street in Bed-Stuy fetches $1.665M.  In a few years, maybe it will dawn on people what a great pick-up this is.

Time to Gush: 213 Prospect Place

We've told ya for the longest that Park Slope isn't the only place where townhomes go for $2M+.  It happens all over Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and - gulp! - even Clinton Hill.  It takes more than a picture of a tree to sell a building for $2M.  So luckily, in exchange for the 6-figure commission Corcoran's charging here at 213 Prospect Place, they shelled out a few hundred dollars for fancy pics that speak more volumes than this lackluster exterior pic they could've (read: "should've") simply taken from another angle.  Just 9 pics for over $90K in commission?  Throw in the tenth pic for free, guys!

But the pics they did take sure clean up nice...

Readers were gushing last night at these!  Simply "ooh-ing" and "ahh-ing" at pics that aren't anything a lil' wide angle lens & a few clicks on Picasa couldn't do, but it gets the job done.  When buyers are gushing, prices are rising...

Then again, let's be honest.  With shells that have no interior pics, need a gut renovation, and have adversarial rent controlled tenants entrenched in them around the corner from this house in contract for a net cost of $2M, you really don't need to do much to move a property in Prospect Heights these days.  There is almost zero product and teams of cash buyers.  Interior pics are really just a formality.  As 22 Sterling Place learned, simply put that thing on the market and step out of the way.

"But that was in Park Slope!" - we can hear 'em yelling.  Ah, but don't you know?  North Slope and the heart of Prospect Heights are separated by a few hundred yards, and Prospect Heights has the better school district.  22 Sterling Place was also a mere 3-stories tall, which caused some confusion this Spring for some buyers.  When the four-story 159 Underhill in Prospect Heights came out for $1.79M, some thought it seemed like a completely different market from 416 Park Place for $1.5M just a few months earlier.  Once you factor in that we're talking about 4 stories vs. 3, you realize that 30% more house for less than 20% more money ain't a bad proposition at all.

And good luck finding a 130'+ lot in Park Slope under $3M.  The extra-deep yard alone is another huge unique advantage that 213 Prospect Place has over anything else in Brooklyn even close to this price range:

The extra deep yard also gets you more buildable square feet, something a client of Cousin John's is taking advantage of on this very block as we speak.  Besides the shiny pics, there's work to be done yet in this house and enough bids to throw price flexibility out the window.  They're using it as a single-family, but it wouldn't be hard to make a 2.  Then again, when you're buying a fixer-upper for over $2M, who needs rental income?  Compared to what else is going on around us, don't be surprised to see this poke past asking price.  As one broker told us in a gut-reno estate sale in Bed-Stuy, "3 people will say $900K, and one of them will get tired of looking and say $950K."  The pricepoint is more than double just 2 miles west of that same house, but it gives you a sense of the mechanics that drive a sale like 213 Prospect Place.


Pro's:  curb appeal, location, original details, great backyard on an extra-deep lot, wood burning fireplace

Con's:  no secret, work to be done, bidders abound, no room to low-ball, no rental income as-is

Ideally:  go hard or go home, 'cause while Corcoran may not give you a quality shot of the exterior,  they sure know how to say "best & final" to their multiple bidders until the very last drop is squeezed out of a deal.