Closings of Note: Connect the Dots

If you've been sleeping on Clinton Hill, could this be your wake-up call?  56 Cambridge Place is a huge single-family fixer-upper that couldn't get $2.6M in the doldrums of 2009, but sold for asking price of $2.25M last month to buyers in a Newswalk condo.  Remind us why 102 Gates is going to go well over $1.5M again?  Oh yeah... now we remember!

Even on the border Clinton Hill at Bed-Stuy, there's value in a generic new construction 2-Family with a nice 22' x 50' floorplate on a 120' lot at 210 Gates Avenue.  It closed above asking price of $899K for $922K.  If you missed a few of these in Fort Greene 2 years ago, and this one last year, the next best one in this category is still available in prime Prospect Heights.

Whether you call it Windsor Terrace or South Slope, 459A Prospect Avenue was another no-brainer value play in the area as a 3-Family.  Even the 16' width couldn't stop it from easily fetching $1.15M last month.

Who needs exterior or interior photos when you've got a 2-Family in Windsor Terrace/South Slope under $1.5M?  561 16th Street sold last month for $1.325M.   Don't like the look of this exterior?  Get over yourself.  This is what you've gotta settle for if you wanna be on this side of the park in this price range.  Or go get yourself a mansion on the other side of the park, but some people would still rather flee towards the chemicals of the Gowanus canal than step foot on the east side of Prospect Park.

Case in point, even a discussion of chemicals in Gowanus didn't stop a little off-Carroll Gardens number like 71 3rd Street from fetching above asking price of $1.2M and selling for $1.225M last month.

Or hop over the other side of the highway to Greenwood where a 17'-wide 2-Family gets its asking price of $949K at 284 18th Street.

Is 671 Hancock Street "deep" in Bed-Stuy, out on the Stuyvesant Heights side?  Sure, is it a quick flip too?  Sure, is it still a killer value on a renovated 2-Family that sold above asking price for $770K last month?  Certainly!

A 2-Family that's less than 17' wide getting $2.5M?  Welcome to Park Slope.  Where have you been?  146 Berkeley Place was a FSBO that Brown Harris swooped up.  If you want 20' wide of here, people were paying that for a fixer-upper even last year on this block.

Or maybe you're more of the Cobble Hill type for this money.  Well, that'll be less than 14' wide and go over asking price of $2.46M to close for $2.6M, like 59 Strong Place.

If you think you're going to find a sweet renovated place under $800K west of Nostrand in Bed-Stuy or Crown Heights, who do you think really wants to sell you one when even 421 Decatur Street way out east sells for $789K last month as a quick-flip 3-family?

Crown Heights is the value-buy winner, though, for we don't know how many weeks in a row now.  901 St. Johns Place is a killer 12-Family limestone that listed for $1.15M and sold for $1.135M.  $200/sqft in Crown Heights??  Slam-dunk!

Fawncy 3-Family in Fort Greene?  That'll set you back $2M.  107 St. Felix Street closed for $1.95M.

The $700K Condo Game in Prime Fort Greene: 69-71 South Oxford Street

We saw how the $700K condo game looks in the best parts of Brooklyn creeping east towards Crown Heights.  Now let's see what $700K gets you in prime Fort Greene.  69-71 South Oxford Street is a huge building with a great look to it in about as sweet a Fort Greene location as you could hope for.  But don't expect a neat, clean finished product with recent finishes like this for under $600K anymore...

No, nowadays for $700K you're looking at a sweet 1,000+ sqft. duplex shell of condo that needs to be all finished out...

The same killer arched windows, but this place needs some touching up.

Oh, and did we mention?  It's in contract above asking price.  All those folks looking for townhomes in the $700K range with Fort Greene still unrealistically sitting on their short-list of desired neighb's, maybe seeing that fixer-upper condos go for more than that now will demonstrate where this market's really at.

Pro's:  location, curb appeal, price point, great arched windows, duplex, 1,000+ sqft condo canvas

Con's:  needs a bunch of work, gone already above ask

Ideally:  to us this looks like a sweet project for the right buyer

Rental Watch: Prime Park Slope "Jr. 1BR"

When we heard about a "Jr. 1BR" rental in Park Slope for $1,700/month, we rushed over to take a look.  The front apartment on the top floor of a brownstone on a great block in Park Slope with a glimpse of skyline views??  Sounded like a value to us.  Two legit rooms, one with exposed brick, a little kitchenette...

It won't wow you, but we're sure it's a value to the die-hard Park Slope fan compared to what this gets you for floor-thru's as far as Bed-Stuy & Crown Heights.

Owner says it's available immediately.  Contact us for more details.

Clinton Hill Tweener Play: 138A Classon Avenue

On Platinum Member radar just before it came out, 138A Classon Avenue is a 4-Family on the northern ridge of Clinton Hill towards Williamsburg asking $1.1M.  While it won't win any beauty contests, especially not from picky end-user buyers, this is actually an interesting look at 4 turnkey apartments delivered vacant with Pratt rentals written all over it.  For years now, Myrtle Avenue development and commercial gentrification has actually surpassed the Fulton corridor in more prime Clinton Hill closer to a city-bound train.  While this isn't the prettiest block by any stretch, it still beats vinyl-siding for this price in Greenpoint and any condo as an investment.

This isn't a story about original details, but it's also not a gut renovation.  If you want 4 mortgage-able units within striking distance of the most coveted neighb's in Brooklyn, this is about as good as it gets these days in this price range, west of Nostrand...

People have been poking north of Myrtle for value for as long as we can remember.  Some are actually bullish on the Navy Yard area in general.  Even 17' wide over here has fetched these prices.  From where we stand, there's nothing stopping this from being a buy anywhere under $1M.

Pro's:  technically Clinton Hill, totally turnkey, delivered vacant, rental income potential, proximity to Burg, price flexibility?

Con's:  narrow, generic renovation, quirky block, far from a city-bound train

Ideally:  stroll down Myrtle over here and tell us this isn't the future rental home of the uber-hip

The $700K Condo Game Creeps East: 475 Sterling Place, #3A

Gone are the days of the $700K 2BR condo in the neighborhoods that even Brooklyn novices can get their heads around.  Not long gone, mind you.  We kept you laced all last year with some of the finest looks at $700K condos in the top neighb's.  Not just once, or twice, or even thrice, but four times!  We even read the tea leaves for you.  And we told you to fear not the brownstone.  And while that was busy sinking in, we were busy moving some of the sweetest pieces of $700K townhome in all of Brooklyn - including Crown Heights winners like 1379 Pacific Street and 1148 Sterling Place.  While we watched developers chop Park Slope 8-Fam's into million dollar condos, we showed you where to go to get the best places ~$700K can buy.  Gems like 1054 Dean Street, 1077 Dean Street, 272 Sterling Street, and 986 Park Place.  Where do you find all these winners?  Usually in Crown Heights.  Now guess who's got multiple offers, including cash offers, for two different $700K+ condos these days?  Gulp... the edge of Crown Heights!  You heard that right.  Crown Heights - once your personal Discount Shoe Warehouse of $700K brownstones - now has cash offers on $700K+ condos??

People slice Prospect Heights and Crown Heights differently.  Ask the hipster girl who moved here two years ago working at the coffee shop on Classon, and she'll tell you she's in Prospect Heights.  We'll call Classon the cut-off, which puts the condo at 475 Sterling Place, #3A for $715K smack-dab in the cross-hairs.  If we actually need to tell you how this place is close to the 2/3 train, the Brooklyn Museum, Prospect Park, the best of both worlds between Franklin Avenue, Washington Avenue and Vanderbilt Avenue... then you're already tardy to the party.  Rest assured, this isn't your father's Crown Heights from a generation ago, or even Cappa Donna's Crown Heights from a decade ago.

It may not wow you, but this is a totally legit look at 2 real bedrooms, 2 real bathrooms, washer/dryer in the unit, a roof deck, a gym, parking behind the building, floor-to-ceiling windows & new finishes, all in a prime location that's only getting primer.  Around the corner from fixer-uppers pushing $2M, buyers of these condos step out their front door to feast on kimchi tacos, garlic shrimp, various boudgie pizza options, and all the things that give even the grimiest neighb's that certain seal of approval.  If you missed your chance to hear live music from Bar Tabac pouring into your window in Boerum Hill for these prices last year, now you can hear the old-timey music from Tom's Restaurant out your front window at 475 Sterling Place...

We guarantee you that shovels in the ground across the street from here will be asking more per square foot than this by the time they're done.  Activity like this may be why that search for a renovated townhouse for $700K that pays for itself in rental income is getting harder & harder to find within earshot of the Franklin-Washington Avenue corridor.  But don't take our word for it.  We've said plenty.  Let the market tell the story...


Pro's:  legit 2BR/2bath, fresh condos in a nice building, prime location, great value

Con's:  the secret's out, generic by many's standards, if you can swing it - why not go a mile east and get a townhouse?

Ideally:  if you missed this rush, or want a smaller slice, there's still a 1BR available here under $500K

Quickly In Contract in Crown Heights: 834 Lincoln Place

Barely out for a few weeks, and with lines of folks waiting in the cold for the open house, Cororan's moving a Crown Heights beauty at value pricing compared to every other neighborhood in town.  834 Lincoln Place came out for $1.25M and is in contract already.  Nevermind that literally 1.5 miles west, the cousin to this townhome at 314 Park Place goes for more than double this price - some people will still tell you this location is "an island", "unsafe", etc. rather than seeing the value in it.  People tell us all the time silliness such as, 'only the poor live in Bed-Stuy', while we wonder, 'so how come you can't even afford to live in Bed-Stuy??'  But they don't hear us though.

If you're ahead of the curve, want 4-stories around the corner from the 3 train, and off a vibrant commercial corridor, and you don't wanna pay significantly over $1.5M, there's really almost nowhere else for you to go but a house just like this.

Is the renovation not exactly your taste?  Well, where were you when we were closing 583 Lincoln Place for $1.1M off-market, a perfect canvas off of Franklin to make all yours?  There's a nice fixer-upper coming over here soon, but they still want over a million and are bound to get it in this market.  We weren't kidding when we told you many months ago that Crown Heights is rapidly becoming the worst-kept secret in Brooklyn.


Pro's:  curb appeal, renovation, great Crown Heights location, great value compared to anything else in Brooklyn

Con's:  gone already, no secret, no discount, many will want more rental income than end-user

Ideally:  if any of this comes as a shock to you, where have you been the past 6-16 months?

Closings of Note: Value's Still Out There

Crown Heights does it again with one of the best value buys in all of brownstone Brooklyn this week.  1148 Sterling Place for $650K is like 348 New York Avenue, but with the conversion to gas heat & asbestos abatement already done.  We were in this bad-boy with Platinum Members before it was even on StreetEasy.  Walk around these Crown Heights blocks full of killer housing stock and tell us you wouldn't rather cop one of these homes around $700K than a dinky condo off the beaten path of the already fully gentrified neighb's.

513 MacDonough Street is a great little buy for $499K after listing for $519K.  Gotta go "deep" into Bed-Stuy for deals this nice.

When you're tired of chasing fixer-uppers in Prospect Heights pushing $2M and 17' wide finished products in Park Slope over $2M, it's nice to know you can still settle into a huge mansion in Lefferts Garden just off the park for $1.245M like 58 Maple Street.  Buyers who passed on another gem in this neighb' in this price range over the summer told us they were "really conflicted about wasting that much space on two people", but a 6BR/3 bath 4,200+ sqft single-family fit like a glove.  This neighborhood remains ripe with the best looks under $1.5M in town.

368 Grand Avenue is a cute house on a cute block.  This is what sub-$1.5M in Clinton Hill looks like, people.  For all you Gates gazers, this was right under your nose (though not on Corcoran.com).  And, yes, it needs work.  And, yes, it's less than 16' wide.  But this is about as good as it gets unless you're a cash buyer, ready to finance a way higher purchase price, or ready to head way further east.  Once Cousin John gave it the greenlight, decisive buyers were ready to take the plunge.

Even out on Bond Street, 4 stories in outer Boerum Hill like 201 Dean Street can command over $2.6M with Corcoran.  We'd much rather be in a pre-market finished double-duplex in prime Prospect Heights for this price range that Platinum Members are scoping, but Corcoran knows how to gitter done.

Even the outer edges of Clinton Hill, on the north end between Myrtle and Park, 4-stories command $1.25M for an under-marketed little gem like 127 Clinton Avenue.

Did someone say between Myrtle and Park over a million?  Even 3-stories commands $1.3M with Corcoran at 128 Washington Avenue.