The Directory: Real Estate Attorneys

New to the Directory section of the blog, it's a real estate attorney!  Readers and Platinum Members are always asking us for a recommendation for an attorney to do due diligence on a deal, handle a closing, and all kinds of other needs.  Whether you're working with a broker or not, you'll need an attorney to handle your contract and closing.  Accepted offers on price and terms may abound, but nothing is legally binding in a real estate purchase until a fully executed contract for sale is signed by both parties and money changes hands.  Your broker can ask for the moon & the stars, and all kinds of stuff can end up on the deal sheet, but the legally binding nitty-gritty is typically hammered-out by the attorneys.

In some states, like Florida, the real estate agents actually write-up the contracts themselves - usually on a standard form with lots of blanks to fill.  In New York, the real estate agents pretty much hand things off to the attorneys once price and terms are agreed on.  Usually the seller's attorney sends a contract, and things are put in motion.

Alexander Hakopian is an attorney who's held it down for Platinum Members in co-op purchases, multi-family purchases, and even landlord-tenant issues.  He's been available to turn contracts around quickly when needed, and has helped hold tricky deals together when the going got tough.  So we're happy to have him on board for the Directory.

Projects: Sterling Place Renovation

When Platinum Members catch one of the next-best buys in all of Crown Heights, it's nice to see the renovation coming along smoothly.  Owners were kind enough to share a few updates on their very DIY-friendly process.

You never know what you'll find when you peel back 3 layers of floor.  Alas, nice original hardwood flooring, also protected under the carpet in other rooms...

Taking down some wall to expose that brick...

Some light demo...

Stained floors came out nicely...

These floors sanded & stained...

Slap a little tile down in one of the kitchens...

Painting...

Also turning out nicely...

 

The nice thing about this house is all the mechanicals were already updated and in good condition, so the rest to be done was the fun stuff.  The next house this nice on the block ostensibly wants more, but we think they'll get it in due time.

Crown Heights 2-Family at Condo Prices: 202 Schenectady Avenue

On Platinum Member radar for a few weeks before it came out, 202 Schenectady Avenue is a 2-Family "deep" in Crown Heights that's more affordable than many condos.  With condos in South Slope trading around $850/sqft, and condos in the towers in downtown Brooklyn asking as much as $1,000/sqft, it's nice to see a barrel-front townhouse listed at under $200/sqft.  If the new asking prices throughout town are you giving you the same altitude sickness they're giving us, take a little comfort in how relatively affordable the asking price of $569K actually is.

With "upgraded mechanicals throughout", there's plenty of room to do the more fun upgrades like kitchens when the pricing's this attractive.

Listing agent Caterina Peters tells us the house compares favorably to a similar 2-Family now in contract that had bids in the high $700K's.  We're sure there's moaning about the Utica stop, but where else you getting 3 stories and a back yard under $600K?  Vinyl siding in Bushwick, perhaps, like 22 Weirfield Street is some of the recent competition at this pricepoint.  We'd take the yard at Schenectady and the trains, but that's just us.

This is worth a look for anyone in the sub-$700K market whose only other comps in this price range are distressed properties bought in cash.  If you missed 1148 Sterling Place a little further west in Crown Heights, this is one of your next-best looks in this price range.


Pro's:  curb appeal, pricepoint, updated mechanicals, some original details, townhouse at condo prices

Con's:  set for some cosmetic upgrades, deeper in Crown Heights that many want to be

Ideally:  a breath of fresh air when coming from all-cash bidding wars in Bed-Stuy

Prospect Heights Co-op Auctioned Today: 806 Washington Avenue, #4D

If you've got a little risk appetite, and you're ready to go head-to-head with some shady characters on the courthouse steps, then this morning you could've stepped right up and gotten yourself a 517 sqft co-op apartment on the top floor of this bow front 8-Family at 806 Washington Avenue for $87K.  With a lien of merely $12,500, the bids ran up pretty quickly.  They even announced at the auction that the $150K in mortgages owed to Citibank had been "extinguished".  Some hair on the deal notwithstanding, this location is no joke.  Steps away from the Brooklyn Museum??  Just 8 stops from Wall Street on the 2 train (so is 96th Street in Manhattan, btws!), you've got a burgeoning avenue just outside with all kinds of new haunts giving this neighb' their gentrification blessing.  Sunshine Co, Kimchi Grill, Tooker Alley, Bar Corvo - all within 2 blocks, especially with spring in bloom - are making people feel like Smith Street in Boerum Hill just a few years ago.  The bacon, egg, & cheese (always one of our top indicators of a neighb's true viability) at Lincoln Station is another game changer that's new to the block.  This neighb' went from reported crack haven, to semi-hipster, to "parents weekend" in the course of a few seasons - to hear some people tell it.  Like a phoenix rising from the ashes.  In fact, a fire two years ago on the next corner took down a huge piece...

And the avenue association even did a little crowd sourcing to see what people want to come in its place...

While 2BR's over here in new buildings around the corner can command $700K+ cash, and 1BR's commanding as much as $500K, picking up even the most distressed co-op for $87K is a good look. Can't wait to see what happens next...

Pro's:  pricepoint, neighborhood, top floor apt

Con's:  gone already, all cash deal, all kinds of uncertainty

Ideally:  we can't see this being a bad move regardless of the uncertainty.  All the risk is priced in at these levels.

New to the Blog: The Directory

Back (for the first time) by popular demand, it's BK to the Fullest's new addition, the "Directory".  Once upon a time, we thought all you needed was a real estate agent to purchase a property.  That can vary, but there are a ton of other players in the industry you most likely will be needing.  Like a lender or mortgage broker to tell you how much house you can afford (unless you're a cash buyer).  Like a real estate attorney to field the contract and guide you to closing.  A home inspector to give you a professional diagnosis of a building.  A contractor and architect to discuss current conditions and the cost & feasibility of proposed renovations.  Even the masters in the renovation biz like Cousin John told us it took him years to put together a "Dream Team" of the best specialists for every aspect of his jobs.  And ever since the blog's inception, we've looked to mimic that with other pro's in Brooklyn's multi-family market.  We've gotten input from folks all around, and had a chance to meet some serious people doing it in the industry.  So when one of them asked us about a Brownstoner-like Directory, we were game.

Our first addition is mortgage broker Vanessa Thatcher of Atlantic Home Capital who came highly recommended by Brownstoner and by a Platinum Member she went to bat for in a tricky deal in Crown Heights.  We saw her grindin' on the deal to make it happen, which is what it takes in this biz.  Vanessa's on the map for multi-family lending in Brooklyn.  So we're happy to have her as the first member of the Directory


We have new fields and new additions to come to the Directory, including some of our go-to people in the industry.  If you're interested in joining, e-mail us at bktothefullest.com@gmail.com

In Contract in Ditmas: 136 Argyle Road

If you're not married to the look of brick, brownstone, & limestone rowhouses that everyone obsesses over, but you still want to be in a picturesque neighb' in Brooklyn, then mosey on down to Ditmas Park where suburban dreams come true.  Full of huge lots with huge yards, detached Queen Anne & Victorian houses with mansard roofs... you'll think you've been whisked from the "ghetto" of Prospect Park South to the outrageously wealthy haunts of, say, Greenwhich, Connecticut.  (As we like to say, "Not that we've actually been to Greenwhich, Connecticut.")  Yes, as if you needed another reminder that Brooklyn was built - if not "by", then certainly "for" - ballers.  136 Argyle Road was another one of these gems not to be slept on.  Platinum Members asked, and we agreed.

Stained-glass windows, decorative columns, oak pocket doors, ceiling beams, parquet floors with killer herringbone patterns, built-in wood cabinetry... this house has all the period details folks gush over.

Oh, and did we mention?  A pool, a garage, a driveway, a front yard, a back yard, a sun porch.  All for the price of a dinky condo a third the size in Manhattan.  You don't have to run to Long Island, Westchester, or Jersey to find this splendor.

Good news is, there are blocks and blocks of these.  Bad news is, they ain't getting any cheaper.


Pro's:  curb appeal, details, yard(s), great block, beats a dinky condo in the city, suburban-style family-friendly housing in Brooklyn?!

Con's:  gone already, needs work, no rental income

Ideally:  another great alternative to chasing $2M+ fixer-uppers in south Slope

Breaking Records in Lefferts: 36 Rutland Road

We told you the $1.8M's are coming to Lefferts Garden.  Brownstoner was quick to report when 36 Rutland Road went in contract for a record-breaking $1.85M.  They jump the gun on these sometimes, but the broker confirmed this one.  When you list for $2.1M in Lefferts, you'd better be able to back it up.  36 Rutland came correct with totally maintained details.  We checked out the first open house the same day a record-breaker in Bed-Stuy was fielding offers.  The pictures don't even do it justice...

This is a solid look at a full-sized four-story bow-front on a great block.  Sure, prices are up at least 20% in Lefferts in just the past year, and it's still a relative value compared to what else is out there.  Kitchen & bath tastes will vary...

But with a double-wide 40' lot with a driveway & garage, this house has what that high-end single-family buyer is looking for.  The initial sticker-shock lingers, but the flagship property in the next-best neighbs trades at these levels.  A year ago you could've gotten 4-stories (not nearly as stunning) for less than this in prime Prospect Heights at 159 Underhill Avenue.  And nowadays even less house over there wants more at 108 Underhill Avenue.  A house like 36 Rutland is probably pushing $3M these days if it's in Prospect Heights, or even more in Park Slope or BoCoCa.  That's why it's relatively easy to break records on the top houses in Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, and Lefferts under $2M.  Big numbers for sure, but they're all relative.  Can't wait to see the next move on this block.


Pro's:  huge mansion with driveway & original details on a great block, one of the top single-family looks around, can really max it out with a few updates

Con's:  pricepoint will shock, not everyone's ready for Lefferts, interior is not everyone's taste, no rental income

Ideally:  where's a better single-fam rowhouse with a driveway within 2 miles of here for this price?