Closings of Note: No Rest for the Low-Ballers

416 Park Place in Prospect Heights listed for $1.55M and closed last month for $1.5M.  This 2-Family was right in line with the market and proved itself so.  Not a lot of product over here, people.  Just wait until you see what 159 Underhill closes for!

41 Garfield Place listed for $1.3M with Corcoran.  So while many whined about its stumpy look, 4th Avenue proximity, single-fam' status, tiny yard, and modest size - someone else picked this bad-boy up for $1.4M last month.

482 President Street, a tiny Gowanus 2-Family listed for $1.349M and sold in May for $1.15M.

143 Lewis Avenue, a tiny Home Depot renovated 2-Family deep in Bed-Stuy with an "Ambulette" driveway on the unattached side, listed for $645K and closed for $615K last month.

839 Prospect Place, one of the top Crown Heights winners still left on the shelf, fell from $849K to close for $800K last month.

362 16th Street asked you to "bring your contractor, architect or designer" to this small, vinyl-siding 2-Family in South Slope.  Listed for $999K, was in contract within a month, closed last month for $1.01M.

285 Court Street is some pretty clutch location for a corner mixed-use spot in prime BoCoCa.  Especially considering how much 228-230 Court Street wants.  285 Court closed last month for $2.3M.

Projects: Windsor Terrace Renovation, Pt. I

(Celebrating our 2 year anniversary!)

Cousin John's at it again with another killer renovation in Brooklyn.  He and the owners were kind enough to give us a sneak peak inside this contemporary Windsor Terrace beauty...

The owners are Mark & Lori Mendelis. Lori is one of our favorite brokers who brought you such gems as 536 Court Street and a nifty condo in 360 Court Street.  And, from what we can tell, her and her husband are simply loving life in Windsor Terrace these days.  Bright wood floors coast seamlessly into the 24' x 24' tile of the tasteful Ikea kitchen with a sliding glass door out to the backyard deck...

We were curious how they'd found the place.  No stranger to the game, Lori says they'd lost a few places while searching and bidding, so they knew what time it was.  They were thinking Boerum Hill, weren't too jazzed on Park Slope proper, and said they really like the old-school neighborhood flavor of Windsor Terrace.  In Fall 2010, before the market rebound was in full swing, they suddenly got beat-out on an 18'-wide place across the street by a slightly lower bid with a higher downpayment.   By chance, they came across this 20' x 50' beauty, listed with a no-name broker.  They took one look at it and had a contract signed in 5 days.  "It wasn't even on-line," Lori told us, "just a sign out front."  Suddenly they're picking up a nice canvas around the corner from Prospect Park and the F train for a nice price.  Now that the renovation's finished, Lori says, "We don't even wanna go out."

Lori says her and Mark had a dark apartment in Cobble Hill, so one of the objectives of the renovation was to achieve as much natural light as possible.  Our iPhone pictures without flash and pics provided by Cousin John don't even capture the feel of light that pours through.  Besides removing the back wall and installing the sliding glass door downstairs, they left the one existing skylight and added two others, including in the baths...

These are very affordable moves that make a BIG difference in the feel of the space.  Even little details like the frosty liner on the window in the tub achieves light and privacy without the need for clunky window dressing...

Lori says she knew they wanted neat, right angles and certain materials and that Cousin John "and the crew were good with that."  Besides Lori's experience from being in & out of homes as a realtor, her husband Mark also works in design, so his sensibility informed a lot of the process.  Once you're doing anything resembling a gut renovation, it's a slippery slope towards doing everything right once.  You don't wanna do a B-minus job now and rip the house up again soon down the road.  So radiant floor heating and central air-conditioning were moves they knew it was time to make.  Lori says achieving the level of finish they wanted within budget was a challenge, but that prioritizing, value engineering, and scouring the country for the discontinued Ikea kitchen cabinets they liked the look of was where they really saved some money.  $1,300 total for cabinets in a caliber of job where people often spend $60K-$80K on cabinets allowed flexibility in other places.  Lori says, "We probably paid more for [Cousin] John than the average contractor, but it was worth it.  With his design background, and having seen the modern renovation he did on Warren Street... plus we know he's not pounding Coor's Lights in our basement."  She says architect-wise they knew what they wanted, they didn't need someone to pick materials, they just needed someone with the same vision to help execute it.

We're impressed with the results.  In our next installment, we'll sit down with Cousin John, hear his take on this renovation, and see a few more photos...

6-Cappin'-It on the Edge of Prospect Heights: 629 Classon Avenue

The commercial real estate listing strategy of many firms in Brooklyn is pretty standard.  Slap a 6% cap on it, throw a set-up together, and call it a day.  629 Classon Avenue is a pretty nice-sized piece at the corner of Pacific and Classon in the industrial corridor of the Prospect Heights to Crown Heights border.  This looks like a well-executed use of a 22' x 70' commercial space with three 1,100 sqft. apartments above.  You get nice finishes commanding pretty high rents and a stylish wine bar/restaurant on the ground floor Thirstbaràvin.

All a few doors down from where T & S Live Poultry shares a wall with a neighboring tire mechanic...

You get a little bit of everything in this area from junk yards and bus stations to bougie glass condos.  Nearby Franklin Avenue, Clinton Hill, and Prospect Heights keeps things interesting over here.  You know we like what these guys did up the hill at Sterling Place and Classon.  Crosby Coffee just stepped in on Bergen and Classon with a stylish build-out:

The homeless shelter at the Bedford-Atlantic Armory was a deal-breaker for some interested in one of the best residential buys of the year at 1142 Dean Street, but it wasn't enough to stop Brownstoner and Goldman Sachs from pouring $30M into 1000 Dean Street.  As they say, and as he's proven in Brooklyn, "If you build it, they will come."

629 Classon Avenue is a standard 6.05% cap rate at its asking price of $1.65M.  Not too much upside at these prices they've achieved, but it is a performing asset that's out-of-the-box ready to go.  It has better cashflow than a residential play like 447 Classon Avenue at $1.35M.  And, beyond the numbers, it's a stylish corner play in a slightly undercover patch of Brooklyn that's poised for another leg up in the near term.  We see more value in repositioning a place we toured today that's 30% cheaper just 2 avenues over, but this is definitely interesting as finished products go.

Pro's:  corner, decent size, stylish, turnkey, big investments going on around it, set it & forget it asset

Con's:  not particularly cheap either, already pretty top of market so not much upside left in the rents for the near-term, 

Ideally:  not our favorite $1.65M in town, but will someone pay up for the style & quality?

Bed-Stuy Waits for No Man: 581 Greene Avenue

If you want a fixer-upper townhouse under $999K, you can forget about Park Slope.  You can forget about Prospect Heights or Clinton Hill for that matter, too.  Luckily, Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy await with blocks of great housing stock with original details inside, but they're not waiting for you either.  You've gotta get out there and do something about it.  Many moaned about the location of 581 Greene Avenue, but that didn't stop 50 other people from going after it.  Listed for $749K barely a month ago, this 4 story 3-Family brownstone "dripping with original detail and charm" is in contract already.  20' x 42' on a 100' lot across from a park?  50 Brooklyn buyers can't be wrong:

If the parquet floors don't get ya, the molding will.  Is the kitchen dated?  You bet it is!

Many buyers actually prefer dated fixer-uppers over turnkey, generic renovations that strip these homes of their period details.  With the money you save going multi-family over condo, you can put some sparkling-new Ikea kitchens (or better) in here, no problem.  Live in an owner's duplex with a yard and get a minimum of $1,400/month from each of your two rentals?  Where do we sign up?

You don't have to go to Manhattan to see the condo/co-op vs. townhouse disparity.  If a huge 3,600 sqft house for under $250/sqft in Bed-Stuy isn't your speed, there are still 2BR co-ops much pricier than this with $1,400/month maintenance charges selling just over 2 miles west of Bed-Stuy in more downtown Brooklyn.  And if you somehow still barely know what Bed-Stuy is, don't worry.  It wasn't long ago that people didn't even know what the internet was.
 
Pro's:  size, original details, pricepoint, across from a park, real backyard, owner's duplex with 2 rentals

Con's:  gone already, not quite train-friendly, Bed-Stuy's no secret anymore, has work to be done

Ideally:  there are plenty more opportunities on these blocks, so make sure you're getting the best of breed

Price Drop in Brooklyn Heights: 102 Pierrepont Street

You know we barely cover Brooklyn Heights.  It's basically the Upper East Side in our book, and it's adorable how many folks treat it like it's deep Brooklyn - even people that live there.  But today's pick is too juicy not to cover.  102 Pierrepont Street just dropped from $3.8M to $3.5M this week.  That's still a ton of money, to be sure, but it's also $525/sqft in a neighborhood where fixer-uppers can easily command close to $1,000/sqft.  One developer even told us they'd underwrite a condo conversion over here at $680K a piece.  Maybe they haven't been following the $700K condo game in Gowanus-y Slope or 4th Avenue Park Slope or North Slope or neighboring Boerum Hill or anywhere in Brooklyn for that matter.  How many people do you think you'd have at the open house for a 20' x 55' condo in prime Brooklyn Heights for $680K a piece?

6 stories just a few blocks from the Promenade?  This is a screaming opportunity on a lot of levels, but you know how Brooklyn goes.  Whether you have $1M or $100M, since there's no one place where all the listings are, it's still needle-in-a-haystack time searching for properties.  And, as we've seen, how and where properties are marketed makes a HUGE difference on sales time and sales price.  Palmese & company aren't going to give you any interior pics or even market the thing in the traditional channels where properties like this are bought, and they probably could care less.  The property is in totally turnkey condition, not that you'd know it.  They openly call out the rent controlled tenant, to their credit.  There are lots of angles they could hype up about the place, but that's simply not their game.  The fact that it was the one-time home of Arthur Miller is a nifty detail worth geeking out about to some.  But these brokers don't care if it was Arthur Miller's or Brooklyn Heights neighbor Norman Mailer.  Mailer once said of Miller, "I can remember thinking, This guy's never going anywhere" - which is how some would-be buyers might feel about the rent controlled tenant at this house.

There's a funky little extension on the back of the house that some portrayed as a deal-breaker, but we think could make a really nifty rear kitchen with a little creative design and some added windows for light.

Any number of other things make this an adorable place to be.  Geek out about St. Ann's across the street for all you top-notch school connoisseurs, or cool off from this heat at the refreshing lemonade stand on your way to a Promenade stroll:

Pro's:  location, size, turnkey, versatile


Con's:  rent controlled tenant, no pics of the inside, listing living under a rock for some (which can be a plus)


Ideally:  whether as a condo conversion, an income rental property, or a single-family home - there are plays to be made here.  (especially compared to what else wants $3M+ in Brooklyn Heights)

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"Price Drop" Sold in Cobble Hill: 319 Degraw Street

Like all of the coveted neighborhoods in Brooklyn these days, Cobble Hill ain't coming cheap.  319 Degraw Street came out a year ago with Brown Harris Stevens and wanted over $3M.  We thought $3.2M was certainly too steep for this narrow 3-Family used as a 1 or 2.  It found a new broker and a new price towards the end of 2011, but $2.6M was still too steep for Platinum Members for just a 16' wide house with an adjacent lot the agent insisted could be sold for some $800K all by itself.  That felt like the "Do as I say, not as I do" we saw on Prospect Place a few months ago.  Selling the lot at $800K supposedly would value the house itself around $1.8M, which is a stretch, but not impossible in this market:

We'd want something more special for $1.8M, but it is what it is.  Who can hate on the backyard deck with the old-school wine press?

The property managed to sell for $2.4M in May, and it will be interesting to see what happens. It's a quirky problem to have.  The adjacent lot could be the most expensive parking space ever.  The owner could sell it or develop it themselves into a separate house.   It could become the garage of an extension ya build to expand the existing 16' wide house onto the full 33' length of the lot.  Any number of possibilities, depending on their goals and their budget, and we're curious to see what happens.

Pro's:  turnkey house now with parking, versatile 33' wide lot, 6,000 sqft buildable

Con's:  existing house is small, but expanding it takes deep pockets

Ideally:  with the right budget, a 33' wide house is the pimpest use of space available over here.