Closings of Note: A Matter of Perspective

Bedford - Atlantic Intersection in 1896

Brooklyn Chicken Littles, remember the 1890's when all these amazing New York brownstones were built?  Ok, neither do we.  But remember the 1990's when 25' wide houses on the Upper West Side a block from Central Park could be picked up for under $2M?  Well, now those same houses sell for well over $10M.  But, as first reported on BKTTF, it turns out that the Upper West Side is precisely as many express stops from lower Manhattan as Prospect Heights.  So can we really be shocked that Prospect Heights houses have gone from $1.5M to $3M in the past 2-3 years?

And if you can bear the stigma (why'd you even have a stigma again?) of such perceived outer-reaches as ~Harlem~ (a mere 2-3 trains stops further from the Upper West Side) you'll find even TV stars dropping some serious coin for townhomes there.  Like your boy Neil Patrick Harris' "recording setting" $4M house on 126th Street in Harlem.  Listen to him tell ya Harlem's "more bang for your buck".  Crazy, we know...

Remember what $4M looked like in Park Slope 2-3 years ago?  At high profile house 178 Garfield Place, that was purchased for $1.3M back in 2004...

And celebrity homes in Brooklyn are commanding over $7M these days.  Like this one purchased for $3.6M in 2005...

So you don't have to like that 2011-2012's $1.5M's houses in Clinton Hill and Prospect Heights are among the $3M+ houses today, but you can't pretend there isn't a much bigger pond with much bigger fish in it that these numbers are all a part of.  As we've said, nobody promised you Brooklyn could or would stay your personal Discount Shoe Warehouse for brownstones forever.  And those numbers in those Brooklyn neighborhoods are precisely why the $800K-$900K houses from 2011-2012 in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights are among the $1.6M+ houses today.  And $3M is knocking on Bed-Stuy's door now too. 

As it's always been, it is what it is.  Let's take a case-by-case look at a few of today's Brooklyn prices...

We tried to tolja that 368 Grand Avenue was one of the best buys under $1.5M in 2012, even if it's super narrow.  Owners asked us this year if it's worth over $2M, we said yes, and had 2 off-market Platinum Member examples of why.  The house listed for $2.1M and sold for over $2.3M last month.  This is exactly why all you jokers with $500K down and pre-approved up to $2M - while, god bless ya, that's a lot of money and earnings you've got going on there - can't find a turnkey 20'-wide 2-3 Family with an owner's duplex or triplex and rental income for $2M.  Or even, $2.3M, or even $2.5M.  Heck, 395 Grand is in contract pushing $3M, 102 Gates Avenue has turned down offers well over $3M, and 384 Vanderbilt Avenue is closing for $3.5M cash.  Are you keeping up?  The money simply has nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.  So when a few of the people who can play ball in & around $2M start seeing this activity and can't get in Clinton Hill anymore, that's when you start seeing the $2M+ head to Classon and beyond.  And now $3M is coming up on Classon.

With all this Clinton Hill activity, now even the narrow fixer-uppers can command over $2.3M.  No wonder investors were eager to pick up 331 Washington Avenue for $1.9M in June and try to flip it for some $2.5M.  The off-market flip didn't work, but the Corcoran approach did.  Closed for $2.55M to Manhattan buyers last month.  17' wide fixer-upper pricing is no joke!

What does $1M look like in Brooklyn these days?  How about an apartment by the highway on the edge of south Slope at 166 16th Street last month.  Manhattan buyers got #9A for almost $1,000/sqft.  556 State Street condos had another closing just under $1M last month too.

Since $1M condos in Park Slope are such slim pickings, you're seeing them make their way towards Bed-Stuy.  Take this sweet lil' loft at 317 Greene Avenue, #4B between Classon and Franklin.  Closed last month for $925K.  $700/sqft in Bed-Stuy, here we come!  No wonder larger condo conversion opportunities in Bed-Stuy are outpacing even those in Prospect Heights sometimes on the right blocks in the $300/sqft range.

All this makes 145 Jackson Street, #2B in Williamsburg - even at $1,000/sqft - sound tame.  Closed in September for $750K.  In 2008, these were all under $500/sqft.

What does $1.6M look like in Brooklyn these days?  How about a condo at 52 Dean Street, #2C?  Closed last month for $1.6M and available to rent for $6,500!

When $1.6M is consistently merely a condo in Boerum Hill, no wonder peeps are heading "deep" into Bed-Stuy for a townhouse like 178 Macdonough Street for $1.53M last month.  Buyers from downtown Brooklyn pulled it off with some ~$300K down.  Nobody's saying 178 Macdonough is the next 178 Garfield, but does it even have to be?

Crown Heights Corner Buy & Hold Just Sold: 70 New York Avenue

One of the absolute best buy & hold properties available in all of Brooklyn this year has closed.  70 New York Avenue is a hefty little corner piece at Pacific Street, just off of Nostrand Avenue.  A 22' by 90' building with 8 apartments used as 3 bedrooms, this is 8,000 square feet of pre-war Crown Heights corner goodness.  All stabilized units grossing very little at the moment, but with massive potential.  People act like real estate is so complicated, but price per bedroom is one of the simplest, most important metrics in all of town.  And the Crown Heights area has seen a huge increase in that metric.  These real estate investment funds run around town with highfalutin categories like "value plus", which are really just fancy institutional ways of saying "raise the rent".  And based on all kinds of comps, including even the most generic modern renovation just down the street at 1329 Pacific Street, rents in these apartments have the capacity to triple:

That's right, 2 years ago someone paid $1.5M for a smaller property on this block that was an SRO in need of a gut at 1329 Pacific.

So, "investors" - if that is your real name! - please check your gripes at the door about the current rent roll on 70 New York Avenue.  This property sold a few weeks ago for $1.725M, or barely over $200/sqft.  People are paying $200 per buildable square foot over here, like 906 Prospect Place.  And that's just a vacant lot full of dirt!  Wouldn't you rather buy actual bones for $200 a foot than something you had to spend another hundreds of dollars a foot do develop?  Different strokes for different folks, we know - but if you claim to be a buy & hold investor and didn't take a stab at this one, it's more of a "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?!" situation.

We watched a few different folks who should've bought this property whiff.  However, someone did score big over here, and on another corner 8-Family right across the street.  Now people that hated on this one are calling us about smaller properties on way worse blocks for the same price.  SMH.


What makes the New York Avenue corner play so genius is the sweet spot between rental income potential that's super profitable for the owner, even at a relative market value for the tenants.  You Chicken Littles keep telling us, "It can't keep going up and up and up" - and it doesn't have to!  We're talking big upside at existing market rents.  Have you seen the price per bedroom rates one stop west on Franklin Avenue recently?  They can easily exceed $1,200 for the right product, and can often reach $1,600.  Whereas 70 New York Avenue is a 12-cap at $1,000/BR.  That is a great range to play with.  This is the next 706 Classon Avenue, and you ain't even know it!



Pro's:  hefty corner spot full of windows just off the next tree ring in Crown Heights growth, huge upside potential, extra-long floorplate, 3BR apartments, one of the best buy & holds in Brooklyn all year, wasn't even all cash

Con's:  gone already, work to be done, stabilized rents are low, crazy high GRM at existing rents, barely marketed, no pics inside, hard to finance and took non-contingent deal, another woulda/coulda/didn't notch on a lot of investors' belts 

Ideally:  this is a slam dunk anywhere under $2M.  We've received off-market offers higher than this on smaller 8-Families in way less preferable locations.

Crown Heights Gem Closes Under a Million: 1211 Dean Street

Yesterday we showed you a Crown Heights castle off of Nostrand that Platinum Members finally locked down off-market after months of stalking.  But you can't win 'em all.  Cue another beauty off of Nostrand that Platinum Members have been stalking for months, 1211 Dean Street.  This fully-occupied house on one of Crown Heights' favorite blocks was shopped to us off-market in the beginning of this year as an SRO for $1.2M.  Platinum Members immediately put in an all-cash offer, but the lead went cold.  The types of deals that don't hit the open market often have reasons behind it that the average retail buyer doesn't understand.  This one was no different.  If it was vacant and had fancy pictures and was easy to find and ready to sell ASAP, you bet the price would've soared over $1.2M anyways.  Heck, nearby, people have paid $1.3M-$1.7M cash for places in worse condition than this.  Like 843 Prospect Place, which was picked up for $800K and flipped for $1.385M within a year, without doing anything besides getting it empty...

So if we brought sight-unseen offers of $1.2M cash many months ago, no wonder local gobblers were eager to pick up 1211 Dean Street, even with estate feuding and a supposed-SRO full of tenants, for $800K a few weeks ago.  But when you see this closing price, don't get jealous, unless you really know what it takes to duplicate it.  And, word on the street is, there was some big money involved besides just the $800K recorded price.  20' x 50' on 4 stories with this kind of curb appeal, original details, on a block this nice, near the train, just off of Nostrand, regardless of condition, commands a much higher price than this.  And one of the niftiest parts of all is, it's actually not an SRO.  While the finders didn't do their homework, we're sure the buyers did.  If any work is done at all to it, the next time you see 1211 Dean Street, the house will have a 2 in front of the price tag.  And, no, peanut gallery, that's not called "touting", that's called "fair warning".  An owner on this block told us he's turned down an offer of $3M for his renovated beauty this same size.  We can't tell a ~$20B/year industry what to do, but we can tell you what it's doing.



Pro's:  full sized historic gem with tons of curb appeal on a flagship Crown Heights block, not an SRO, easily worth double what they paid for it with any significant work, a great project in the making

Con's:  no pics, no access inside, fuzzy access to the deal itself, supposed-SRO, full of potentially regulated tenants, downright impossible to finance, probably took more than the recorded price, could be dead money for years, we took 'no' for an answer

Ideally:  kind of kicking ourselves on this one.  Should've gone straight to the source.  An amazing buy for someone else though.

Mansion in Contract in Crown Heights: 669 St. Marks Avenue

Wow, it doesn't get much more special than this as over-sized townhomes go.  After months of push & pull, Platinum Members finally locked down this unique Queen Anne style mansion from 1888 that our main man Morgan Munsey says was designed by architect E.G.W. Dietrick.  669 St. Marks Avenue won't be found on your StreetEasy or your NYTimes.  This Crown Heights gem was a Platinum Member exclusive.  What makes this house so special, besides its front porch and ionic columns?  Well, it's a monster 30-feet wide.  It's got a driveway and windows on the unattached side...

On an extra-deep 127' lot, the driveway leads back to a two-story carriage house turned garage...

Some of the interior is old-school grandeur.  Some of it has been updated to generic-but-serviceable condition, but the proportions are still grand...

What's the move on something like this?  If some of it's already blown-out modern, do you just go all the way 743 Dean Street with it??

Some people are talking condos, some say a roof deck over a studio over a garage in the carriage house, some say a massive 1 or 2-Family.  The possibilities are endless.  We already saw 27' wide rowhouse go in contract across the street with an asking price of $2.95M at 672 St. Marks Avenue.  We saw Platinum Members blow it out across the street at 660 St. Marks Avenue with a nice blend of materials and old & modern looks.  We're looking forward to putting some of Brooklyn's Finest on the case for restoration & reno on 669 St. Marks Avenue.


Pro's:  huge, unique size & proportions, not your typical rowhouse, driveway with carriage house, great block with a variety of nice architecture, ballin' like Brooklyn Heights at Crown Heights prices

Con's:  gone already, tough to tackle, wasn't cheap, lots of work to be done

Ideally:  an historic Crown Heights castle with the potential for an epic project in the making

Price Drop in Prospect Heights on HomeCanvasr 2-Family: 658 Dean Street

This just in, not every property in NYC sells on the open market.  Brick Underground was the latest to cover the topic in their multi-part series about "Whisper Listings".  There are all kinds of reasons why this happens, but regardless of the reasons, we're all about hearing about any & all properties as soon as possible.  That's why we were patiently waiting weeks to get into this one in Prospect Heights.  Available first and only on HomeCanvasr.com, 658 Dean Street is a totally turnkey 2-Family just off of Vanderbilt Avenue that's just reduced its asking price from $2.3M to $2.2M, and we're told they'd even go for $2.15M.  The house underwent a total gut renovation in 2007 with new mechanicals, new skylights, and a new roof.  It's set up as an owner's duplex on top (with exclusive access to the backyard) plus a rental unit on the first floor.  Even the basement is finished, and was most recently used as a nifty little recording studio.  It's not everyone's style without original details, but quick and affordable paint and kitchen & bath upgrades would take this thing to the next level overnight...

A solid 20' x 50' house on a 110' lot.  We're even kinda diggin' the steal beams across the backyard, where you can cook out, or just enjoy the smells from nearby Chuko...

You even get some skyline views from the top floor front bedroom, and even better from the roof...

When just a few blocks away on Vanderbilt people are duking it out over houses from $2.3M-$3.5M, this is looking like one of the better plays around $2.2M in town.  This is like Atlantic Commons with more of a Prospect Heights feel.  A little rich for our blood, but has great potential for all kinds of end-users who want to put the finishing touches on a house and could care less about original details.  If you can find a better house for $2M or less, buy it!  Or, if you want one that needs a lot more work but costs less, go and figure out this weekend why neighbor 652 Dean Street can't move yet with Corcoran for $1.9M.  But 2 blocks from Brooklyn's billion dollar stadium doesn't come cheap these days.  Anything cheaper than that and you're talking condos in Prospect Heights.  And even those come with hefty $1,500+/month maintenance fees instead of $2,600+/month rentals.


Pro's:  totally turnkey, prime Prospect Heights, suits Vanderbilt Avenue lovers, close to every other Brooklyn neighborhood, the work left to be done is "the fun stuff", finished basement, nice yard

Con's:  generic style, no original details, Atlantic Yards extension across the street will be developed someday, really 3-stories not 4

Ideally:  another great look at something that no one else has but HomeCanvasr.com

Closings of Note: Spooky Prices

 

In honor of Halloween, we're bringing you some of the scariest sales in Brooklyn.  Prices that will make you think you've seen a ghost.  Despite spooky signs for the housing market on the macro-level nationwide, try telling that to anyone still looking for a house in Brooklyn for the price of an apartment in Manhattan.  Did you know that Brooklyn's population is higher than Manhattan's by some 1 million inhabitants?

Remind us again why Brooklyn's supposed to remain less than half-off forever?

Speaking of Manhattan prices, where over 500 apartments sell each year for $1.5M+, cue the search for the $1.5M house in Park Slope.  "But don't tell us you have to go further than 9th Street!"  Oh yes, it gets much scarier than that.  You may have to go all the way out past South Slope, past Windsor Terrace, to Greenwood.  Yes, the neighborhood named after the cemetery!

 ....where 216A 22nd Street listed for $1.3M just closed for $1.51M.  Over asking price, 18' wide, only 30' deep, and where did the buyers come from??  None other than 9th Street in Park Slope!  They must feel like the walking dead trudging those next 11 blocks home, right?

Or not.  Or maybe that's just the best house they could find at that price and 11 blocks in Brooklyn - just like in Manhattan - doesn't necessarily spell zombie apocalypse.

Another number that spooks people is $2M as it creeps further and further towards Bed-Stuy.  Another house on Classon joins the ranks as 450 Classon Avenue closes for ~$2.25M.  Check, where's that buyer from again?  Park Slope!  (AKA, the only place you Brooklyn rookies think is suitable for you.)  Hearing Bed-Stuy and two million dollars in the same sentence is enough to scare anyone.  Wait until you see the $3M+ properties set to close there!

But houses on the edge of Bed-Stuy and Clinton Hill aren't commanding $2M+ for no reason.  Homes in Clinton Hill proper are selling with $2M downpayments.  357 Washington Avenue, a single-family frame house, sold for $2.64M last month to buyers from Chelsea.  Over asking price and almost $1,000/sqft.

And that's not even the scariest $2M down purchase of a single-family Brooklyn home from a Manhattan buyer last month.  Don't miss 305 Degraw Street in Carroll Gardens fetching $7M last month!  And its not the only house in this area fielding $7M attention.  Makes us wonder what another 25' wide off-market shell could look like over here if the right people put a million into it.  If spooky sales like these keep you up at night, rest assured that this would be a $12M-$20M house almost anywhere in Manhattan.

Another single-family pick up not far away at 112 Nevins Street is "a triple mint carriage house" with a sick ppsf and a price that sounds almost pedestrian at $2.1M (compared to $7M), closed last month.

Certainly one can run from the flesh-eating price point of $2M for single-family homes by heading to the perceived far-out reaches like Prospect Park South, right?  Well, not if Corcoran has anything to say about it.  120 Stratford Road is certainly a gorgeous gem just off the park on an okay block that's on few people's radar.  Watch out for what this might spell for Ditmas pricing.

Almost $2M for a tweener block in Bed-Stuy that's not a cherry-mint end-user gem right out the box?  A few underwhelming interior pics, no Corcoran open house, barely even marketed?  That said, 72 Herkimer Street was kind of a steal for an 8-Family with 5 vacant units at $1.8M last month.  No wonder people were tripping over themselves for the house next door when it was asking $1.3M barely on the market a few months ago.

 

Another location that spooks some people is the corner of Nostrand Avenue and Sterling Place in Crown Heights.  A no-brainer corner like this houses Chavela's one train stop away, but here people still treat like it's off-limits.  This huge 43' x 100' mixed-use building at 713-725 Nostrand listed for $4.5M and transferred recently after supposedly being in contract just under $4M.  We toured the commercial space on the 2nd floor that looked like a haunted/abandoned club from another era in Crown Heights.  If those walls could talk!

If you can make it all the way out past Ralph Avenue to the Bed-Stuy / Bushwick border at 900 Jefferson Avenue, you'll see another scary sight.  Corcoran takes a quick flip and sells it to buyers from downtown Brooklyn for $995K.  That's right, the million dollar fixer-upper is alive & well in Bed-Stuy.  Except it's 3 stories, further out than your favorite block, and it needs a ton of work.

Why would someone pay $995K for a fixer-upper all the way out there?  Probably because the generically renovated 3-stories command even more.  863 Jefferson Avenue closed for $1.3M last month.  Add this to the "this is why Franklin Avenue isn't a million" list, please.

If you can take on scary things like as-is 3-story houses, all-cash deals, full of tenants, right by the highway, and lot of time & money to fix it up - then maybe you can get a fixer-upper in Park Slope for the price of one in Bed-Stuy.  That's exactly what experienced folks from Williamsburg did at 68 16th Street for $990K on a $1.499M listing.

Manhattan buyers are still trudging to the haunts of Brooklyn where this mixed-use building at 533 Park Place sold for $1.35M last month.  We remember when they didn't wanna pay this price for turnkey mixed-use on Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights.  Now they proudly proclaim this block as "Prime Crown Heights" - and we can't blame 'em.  Nice broker got a nice price for a vacant building in a quiet-but-prime patch of Crown Heights.

Nearby, on a grungy block, your Prospect Heights home under $1.6M awaits you.  Wait, is that a home or a haunted stack of cinder blocks and some metal?  No matter what you call it, 949 Pacific Street is "partially constructed and delivered with active permits and approved plans for 4,120 SF gross SF and calls for four units, including three floor-through one bedroom apartments and one duplex two bedroom penthouse apartment" and sold for $1.585M.  No wonder 934 Pacific Street did what it did.  We've got another off-market deal here on Dean shooting for $1.4M-ish and - with the right moves - might get it.

Your million dollar Clinton Hill home awaits!!  Eek, except it's pretty gnarly new construction.  Like Fedders without even getting the Fedders.  And it's over a million.  Narrow, generic, and between Myrtle & Park - at least it's turnkey, has rental income, a backyard, and costs less than many condos.   103 Waverly Avenue closed for $1.1M.