First Comes Flip, Then Comes Reno on Hancock

Folks hold the presses!! 215 Hancock. I know this house all too well! You don't know beauty until you see this home. It has huge potential. The inside was utterly incredible!! Very high ceilings. Triple parlor. Nine fireplaces (floor to ceiling and the widest I've seen). Wainscoting. Pocket doors everywhere. You name it. The woodwork was extraordinary! Plus the former owner was an antique dealer so the place was stacked with numerous fireplaces, pier mirrors and doors in the basement. The extras alone were worth a fortune. However, the house needed a lot of repair, e.g., no kitchen and all baths had to be gutted (not to mention the missing front doors - stolen by poachers). With $300-400k of work, one could've done an incredible restoration job. Once finished you'd have a beautiful mansion (over 5,000 sq. ft. w/ two story extension). I wanted to keep it as a grand single family: would've been a shame to cut it up.

The potential and challenge was simply too good to past up, despite the price, worked needed to restore and the Bed-Stuy location. My reasoning? What the heck, folks are paying $1.4m for tiny two bedroom condos in Manhattan with absolutely no character or charm - Why Not!! :-)

I know the house because I was in a bidding war....arrgghhhh...."against myself"....for the property. LOl! The Seller, an investor/flipper who bought the property at auction 5/04 for $525k, was extremely shady and ultimately went with another buyer who never had the cash to begin with! The seller was in contract with the eventual buyer at $899,000 for over 5 months (3/05-8/05). Buyer couldn't get financing, seller refused to return deposit and the deal was eventually done with seller giving back paper (at god knows what terms!). I made an offer of $925,000 a few days after offer acceptance and contract delivery but was too late to break up the pending deal back in late 3/05. However, the seller made my offer the back up offer which I was very happy about and I held out hope.

When the seller found out that the buyer was unable to obtain financing, the seller said he would accept my higher offer. However, he stated that he couldn't sign the contract because he had to wait for the contract period to expire (recall he was very determined to keep the poor guy's deposit). When the contract expired, he accepted my offer of $925,00 and we signed a letter of intent, with no finance contingency. To my chagrin, he stalled repeatedly on delivering the contract to my attorney. He kept me in limbo for another two months as the original buyer was threatening suit for the return of his deposit. Seller eventually inked a sweetheart deal with the buyer in 6/05 and closed in 8/05.

It was one of those classic New York real estate situations that stretched for months and months, constantly giving you hope at one moment and then ripping out your heart the next! Man, I wanted that house! Would've paid a $1 million for it. Yes, in Bed-Stuy- it was that incredible! I ended up paying close to that amount months later for a single family limestone in Stuy Heights on a landmark block (over 4,000 sq. ft) that needed very little work. I still have my eyes set on this property and if it ever came back on the market, I wouldn't blink an eye......

Posted by: BrownBomber at January 27, 2006 5:53 PM

I have about 50 pics of the interior at home!! Where do I send? I still want the damn place!! Offered more money, offered to close in two weeks with no finance contingency but no deal! I was heart broken. The place I eventually bought is awesome too but this house was truly special; one of a kind. It was fit for a King!!! I asked my fiancee back then to pinch me - "where we on the Upper East Side, Brooklyn Heights or was this truly Bed-Stuy?" And I agree with the previous post, that part of Bed-Stuy should be landmarked. Some of the best housing stock in all of NYC and it's contiguous for about 5 square blocks! Call it "Bedford Heights" or whatever but it's a shame that this brownstone section of BS gets lumped in with the other 15% of crap in that neighborhood. The area needs to be protected and preserved. Long beautiful, tree lined blocks with incredible homes. I seriously hope the present owner does the property justice. Every now and then I drive by the building just to see what's happening with it. Owner, if you're out there and you want to sell, please email me. I'm very much interested.

Posted by: BrownBomber at January 27, 2006 6:15 PM

The flipper. a Russian in his early forties, was equally shocked when he discovered this jewel. He paid for it "sight unseen" at a public auction". At auction you have to put 10% down in cash "day of" and provide the balance in 30 days. The property was highly sought after b/c of its size, location and listing as a multi-family invesment property. But no one had any idea what was inside. It's simply blind bidding. The flipper thought that he had overpiad for the property at $525k. Equally interesting was the fact that he was under the impression that he was buying a five family that needed some sheet rock, paint job, and a cheap Home Depot renovation for a quick turnaround sale. Well he got the shock of his life! Desipte the water damage and the gross state of disrepair, the woodwork was incredible. Everything appeared to be made of solid, thick, massive red mahogany wood with very fine detail! I quickly wondered who had this house built, who was the architect, and who lived here? The floors were solid (various types of floors throughout) as was the massive and commanding staircaise. Just beautiful. I've gone on many house tours in FG, CH, BS and SH, but this home was like nothing else. Everything was significant, from the base boards, wainscoting, chair rails, crown mouldings to the coffered ceilings. The place was stacked with details. All the doors were thick, heavy and finely carved. Even better - the bonus was the random assortment of extra fireplaces, doors and pier mirrors that was simply laying everywhere! I could've done a complete renovation of another property with the stuff.

Ohhh...I found the old listing. Photos are not great but you can get a sense of things.

http://www.ardorny.com/propertysearch/sales_search_details.asp?id=171200#

I really kick myself in the butt for missing out on this house because my fiancee had sent me the listing two months prior and I totally blew her off because I was intent on "moving on up" from Clinton Hill (not selling just moving) to Carroll Gardens. By the time I finally came to my senses and circled back to the hood, I found this hidden masterpiece but it was already too late. Like the saying goes, "Ya got to feed the ducks while they're quaking!"

For some strange reason, I think that the flipper and his partners sold the house to the buyer in such a way that they still own a percentage of the property and could get it back in the event of loan default. I always thought something strange was happening. If you're in contract and the buyer can't close and you have a higher backup offer from a highly qualified buyer with no finance contingency, then you give back the deposit to the first and move on with the second. But that never happened.

Posted by: BrownBomber at January 28, 2006 7:43 AM

And the building is really 22x75 on the first two floors (garden and parlor) as the property has a two story extension. The other three floors are 22x45. Brownstoner, I'll try to get the other pics to you this weekend.

Posted by: BrownBomber at January 28, 2006 7:50 AM

I hate to be a snob but this section of Bedford-Stuyvesant definitely needs to be designated a historic district. Bed-Stuy is too large of a community (the largest neighborhood in New York City). It deserves to be broken up for various socio-economic-political reasons. Stuyvesant Heights is a beautiful community but it gets dragged down by the 15% of the Stuy that's essentially nothing but projects and crap. Having the historic designation of Stuyvesant Heights next to the proposed "Bedford Heights" creates a formidable base that can really catapult the community and serve as a catalyst for future growth and development. It's in everyone's interest to get the historic designation completed, including Clinton Hill since its South Eastern border is adjacent to the proposed "Bedford Heights". There are already a handful of ad hoc organizations working on this initiative but they need all of Brooklyn's support. The A/C train line (10-15 mins from Manhattan) connects Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, "Bedford Heights" and Stuyvesant Heights. These communities are indelibly tied to one another for better or worse and they will be as strong as its weakest link. Fulton Street is the last frontier and under NO CIRCUMSTANCE can the battle for Fulton Street be lost. If we lose Fulton, forget about everything east of Flatbush Avenue.

Posted by: BrownBomber at January 28, 2006 5:19 PM

CHP, I totally agree with you. The socio-economic problems that plague the community must be addressed in a real and credible way. No question about it.

Posted by: BrownBomber at January 29, 2006 8:06 AM