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January 20, 2006
Open House Picks
Park Slope
404 Bergen Street
Nancy McK: Saturday 1-3
BHS: Sunday 11:30-2pm
$1,495,000
GMAP P*Shark
Boerum Hill
494 Warren Street
Corcoran
Sunday 12:30-2pm
$1,290,000
GMAP P*Shark
Windsor Terrace
88 Prospect Park SW
Warren Lewis
Sunday 1-3pm
$885,000
MAPQ P*Shark
South Slope
297 22nd Street
Townsley & Gay
Sunday 1-3pm
$699,000
GMAP P*Shark
Crown Heights
1370 Pacific Street
Mr. Clarke
Sunday 1-2pm
$599,000
GMAP P*Shark
Comments
1370 Pacific Street? In Bed-Stuy?
Seriously, there were no better listings in actual Bed-Stuy????
Posted by: clinton hillbilly at January 20, 2006 11:50 AM
Brownstoner:
I think the wrong pic is up for the South Slope...uh Greenwood Heights....uh South Brooklyn place.
Love the Bergen Street kitchen.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 20, 2006 11:51 AM
you got the wrong photo of the south slope [sic] house -- compare vs the nyt ad.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 20, 2006 11:51 AM
Thanks for the heads-up. Re: Pacific Street, without doing another Corcoran listing, there wasn't much to choose from. It's always a tricky balancing act picking these things, trying to maintain a balance of price ranges, neighborhoods and brokers...
Posted by: Brownstoner at January 20, 2006 11:57 AM
How about picking a property that's actually in Bed-Stuy? That house looks like crap and is practically in East New York.
Isn't the point of OHP to highlight good listings and direct readers to quality properties. I don't care who the realtor is. Corcoran has 9 open houses in Bed-Stuy this weekend, none priced over 799K.
Obviously the evil empire is dominating in the neighborhood, but still. Didn't you buy your house through Corcoran?
Posted by: clinton hillbilly at January 20, 2006 12:11 PM
I think (judging by the ads and pictures) that the Warren St. townhouse is the best deal here, assuming that it is not across the street from some bad housing projects or anything like that.
Posted by: veggieburger at January 20, 2006 12:12 PM
I looked at 88 PPSW last Oct?, back then it was about 100K higher and in need of some work. It was not in bad shape but it had gone to seed,the owners dogs had done a number on the floors and I am not talking about #1or2. Also it felt small and chopped up to me.That said it did have it's charms the least of which was the traffic noise. It was just not for us.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 20, 2006 12:15 PM
Agree with 11:51am poster: the Bergen St kitchen is very pretty in a French country way. Infact the whole house is pretty. While the decorating style may not be to everyone's taste, there's lots of detail and the house looks to be in good condition.
Posted by: Anon at January 20, 2006 1:09 PM
Can I just have the grass from the Boerum Hill back yard?
Posted by: Anonymous at January 20, 2006 1:26 PM
I'm actually curious about last week OHP on Garfield. Did anyone see it, and did it look as good as it did in the photos?
Posted by: petunia at January 20, 2006 1:31 PM
whoops - I meant last week('s ) open house pick.
Posted by: petunia at January 20, 2006 1:32 PM
The 1370 Pacific Street property is actually located in Crown Heights not East New York...I believe that's and up and coming area.
Posted by: FO at January 20, 2006 1:40 PM
did anyone see the Prospect Height house from last week? Looked nice, but over priced @ 1.565
Posted by: chuckdwawa at January 20, 2006 2:04 PM
I don't think I could ever have imagined the day a realtor would be fudging the lines in order place a property in Bed-Stuy.
Posted by: Hal at January 20, 2006 2:38 PM
I guess that means bed-stuy has arrived, huh.
PS it's not fudging, it's miles away
Posted by: clinton hillbilly at January 20, 2006 3:22 PM
it's like when 10 to 15 years ago, everything in brooklyn was either brooklyn heights vicinity or park slope vicinity
Posted by: chuckdwawa at January 20, 2006 3:29 PM
I live down the street from 1370 Pacific St., and it is Crown Heights (I believe Atlantic Ave. is the cutoff).
Posted by: Anonymous at January 20, 2006 3:59 PM
looking at propshark the 22nd street house has no backyard..... and maybe only windows facing street? approx 24'x28'
But from front does look nice
Posted by: Anonymous at January 20, 2006 4:18 PM
Give Bstoner a break. When he posts mostly Corcoran listings, people jump down his throat for only highlighting Corcoran properties and start weaving ridiculous kick-back conspiracy theories.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 20, 2006 4:50 PM
The bergen st house is sweet
Posted by: Anonymous at January 20, 2006 4:54 PM
699 and you want a backyard? AND windows on both sides? where you want me to put ya throne, ya freakin majesty? get outta here!!!
Posted by: frankie spazool at January 20, 2006 5:06 PM
Any good place to check for renting a brownstone in Park Slope?
Posted by: Mark at January 20, 2006 6:13 PM
I also live down the street from the Pacific Street house, and it is just on the Crown Heights side of the border from Bed Stuy. I agree that it is not the greatest house in the world, and is NOT indicitive of the great CH architecture that is evident on the blocks above, behind and on adjacent streets. It is, however, only 4 blocks from the Nostrand Ave A train, and near banks, shopping, and a great Foodtown. That awful bay window ain't nothing money can't fix, and you could do worse. It is nowhere near East New York. I must admit, after moving here from Bed Stuy, I do find it amazing that a realtor would strech to list a prop in BS. They used to go to amazing lengths to keep it out of there. Did you know Clinton Hill stretched as far as Throop Ave?
Posted by: CrownHeightsProud at January 20, 2006 8:18 PM
I looked at 88 PPSW. It is genuinely charming -- unusual for NYC, more New England in feel. I don't remember the floors being in bad shape. It's big drawback is the layout, which is awkard. The rooms are sort of stacked on top of each other. It's tall and narrow and doesn't feel spacious or have a good flow. Even the broker admitted that before he showed it to me. Still, it is a cool house in a lot of ways and right across from the Park. I'm suprised it's languishing on the market for so long.
Posted by: anonymous at January 20, 2006 9:15 PM
The 22nd street house is up the slope from that 9 story Bricolage Abortion.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 20, 2006 11:11 PM
sorry veggieburger, the Warren St. house is, in fact, sandwiched between two housing projects, much like a soy pattie between a whole wheat bun. that block of warren street has no way out.
btw, i think Warren St. has been on craigslist for about 6 months, originally at $1.375m or thereabouts.
Posted by: chuck at January 21, 2006 12:07 AM
It is a complete myth that all housing projects are bad. There are blocks with brownstones that are worse than some projects.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 21, 2006 11:35 AM
22nd Street is in Sunset Park, rather than Park Slope or South Slope.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 21, 2006 12:16 PM
anon 11:35 -- a correct and irrelevant statement. we're not talking about all projects. we're talking about these particular two, which are pretty bad and definitely warrant a discount on the block.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 21, 2006 1:10 PM
Interesting point about brownstone blocks vs. housing projects -- can you be more specific -- which brownstone blocks are worse than which projects? Could be an investment idea.
Posted by: babs at January 21, 2006 7:03 PM
I walk past the projects on Warren St all the time and no one ever bothers me. It might as well be an apartment complex. The projects maybe unattractive but they are well maintained with parking, playgrounds, basketball courts and landscaped gardens.
There are blocks that are entirely frame/aluminum siding 6 to 8 family tenements. I'd rather look at projects then frame tenements. At least disruptive tenants in the projects can be evicted. Disruptive tenants in tenements never get evicted.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 22, 2006 11:52 AM
Ok. A 17 year old kid was shot to death in the hallway of those projects a few days ago. How's that for an "apartment complex."
Posted by: Anonymous at January 22, 2006 1:21 PM
I guess it depends on your definition of "disruptive;" it's easier to disturb people in a 6 - 8 family building than it is in a huge project (or apartment building in general for that matter). Things that pass for disruptive in the houses around me (2 -3 family, mostly owner-occupied) in Brooklyn would be unnoticed in the building on the Lower East Side where I also have an apartment, and certainly even less so in a project.
Evicting a tenant for disruptive behaviour anywhere is extremely difficult, especially if the tenant is current on his/her rent.
Posted by: babs at January 22, 2006 4:28 PM
So what's your point 1:21? Unfortunately, crime and shootings take place in housing projects, and also in apartment complexes, and for that matter, in posh homes in the Hamptons. I think what 11:52 was trying to say is that the mere presence of a housing project does not automatically mean your yuppie butt is going to get mugged/shot/assaulted. I agree that there are many brownstone and tenement buildings out there that are much worse, in the hands of private landlords. The city at least has a bit (albeit not much) more control of the surroundings.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 22, 2006 4:41 PM
The Bergen St. house looks lovely, but in my view only has two bedrooms. I don't need large bedrooms (mine are in fact quite small), but 10 by 6 barely fits a twin bed, especially with little closet space and one bathroom (unless you trek down to take a shower off the kitchen). I suppose someone with $1.5 million and no kids would not mind, but it seems like a lot to me for two bedrooms.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 23, 2006 9:20 AM
On the way to the Foodtown at Restoration Plaza on Sunday (great supermarket BTW) I peeked in at the Pacific Street open house.
CONS: No effort was made to make the house presentable. The concrete porch in front under that bay window will have to come down, if not for engineering reasons, at least because it's ugly. There is some detail intact inside that needs restoration. The forced air heating system is delivered in places with exposed ductwork, I presume because of the unorthodox way the interior was divided. On top of that and more, the block has a long way to go before it feels like a livable place. There are a number of boarded up houses and some others in very poor condition. The block lacks architectural character, in my opinion. When I mentioned some of the shortcomings to the agent, he said the price is negotiable.
PROS: I suppose this property is a good opportunity for an investor, or a potential homeowner who has the patience to see this block *come up*, because it likely will in the next five years. Some evidence is the other open house on the block, which was a nicely renovated brownstone a few houses west, asking $799k.
Posted by: Hal at January 23, 2006 9:45 AM
Hal, you are absolutely right. To say that block lacks architectural character is an understatement. I've never seen so much vinyl and asbestos siding in my life. Some salesman pulled the con of the year on that block. There are a couple of nice places on that block, however, and you are also right that in 5 years or so, if the Bklyn boom continues, the block will look very different. It would be a good place to invest, not necessarily run to now. If one could get a house cheaply enough, and put a pile of money into it, I think it's a good value. As I mentioned before, it is very close to the train, shopping, bus lines, etc. Since I do live a block away, I'd love to see the block revitalize, as mine is slowly doing.
Posted by: Crown HeightsProud at January 23, 2006 11:09 AM
Hal's comment makes me wonder: is it better to gussy up a house for a showing, or let everyone see it warts and all? All of the crap is going to come out in an inspection, hopefully. Isn't it more honest to just let it be? I hate viewings where the owner slaps some paint on the wall, and covers the holes in the floor with a rug and a plant. I really hate when high priced brokers have the owner do things like strip painted woodwork in a half assed sloppy way so they can jack up the price. You're only going to have to redo it anyway, why pay for it twice? I only ask that your home is clean when I come see it, it doesn't have to be out of the pages of House and Garden. I can do my own decorating. Any thoughts?
Posted by: Anonymous at January 23, 2006 11:23 AM
Depnds on the size of the fix. No point in rebuilding that front porch for a sale, as it's unlikely you'll recoup your money. But if you have, for instance, water damage to some drywall from a problem that has since been fixed, it's well worth it to spend a few hundred bucks to fix a cosmetic problem that may mark down the sale price several thousand. In this case, it's not a matter of something that will come out in an inspection, just a matter of presentation. Likewise with decoration and presentation. You should never underestimate the lack of imagination of most buyers.
Posted by: linusvanpelt at January 23, 2006 11:41 AM
When I said no effort was made to make the house presentable, I didn't mean a little paint here and there. I meant the place was a mess. Unmade beds, clothing on the floor kind of stuff. Junk piled up.
I won't mention the Foodtown at Restoration Plaza (Fulton/Herkimer-Brooklyn Ave/N.Y.Ave.) again except to say the entrance on Herkimer Place could be marked better.
Posted by: Hal at January 23, 2006 12:11 PM
Ok Hal, you got me there, a mess is a mess is a mess. That's just nasty. The tenants are probably in no rush to move, don't have leases, and are going to make it as hard as possible for it to sell. And it will probably work, too.
Foodtown - GOOD!
Posted by: Crown HeightsProud at January 23, 2006 2:36 PM
Nasty indeed. But the agent said the house could be delivered vacant.
Crow HeightsProud, I'm jealous that you're so close to the *FT* ;-)
Still, it's not such a long walk from Park Place and Brooklyn Ave.
I suppose I could surrender my parking spot and drive over, but that defeats the whole point of its proximity.
P.S. Glad to know others are Crown Heights Proud too! I'm beginning to think your stretch of Pacific Street may be undervalued.
Posted by: Hal at January 23, 2006 2:47 PM
The entrance on Fulton could be marked better too!
Posted by: anon at January 23, 2006 2:59 PM
Well, Hal, over there where you are.... Let's just say if you see someone walking up and down the block drooling, it might be me. Gorgeous area, beautiful homes. Are you in CHNA by any chance? We may know each other.
Regarding Pacific - your lips to God's ears!
Posted by: Crown HeightsProud at January 23, 2006 4:44 PM
Yes, Crown HeightsProud. I'm in CHNA, but I don't know a lot of people yet. People seem to know me, though, I guess because I'm different than most.
Posted by: Hal at January 24, 2006 1:19 PM
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