House of the Day: 370 Park Place
After five weeks on the market, the four-story townhouse at 370 Park Place in Prospect Heights had its asking price reduced from $1,850,000 to $1,700,000. The interior needs a fair amount of work, it appears, but much of the original detail remains intact. And while the yard isn’t much to look at, it does benefit…
After five weeks on the market, the four-story townhouse at 370 Park Place in Prospect Heights had its asking price reduced from $1,850,000 to $1,700,000. The interior needs a fair amount of work, it appears, but much of the original detail remains intact. And while the yard isn’t much to look at, it does benefit from sitting on a 131-foot-deep lot, so there’s lots of potential. Interestingly, the same broker has the listing for the house next door as well. After getting a price cut of its own at the end of last week, it’s also now on the market for $1,700,000. As a combo, this might appeal to a developer. The asking prices seem pretty realistic at this point, we’d say.
370 Park Place [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
368 Park Place [Corcoran]
As a buyer, I can make any offer I want to a broker. The broker is required to present it to the seller. I can make an offer of $1,000,000 or $700,000 or $7000 for a townhouse listed at $1,700,000. The seller can say no. Don’t kill the messenger.
Andrea told us to offer $ 1mil for each and when we asked when they could be delivered vacant should could not tell us. Who would make this stuff up?? I thought brokers work for the seller??
Both buildings are owned by the same gentleman who lives in New Jersey. He can’t truly deliver them vacant and they are being operated as SRO’s. Much of this conversation is meaningless unless they can be delivered vacant. Corcoran and Andrea will dance around this until the cows come home . This broker from Corcoran did a meaningful disservice by telling the owner one thing and then telling customers just to put a lowball offer in. They can’t represent either building can be delivered vacant and if this is the case, the value is probably half the $1.7 mil. they are asking. Everyone should stop their hypothectical analysis and concentrate on the facts
I am not a broker, but I’m sure I’m going to be accused of it for what I’m about to write. It seems like a broker can’t win here. They may have to list a property at a high price because that’s what the owner wants to try at first – and shouldn’t they? Then if buyers say it seems high, they tell them to make an offer so the owner can see that. Then, buyers come here claiming they were told to “lowball”. I have a hard time believing any broker actually said that word. I can believe they said to make an offer.
I disagree, these could be classified as dumps in that they are too narrow and too lacking in irreplacable details to sell for over $2M even after they’ve been rehabed. These never were and never will be grand victorian brownstones. They could be nice homes, but only after a lot of work and money.
“Unless it’s the same owner for the 2 buildings….conflict of interest perhaps?”
It is the same owner.
5:55 – do you have the comps to back up your last sentence? what is prime (and would these homes be prime if reno’d decently) and what is a dump (and are these homes really dumps)?
in any case, i would wager that tenant issues will control more than reno costs. not knowing what those issues really are, it’s hard to say. still, i think the deal gets done around 1.5.
LOL, Admittedly, I have not seen these bldgs, but when anybody says “The interior needs a fair amount of work” for a bstone that usually means nothing has been done to the building since WWII (esp for an estate sale). So, all systems & mechanicals probably need to be updated.
Having undertaken a total reno of a similar-sized building 5 years ago in PS, I can tell you that not only is it the $500K construction costs, but it is the time (2 years of virtually full-time attention from my wife, half-time from me) and an unmeasurable level of aggravation.
Yeh, it sounds cool and some people make it look easy, and of course, everybody thinks that THEY will know how to handle the crazy contractors, the moody bldg inspectors, the crooked suppliers, etc., and get them all to cooperate, deliver, and finish on time, but reality is just a whole different story. Try sitting on a jumbo mortgage for a building that is now worthless because its been ripped apart and has no working plumbing/electric, that you can’t even live in until… god knows when, while you pay rent or mortgage on your existing place.
There is a reason prime reno’d property sells for a big premium and dumps sell for a big discount.
Z – Of course this brownstone fully renovated would probably cost more than 1.7 but the point is that it probably needs a bare minimum of 500-700K of work, if not more. So that’s why it’s overpriced. I think if this property, fully renovated, fetched 2 million in today’s market the owner should be happy!