LOOKOUT! 72 S. Portland Ave

Our latest sojourn into Fort Greene takes us to 72 South Portland Ave, 1.5 BR coop offered as a 2 BR and featuring a, um, distinctive decorating style.

It's offered for $639, which would be a great price for a a proper 2 BR.  But proper this ain't.  Check out the second "bedroom," complete with a crib for scale.  Even the wide-angle lens can't hide the skimpy dimensions.

The Numbers:  They're asking $710/sq. ft., which is very high for this property in this neighborhood.   At listing, you're putting down $127800 to get a monthly payment of $2744, not including maintenance and taxes.  That said, no way this fetches over $600k.

The Intangibles:  Definitely in the cute part of Fort Greene.  Closest train is the dreaded C, but Atlantic Terminal is walkable-ish.  Close to lovely Fort Greene Park.

The Bottom Line:  This place is overpriced.  With places like this asking $100 less per sq. ft. in the same neighborhood, we don't see this place moving without a serious price reduction.

Cloak 'n Dagger Condos: Fort Greene

What if we told you that you could have a large 1 BR duplex in Ft. Greene for under $500k?  That it came with over 1000 sq. ft. of backyard space?  With a rec room thrown in for good measure?

You'd want more info, right?  A picture?  An address perhaps?

Well, tough.  Meet X Clermont Ave, a listing featuring incredibly promising specs and virtually nothing else (except assurances that the large windows allow light to "poor" in).  Even the floorplan is blurry and illegible, and the listing even presents different prices on different pages (we're going off the $489k listing price).

This listing highlights both the benefits and drawbacks of digging up listings from unheard-of realtors: you can find some great places with little buying competition, but you are dependent on the whims of unmotivated listing agents.

The Numbers:  Well, we have no clue about the maintenance or taxes, so we can only tell you that a $97800 downpayment gets you a mortgage payment of $2630.

The Intangibles:  Honestly, what ISN'T intangible about this listing???

The Bottom Line:  Worth a phone call, assuming someone picks up the phone.

One BR On The Brink: 405 Dean St.

The blocks between 4th and 5th Ave in Brooklyn continue to showcase some of the best values in the Borough.  This time it's 405 Dean St., a large 1 BR/1BA condo asking $681k.  Just one block from 5th Ave and all the accompanying nightlife.  A few blocks from almost any train you can ask for.

Bonus - it comes with a HUGE terrace  - 

Curb appeal is solid, aside from the vinyl siding facade on the neighboring building.

The catch?  Just one block from Atlantic Terminal, future flustercuck and home of Brooklyn's NBA team.

The Numbers: 1135 square feet, $600/sq. ft. at asking.

The Intangibles: Great location, easy access to trains, and hopefully the worst of Atlantic Terminal will stay north of Dean St.

The Bottom Line: If we had the money and were looking for a 1 BR in Brooklyn, it'd be between this and 292 S. 7th St.

Monday Sales Roundup

It's been a slow week in terms of Brooklyn condo sales, with very few notable sales to comment on.

320 Washington Ave #3D, a large 2 BD/2BA in Clinton Hill, sold for $748,000.  Interestingly, this same property sold for $754k in the summer of 2006.

We're loving the large windows and hardwood floors, not to mention the little painted tree design in the bedroom:

$643/sq. ft in Clinton Hill is a pretty good get for the seller, we think.

All's (Not) Quiet On The Western Slope

It seems like every day we're seeing new listings for units coming onto market in the area between 4th and 5th Aves. on the western frontier of Park Slope.  With the specter of noisy 4th Avenue and the toxic Gowanus Canal just beyond these blocks, we can't imagine living any further west than this.  Nonetheless, these blocks ARE livable, and there's some value to be found.

Enter 565 Carroll Street, Apt 5, a 780 square ft. 2BR listing for $550,000.

Plenty of light, two proper bedrooms, and that mint new-construction feel are big pluses for this unit.

As usual, the benefits of new construction (low monthlies and spotless finishes) are counterbalanced by low curb appeal.  Brownstone living, this ain't.

The Numbers:  Asking price is $705/sq. ft.  Monthly maintenance and taxes are $430, leaving you with a mere $2800 in total monthly payments after putting $110k (20%) down.

The Intangibles:  Not a cute building, and not a cute block, but it's only 2 block walk to the D,N,R trains. Some 5th Ave. hotspots, including HiBK fave and bocci hotspot Union Hall are right around the corner.

The Bottom Line:  If you can stomach the block and the limited curb appeal, this is a very livable unit at a reasonable price.

One-off One Bedrooms

Although we at Home In BK remain fond of 2 and 3 bedroom condos, we thought we'd take time out of our regularly scheduled programming to bring a couple 1 bedrooms your way.  Some people like to refer to these as "starter apartments," which seems to us like a nice way of saying "bachelor(ette) pad."  The implication being that these are meant for younger single folk or couples that will one day seek out a larger estate as their means allow. Whether that's the case or not, we're betting you could spend some of the best days of your life in one of the following apartments:

First up is 292 7th Street Apt. D in the South(west) Slope area of Brooklyn, asking price $449,000.  This neighborhood that straddles the gap between the Gowanus Canal and Park Slope is hardly deserving of the 'Park Slope' label that real estate agents throw around so casually.  Nonetheless, the 'hood sports a lively section of 5th Avenue, including Chip Shop, a Home In BK fav.

This is a new construction, and thus pictures in the listing of modern appliances and new finishes are plentiful, while images of the building exterior are suspiciously absent:

Kudos to the architect for the sensible layout.  It's hard to make 594 square feet more livable than this:

The Numbers:  Because of absurdly low maintenance charges of under $200/month, $90k down gets you a total monthly payment of around $2200.  $755/square foot is totally reasonable given the low common charges.

The Intangibles:  This block is not the cutest in the 'hood, and no matter what any real estate agent tells you, 4th Ave hasn't arrived yet.   However, 5th (as noted above) has cache.

The Bottom Line:  If we were in this market, we'd seriously consider this.   After all, it has (a) a cheap monthly paymnet (b) a balcony and (c) a sensible layout.   In NYC, that's as close to a holy trinity as you're going to find.

Next up is 151 Joralemon St., Apt. 4, listed for an absurdly low (and likely below market) $325,000.  Take our word for it, this place is going to sell for more than that.  

That said, the layout needs some work.  If you are going to pay the premium for a 1 bedroom (and you WILL pay a higher $ per square foot), then don't you at least guests to be able to use the bathroom without traipsing through your bedroom?

 The Numbers:  In this case, the numbers are out the window given the absurdly low asking price.  We'd be shocked if this didn't draw bids over $400k, the funky layout notwithstanding.  Maintenance charges are reportedly $537/month.

The Intangibles:  Everybody loves Brooklyn Heights (or seems to, it's getting a weirdly sterile UES in Brooklyn feel).  That said, the value in this place isn't going anywhere anytime soon.  Curb appeal is neutral.

The Bottom Line: If you buy, either clean up your bedroom before having guests over or ask them to hold it.

Monday Sales Round-up

Here at Home In BK we'll be starting the week off with a roundup of recent sales of Brooklyn condos.  Nothing gives a better indication of where the market is going than where it's been.

This legit two-bedroom in a large building near the noisy intersection of Washington and Atlantic went for $560,000 (or about $550/square foot):

While this apartment, a 1 BR/office masquerading as a 2 BR on the edge of Park Slope, went for $737,500 (or a whopping $970/sq. ft):

When we say "legit 2 BR" we mean one that is at least 10' x 10'.  Here the second "bedroom" was only 6'6'' wide.  If anything, this sale shows you that it doesn't take much to get top dollar for your spot if you can claim to be in the Slope.