Sunday, November 3, 2013

Open House Today for Prospect Heights Flip: 734 Bergen Street




Oh, so you want a turnkey townhouse in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn for $1.5M?  Well, join the club.  Too bad there hasn't been a decent one like 416 Park Place in well over a year when we told you to "buy now, thank us later."  Since then, if you didn't buy 474 Dean Street, then you're out of luck.  Since 416 Park Place, handfuls of houses much further east than Prospect Heights have commanded over $1.5M.  In fact, even off-market & barely-marketed fixer-uppers in Prospect Heights command over $2M, and a few four-story gems in Prospect Heights have traded over $3M.  So what's left?

Well, Platinum Members passed on 734 Bergen Street a few months ago when we heard its dwindling, under-marketed $1.2M listing had the owner desperately seeking someone to do the deal closer to $1M or less.  Someone chimed in and took it off their hands, closing just 2 months ago in September for $965K.  They quickly put it back out for the flip with Corcoran at $1.5M.  That pricepoint was nothing doing, so they quickly dropped to $1.375M and have an open house today.  Feel free to come by and see what the sub-$1.5M market in Prospect Heights looks like.  It's pretty much a garage and two turnkey rentals.






If you're saying to yourself, "That's just a 25' by 35' trapezoid with a future development on two sides of it," you're not mistaken.  Sure, as-is the place is worth more than the $965K the owners paid for it, but perhaps not quite the $1.375M they're asking for it now.  Although, it may still beat $1.2M duplex condos around the corner at 475 Sterling Place or carriage-house condo alternatives down the hill in Clinton Hill like 91 Irving Place.  And maybe the construction set to come on the lot that runs from St. Marks to Bergen Street, adjacent to the house on two sides, won't be the most inviting place to live for a few years.  But, if you missed 489 Park Place for $1.3M all-cash last year, or the tiny 678 Dean Street for over $1.5M last year, or 579 Bergen & 542 Carlton Avenue almost 2 years ago... then this is just about all you can sniff under $1.5M here anymore.



Pro's:  open house, parking, 2 turnkey units, price flexibility already in action, technically this is Prospect Heights and well-situated

Con's:  someone else's flip, construction site coming to a lot near you, quirky size & shape, not your typical townhouse, not the best block

Ideally:  if you didn't like it at $1M, it ain't any prettier at $1.375M - although you can't buy what you don't know is for sale, and that's where Corcoran often comes in


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