Not being too familiar with Sullivan County, I contacted buyer’s agent Joe Addeo at The Rural Connection to show me around yesterday. What a luxury not having to set up appointments, navigate and drive from house to house!
We saw a bunch of homes that were in pretty decent shape. None of them would have worked for my flip purposes, but it’s definitely a buyer’s market over there. That part of Sullivan County near the Delaware River is beautiful but quiet. Don’t go expecting a scene, man.
Anyway, on to the houses! Find info on all of them here.
The farmhouse pictured above is a steal at $175k. Great piece of property on 5 acres with a pond near Jeffersonville. The house doesn’t need much work at all, which is why it didn’t suit my own purposes. One can just move in and enjoy. I saw some unfinished molding. That was about the extent of the work IMHO.
This lovely cape was in decent shape also. It’s very close to Jeffersonville and the Villa Roma Resort, which is like an Italian version of a Borscht Belt resort. A sausage belt resort, if you will. The house could use some updating or you can overlook the drop ceilings and dated kitchen and just enjoy your summer. Not bad for $139k.
This Cochecton house was pretty sweet for $89k and would have worked for me had the neighboring house not been so close (close by country standards). On the plus side, the neighbors have horses. Unfortunately, that’s a negative when you have dogs. Anyhoo, great bones, good location. Price is unbeatable!
Oh, this was a good one too! Another not-much-to-do house. The exterior looks worse than the interior. I remember that this one had a great kitchen with aluminum cabinets and an old drainboard/sink and the floors were in perfect shape. $139k in Cochecton.
The city girl in me appreciated this one simply because it was within walking distance to civilization. The village of Kauneonga Lake isn’t very big but has 4-5 good restaurants that overlook the lake. This is the perfect retreat for lake lovers, even though the public access is some ways from the house. There’s a hot tub in the back. Who doesn’t like a weekend place with a hot tub? $109,900.
Finally, this lovely Cochecton farm house belongs to my buddy Sal, an antiques dealer in Callicoon. The house is about to hit the market at under $200k. When it does, I’ll let you know all about it…as well as the cool vintage trailers he’s selling. But for now, consider this your head’s up.
I hope they don’t find anything in that basement. I know it would bring closure to the family of Etan Patz but if they are anything like I am, they believe he’s living a wonderful life somewhere and he just doesn’t realize who he is. He’ll be back someday it will be such a heartwarming miracle!
I was 14 when Patz disappeared from his Soho neighborhood. As dangerous as New York was at the time, kids did have more freedom than they do now. That didn’t end with Etan but it was somewhat of a wake up call. His face was plastered all over the city, a reminder to us kids to be careful.
Growing up 1970′s NYC left a few lasting impressions that are hard to let go. There were incidents that made us fearful, like Son of Sam, but there were stories that we wished would have happy endings.
I wanted Etan Patz to break the odds. Unfortunately, this 46 year old woman will probably be let down by the end of the day.
Etan, you’ll always be alive to me. God speed, Little Man!
So, this guy Matt has walked across the U.S. of A much like Forrest Gump and now he’s hitting the streets of The Big Apple. Actually, he’s nearly three months in and has covered a lot of ground. Matt’s plan is to walk every single street of the city. He’s blogging about it and taking pictures (below) along the way.
The blog is called “I’m Just Walkin’” but IMHO, he should have titled it “I’m Walkin’ Here” for the NYC bit. Whatever it’s called, it’s pretty fascinating and makes me want to do it too. Don’t worry. I won’t.
Matt reckons that he’ll have traveled 8000 miles by foot by the time he’s finished walking around the boroughs. He will have walked passed every person’s home and it will take him about two years to do so.
So how does one finance an endeavor such as this? He’s relying on the kindness of strangers and friends. He doesn’t have to pay rent as he’s taken to hobo status and crashes with buddies along the route. He is asking for donations to keep him going. You can help him along by going here.
I wonder if the dude has contacted a sneaker company to sponsor him? Can’t be a better advertisement than that.
How have I spent the past 46 years (minus a few) in Brooklyn and never noticed the sign on this building? It was actually my husband who noticed while driving down Bedford near Flatbush. Upon further investigation on The Internets, it turns out that Fading Ad Blog spotted it about 3 months ago. Actually, there was another sign covering Lindsay all this time, so I’m not so unobservant after all.
John Lindsay served 8 years as Mayor of New York City back when I was too young to take interest. I did find some interesting facts about the his term and the political environment 40 something years ago that are still pertinent to today.
Lindsay inherited serious fiscal problems from outgoing Mayor Robert Wagner (not the actor). With manufacturing jobs disappearing, white flight to the suburbs and new unions taking shape, it was tough to get the city back on it’s feet.
On his first day in office, there was a transit strike. During his term there was also a teacher’s strike, a sanitation strike and sewage and drawbridge worker’s strike.
In 1969, NYC was hit with 15 inches of snow. Fourteen people died and 68 were injured.Within a day, the mayor was criticized for giving special treatment to Manhattan while the other boroughs were left hanging. Sound familiar?
1970 brought the Hard Hat Riot. Two hundred construction workers attacked students protesting the Kent State shootings and Vietnam War. Here’s where it gets interesting. Who tried to protect those students? Wall street bankers and attorneys. The cops stood by and did nothing. When the Mayor criticized the NYPD, he was called “the red mayor, a “traitor,” “Commy rat” and “bum.”
By 1971, Lindsay switched parties from Republican to Democrat. “…This step recognizes the failure of 20 years in progressive Republican politics…” He actually ran for President but as we know, he didn’t get very far.
Later in his life, after Parkinson’s Disease, heart attacks and stroke depleted Lindsay’s finances, he found himself without health insurance. In 1996 Mayor Giuliani appointed Lindsay to two largely ceremonial posts to make him eligible for municipal health insurance coverage.
All facts came from Wikipedia, so don’t blame me if they’re wrong. Thankfully, I’m too young to remember.
You have $200k to spend on a home within 2 hours of NYC, including renovations. Where would you look?
As mentioned before, I’m in search of a flip. I could put myself into debt for a year and not be able to afford pet food or even human food but I’d rather not, so I’m sticking to a budget of $200k. Yeah, I know. It ain’t gonna be in Brooklyn. Not even split with a partner. Not even a one bedroom apartment in a fringe neighborhood.
After searching for about a month, here’s what I’ve learned…
You want to own a home in the boroughs for $200k? It’s possible. There are homes in crappy parts of Bushwick, Jamaica and East New York. Actually, pretty difficult to come by houses for under $300k, but short sales exist. If you’re purchasing a short sale, be prepared to have it drag on for close to a year.
Saw a couple of listings out on The Island. Riverhead and Central Islip. A friend from The Island wasn’t too impressed with those locations. Saw quite a few listings in Jersey City and Newark, especially Newark. No, the JC listings were not prime JC.
So, what’s the best bet for finding a home for under $200k (Oh, did I mention that INCLUDES renovations?)? Upstate. Whether it be commuter location or second home, the houses exist. Saw a bunch in Rhinebeck and one in Hyde Park that I may put an offer on, but it will only be back up as someone got to it first. Bastards.
Today I’m heading up to Warwick. That’s a commuter area and there are about 4-5 listings to look at. It’s promising.
So, you want a house on a small budget? You can do it. As long as you’re not a whiny douche like this guy.
The Bungalows of Rockaway trailer from Jennifer Callahan on Vimeo.
In researching The Rockaways for a possible investment property, I came across this documentary made a few years back. My bungalow obsession + not having to schlep all the way upstate to renovate = What could be better? Maybe the location of the bungalows. Apparently there’s a bit of urban blight going on in that part of Rockaway.
But supposedly it’s a Hipsta’s Paradise over in the higher number streets. Checking it out on Thursday. Will report back.
The Water Tank Project is coming to an NYC rooftop near you for three months in the spring of 2013. Word Above the Street’s public awareness campaign aims to inspire millions of people to be more responsible with their daily water usage.
Select rooftop water tanks across the city will be temporarily wrapped with original artwork, the subject matter being water. Students, emerging and established artists will take part in the project.
The Water Tank Project will also promote New York City’s high quality drinking water and highlight the role of the world’s major cities in leading the way to responsible stewardship of water.
How can you help? Donate here. Or…on March 1st shop at Whole Foods as 5% of the sales will be donated to the project. Or…got a tank? Let them use it!
Via Cool Hunting
Traveling through Sullivan County last week, we came upon the town of Mountaindale: Population 0. Nah, I don’t know what the population is, but Mountaindale looked like a ghost town. Oddly enough, it also looked as if the shop fronts have been restored. It feels like a movie set or like it’s waiting for something to happen.
Perhaps Mountaindale is a hopping place during the summer months, but on a winter’s weekday it looked abandoned. Someone is trying to bring this little town back. There is evidence of an art community, yoga and anti-frackers. None of them were around the day we swung by.
There are quite a few bungalow colonies near the town, some abandoned and many in use. It’s definitely something to check into once summer is on the horizon.
I found this video on my new favorite site that I just discovered called “I Loved New York“. If you’re nostalgic for the city before it became generic, check out that blog. You’ll love it!
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Nice selection!
Comment by Trenton, NJ Antiques — May 2, 2012 @ 10:55 am