We tend to ignore Park Slope on this site because we deal with affordable housing and the Slope is anything but. We’re also not big fans of what it has become in recent years. Manhattanized, suburbanized, homogenized. How can a place be both Manhattan and suburban at the same time? Ah, grasshoppers, the new Manhattan IS the suburbs. Look at all those damn chain stores!
If you simply MUST live in Park Slope, it’s possible to do so on a budget. No, you won’t find an immaculate brownstone in prime Slope. You CAN find crappy new construction on 4th Avenue, tiny doll houses near the Gowanus and places that need lots of work.
We’ve chosen 2 family listings (all but one) because rents in PS are as out of control as home prices. Let the tenants carry your mortgage.
$719k: 2 Family New Construction
$729k: 2 Family Duplex
$799k: Single Family
$945k: 2 Family
3 Comments
Humor me…
Let’s say you buy a house for $800,000 and it’s got 3 apartments in it. You keep ONE and rent out TWO. Let’s say average rent – $1500. So that’s $3000 a month (2 units) towards your mortgage). Had you put 20% down (who has that kind of cash!?!?) your mortage would be $640,000 or roughly $6400 a month + taxes. What am I missing?
You’re gonna make me do math now? I’ve just been sniffin glue all day. (Really, I’m doing decoupage)
Ok, a few scenarios:
Most people aren’t buying an $800k house as their first home. They are coming out of a sale on their previous home. Who has that kind of cash? People who bought early on in Manhattan and recently sold. They may be putting down more than 20%.
Average Park Slope rent is closer to $2000 + per month for a 1BR.
I’m not advocating it. Personally, I’d rather get more for my money elsewhere. FYI, our first home was Park Slope. We paid $198k. It was a good move.
Back in a flash…I’m gonna go knock over a bank…