REAL ESTATE Archives - Page 11 of 26

Murrow HS @ 1 Saul Bruckner Place

May 7, 2010 RH

The current address of Brooklyn’s Edward R. Murrow High School is 1600 Avenue L. That may change if my fellow alum Shadrach Stanleigh gets his way.

Since the untimely death of Murrow’s founder and former beloved Principal, Saul Bruckner, there have been Facebook groups popping up. Stanleigh started one such group, to rename the block fronting Murrow to Saul Bruckner Place.

It’s a great idea! Even if you’ve never heard of Bruckner, chances are you know someone whose life he touched. You’re reading this blog? Bam! You’ve probably watched a Marissa Tomei movie or listened to the Beastie Boys? Bam! Murrowites. It’s the Boro of Murrow and we’re everywhere.

So, you should join the group and send a letter to your local councilperson. There is a letter on FB that you can use to cut and paste and add your own info. You can find your district council person here.

Easy stuff. And thank you.

This Is Not My Beautiful House

May 6, 2010 RH 3 Comments

After a grueling final week to get the Beacon home on the market, it’s finally listed on MLS. The house has never looked so good. Yesterday was the broker’s open house which had a really good turn out.

The open house was called for 12-2pm and so my schedule went something like this:

4:30am. Wake up. Cawfeeeee.

5:00am. Paint spot on kitchen wall that was spackled the day before. Paint some patches in the bathroom.

5:30am. Clean cat pee bathroom. Bleach the shit out of it.

6:30am. Shower.

7:00am. Oooh, I stink again! What can ya do?

7:15am. Clear tools and ladders from kitchen. Vacuum new white grout that was never sealed and will be gray grout by end of week.

8:00am. Take out screens and storm windows in preparation for the window cleaner.

8:30am. Cawfeeee break. Call broker to delegate refreshment duty to him.

9:00am. Window cleaner arrives. We discover that the top windows that are covered by the storm windows won’t open. He can only clean the bottoms.

9:30am. Discover the bathroom drain is leaking since I pushed the pedestal sink too hard while cleaning cat pee. Throw a sheet down and pray the contractor comes on time today.

10:00am. Clean the rest of the kitchen without water because it’s not hooked up.

10:30am. Ah, Dimas the contractor has arrived only a half hour late! Quick Dimas, leak! Backsplash! Shelf!

11:00am. Dust and clean the rest of the house with the help of Dimas and his assistant, John.

11:30am. Jon of JonCar Realty arrives with the desserts. Dunkin Donuts and Sam’s Club. Really?

12:05pm. Change out of painting clothes while the first realtor arrives. Must dress like an orthodox Jew on this hot day because I have paint all over my arms and haven’t shaved my legs in like a decade.

2:30pm. Discover a large pubic hair on white bathroom floor after last realtor leaves.

Flickr house photos

Thinking of Living in Beacon?

April 27, 2010 RH 4 Comments

It’s been a long time since I wrote one of these location posts, simply because I ran out of places to review. My original Beacon post was in 2007, so it’s time to update since I’m working on a web page for my house.

Obvious disclosure here: I have to remain positive about Beacon since I want to sell my house! But I’ll be truthful. I promise.

In fact, let’s start with the negatives. Why are we leaving after six years? I’m not sure this has anything to do with Beacon itself as much as the fact that we’re just crotchety old city folk and small town living really isn’t for us. Most people we’ve met in Beacon love it there! They are really happy, whereas we never felt 100% at home.

The following factors could be positives depending on what you want out of life, but we just found it depressing. It’s too quiet. You can walk down Main Street and not run into another person for a couple of blocks. On the other hand, you can encounter the same 5 people wherever you go. See what I mean? If it’s a quiet lifestyle you want, then Beacon is your place!

Wanna hear crickets and see stars at night? Go for it! I need the horns, sirens and rumbling subway to sleep at night.

Obviously, there are people and places I’ll miss. My dinner preparation has always consisted of going through menus and making a phone call. No such beast in Beacon. Ok, maybe 1 or 2 restaurants deliver. Beacon Natural has been my own personal chef. The deli counter has a great variety of daily specials made from local, organic produce. The chef is a Millenium alumni and the food is not that pricey. The menu is emailed to me daily and I even get a phone call if they think they’ll run out of my favorite dishes. Owner Kitty has been my health consultant for years since I’m scared of doctors and her husband LT has even helped us work on our house.

I’ll also miss the local wine shop, Artisan Wine. Ok, so food and drink mean more to me than anything else. Is there a problem with that? Tim and Mae are city transplants who moved upstate to open said shop. It’s really laid back and lacks the snobbery of some of the city places. There are tastings every Friday and Saturday for bottles less than $15.

Beacon is an awesome location for people who are attracted to the great outdoors. It’s right on The Hudson. There are riverside trails and kayak and sailing docks. Even a river pool. The town is also home to some fabulous mountains. Being sandwiched between the mountain and the river…can’t find a flaw with that! Mountain Tops offers some great hiking and kayaking trips.

And now I’m bored of writing. It’s time for some lists!

PROS

1. The River. The Mountain. See above.

2. Small town living. Again, not for some people (like me). But most people find this charming and quaint. Yes, the town is charming and quaint. As charming and quaint as any small town can get. Plus, it’s got the hipness factor going for it.

3. Beacon is still moving forward. In the past 6 months, since we’ve made the decision to leave, a few new interesting places have popped up on Main Street. There’s a raw cafe and The School of Jellyfish, which…well, I really don’t know what it is, but they have good hot chocolate and vegan food.

4. Metro North. Makes Beacon commutable and leave-able when you need to get away.

5. DIA. Without DIA, none of you would know where Beacon is. Admit it. That’s all I get. Me: “I live in Beacon.” Everyone else: “Oh, I know where that is! I’ve been to DIA.”

6. The Art Scene. If you’re into “the scene”, it’s a pretty cool place to get your name out there and hang with like-minded artists.

7. Good for farmy, foodie types. There are plenty of farm shares and farmer’s markets around for those who like to cook. Although Beacon is known as a haven for artists, the nutritionists and greenie people are abundant.

CONS

1. Restaurants. As in, lack of. As in, the few that there are ain’t much to write home about.

2. Main Street shop owners are screwy! I wish they would take their businesses seriously and open up decent hours, 7 days per week. The hardware store closes at 3pm on Saturday and isn’t open on Sunday. Paint store: closed on Sunday. Hello, Home Depot and big box stores! Thankfully, they are less than 10 minutes away.

3. Sidewalks. It’s the weirdest thing. On some side streets, the sidewalk just ends. It reminds me that people don’t walk much here. Forget bike lanes.

4. Art scene. Ok, did you get from my “pros” that I’m not exactly thrilled with the art scene? As much as I love the artists that the galleries show, they need to mix it up a bit. Seeing the work of the same 5 artists at every show is a bit like masturbation.

5. Mellow energy. Again, many might see this as a positive. Do your yoga, have a stress free day. These days for me, I only feel alive when I’m arguing with cabbies.

LINKS

City of Beacon website

Wanna know what the citizens think?

Rent or own in Beacon? Use this Beacon realtor!

Hallway, Bedroom, Guest Room, Bathroom

April 26, 2010 RH 3 Comments

Got to add a few more rooms to the “finished” list over the weekend. We still have plenty of work to do, but as far as we’re concerned, the house will be ready to go on the market by next weekend! Hopefully, we’ll have something that resembles a kitchen by then.

Stay Awake Till Brooklyn

April 21, 2010 RH

Today is the day my pets officially become Brooklynites again. Five cats are returning to their home boro. One cat is from upstate. The dogs hail from The Bronx and Queens. And I’m going to be home sooner than I had thought!Our tenant whose apartment we’re taking over has just informed us that he’ll be gone by May 1st! That means we won’t have to squeeze into our tiny garden apartment for a couple of months. It also means we gotta HURRY!

The rest of this week, we’ll be in Bed Stuy getting ready to move in. Pets today. Cable guy and new pet sitter on Friday. Eh, dentist on Thursday.

May not be blogging unless I get to an internet cafe. Sooo, see ya when I see ya!

They Said It Couldn’t Be Done

April 19, 2010 RH 4 Comments

Four months ago we embarked on a major renovation to get our Beacon house on the market by Spring. April 30th is the target date. We went over room by room, taking up some floors and taking down some walls. Nobody thought we would be ready in time, including (especially) the broker.

“That’s a tall order!” “April?! Good luck!” “That’s impossible.”

Ha! They don’t know who they’re dealing with. We are rocking this house and kicking it’s gorgeous ass into shape! So much so, that we have to get out of here quick because it’s so museum-like that’s it’s no longer habitable by slobs like us.

Behold the three downstairs rooms that are totally finished. Yeah, I know you’ve seen them, but I changed stuff around and took new pictures. All but one of the upstairs rooms will be finished today. It’s just a matter of me cleaning them up enough to take pictures.

Yes, we moved the dining area to the room just off the kitchen. Makes more sense than the way we had it.

Go ahead, tell us how great we are. Pat us on the back.

Oh, and PS: Dimas the contractor? Ever since he and his assistant John read my blog post about how slow as shit he is….they picked up the pace!!

2 Cool Hudson Valley Homes for Sale

April 7, 2010 RH 1 Comment

I shot two impressive homes on Monday. What are the chances of that? A Spanish villa inspired (realtor says English) stone house in Beacon and a sweet Victorian in Poughkeepsie.

The “Under the Beacon Sun” house needs some work, but it looks soooooo worth it! My jaw dropped when I walked in. But then I was like “No. More. Renovations!” It’s listed at $299k.

The Poughkeepsie house is on a lovely block within walking distance to Main Street. The people living here have good taste, which doesn’t hurt. Don’t know the price yet, but last I heard, Poughkeepsie was less expensive than Beacon.

Why Y’all Gotta Be Running?

March 19, 2010 RH

Subway Drama. Luna Park Gazette

Death Star Watermelon. Makezine

Aluminum Foil 101. Real Simple

Tim Burtonesque Rooms. Apartment Therapy

DIY Built Ins. Thrifty Decor Chick

Dining Room Done

March 18, 2010 RH 7 Comments

The dining room renovation was finished about two weeks ago, but I just grabbed some snappies of it yesterday. Last you checked in, the restoration looked something like this. And before that, even worse.

It’s kind of a non-event since we didn’t change anything drastically. It just needed a lot of repairs. The plaster. The wood. Even the light fixture needed to be rewired. We lived with all that for five years and only finished it for someone else.

The adjoining living room has been finished for quite some time, but the wood still needs sprucing up.

There is still something to do in every single room, but we’re getting there! We finally have more help. This weekend there will be 7 different people working on our house. Woo-hoo!

Covet Thy Turret

March 12, 2010 RH 7 Comments

So, the broker finally came over to look at our Beacon house and tell us how much we stand to lose in this God awful market. Looks like we’ll list it at $399k even though we paid $385k and put (still putting) a shitload of work into it. What are ya gonna do? We’re motivated.

Everyone thinks their house is special and worth more than the realtor tells them. But we KNOW our house is special because it has a turret! That didn’t impress the broker all that much. He said the home has some nice period details, but the turret isn’t a major selling point.

Well, excuse me, but I beg to differ. Why? Because there’s an old home sucker born every minute. Take us, for instance. We looked at several houses before seeing this one. When we pulled into the driveway, my eyes teared up because it had a turret (We didn’t see any pictures beforehand as it wasn’t listed yet). We knew we were going to buy the house before we went inside. We toured around in a matter of minutes so we could quickly put in an offer. Did I mention we had been looking for months? I think six months, to be exact.

We overpaid. It didn’t appraise out. But we love our house. We think there are other folks out there who are jonesing for turrets just like we were.

$399k is not what we wanted, but it’s a fair price for the house. I’m really hoping buyers won’t try to get us down to much or I might cry again.

Reclaim Home Value. Add Curb Appeal. Add A Cupola.

February 23, 2010 RH

Still bummed about being buried under a foot of snow? If so, then you’re probably already dreaming about the middle of April. You know, that strange time of the year when weeks of windy, overcast days in the mid 40’s magically turn into sunny days in the mid 60’s? Personally, I’m counting down the days until warm weather arrives while I spend long February days staring out the window debating the merits of shoveling my sidewalk against the challenge 14-inches of snow pose to my mail carrier. Anyway, eventually the weather is going to improve, and I’m going to need to get out there and do some overdue maintenance on my tiny piece of suburban splendor.

So what the heck should I do to jump start my spring home improvements? Standard landscaping and up keep aside, I’m thinking about taking some time to improve the exterior appearance of my home. My wife already is doing a great job of maintaining the inside of our home. After taking the beating of holding all that snow this winter, I’m thinking (like I imagine most people are) that the condition of my roof is probably going to need some attention.

Assuming that the roof is where I’m going to focus my time and energy, where the heck do I begin? Shingles are important, but no one is just going to notice that I got new shingles. I’m trying to do something that will make that group of old guys who stand at the edge of their driveway with beers in hand (yeah, just like King of the Hill) take notice of my improvements.

To that end, I’m considering buying a cupola for my crib.

What the heck is a cupola?

A cupola is one of those windowed boxes with a roof that typically sit atop barns, gazebos, and houses. City dwellers will most often recognize cupolas as the dome structures located on top of a old building, like a church or government building.

Now that the real estate market has some life in it once again, I have a feeling many people are going to be working on reclaiming their homes… and, to a certain degree, the value of their home. Cupolas not only provide a classic look to a house, they also improve curb appeal – which, in turn, improves the value of a home on the market.

So, if you wanna follow my lead and shop around for some cupolas as that snow works on melting away over the next couple weeks, here’s a few things to keep in mind as you’re window shopping:

– Weather-resistance. Weather resistance is a lot less important to your grandparents who retired to Arizona than it is to those of us who still experience four seasons. Make sure the cupola you pick and the roofing material you select can handle all our different types of weather. Vinyl PVC board and copper sheeting tend to hold up best against the elements.

– Styling. Almost every cupola has a window and some decoration. The more complex the decoration, the more $ needed to purchase. The most common cupolas in our area come with louvres, which allow for air flow but shed against the elements. Copper sheeting is recommended for the roof of a cupola, but roof designs can be bell-shaped, concave, or crown molded. Pro designers typically lean towards selecting one that closely matches your home roof. Oh, and if you want to top off your cupola with a weathervane or finial, make sure the cupola includes an interior mount.

– Roof pitch. Click here for a handy, web-based roof pitch calculator. Roofs come at a variety of angles. Cupolas need to fit properly on roofs. I don’t think I need to go into much detail here, but make sure you know the pitch of your roof before you buy a cupola.

*Guest post by Jonathan Bentz

Doing the Math on a Home Sale

February 2, 2010 RH

As you may know, we own two homes. And as you also may know, we are getting ready to sell one of them. Not the best market to sell, especially when it was purchased near top of the market.

Going into this, my thoughts were “No way we’re selling for less than what we put in! We’ll rent it if we have to.” Then I did the math. Not that I’ve given up on the idea of getting my price just yet. The house won’t be on the market for another few months, but even if we “lose” $100k (including the renovations), we still come out way ahead of the game.

And so, I’m learning the importance of letting go.

At first, when my husband said “Yeah, but we lived there for 5 years. Think of it as paying rent.” that wasn’t enough to change my mind. What did it was figuring out exactly how much extra money we would have to play with by only owning one house. The mortgage payments, the taxes, insurance, gas and electric, extra car plus insurance, gas and train to go back and forth, maintenance and renovations, even food.

So my friends, if you are thinking of selling your house in this market, do not despair. Do the math! It just might make sense to let go of your pride, swallow the loss and live happily ever after!

Hire “Our Victorian House” Guy!

January 21, 2010 RH 2 Comments

Last we checked on Craig and Yvonne’s Victorian House, it was on the market for $799k. Well, it looks like it’s still up for grabs. Down to $699k. Totally worth every penny, but alas…still not affordable for the likes of moi.

But here’s the good news! Craig has gone pro. Blackstone Architectural Restoration LLC works in Central Jersey. There’s not much on their website yet, but hello, have you seen his house? I’d say this guy does meticulous work.

Check out the video walk through of their house. It will bring tears to your eyes.

MLK Day.

January 18, 2010 RH

Victorian Hallway Color Scheme? Help!

January 11, 2010 RH 12 Comments

Now that we have resale of our home in mind, all bets are off as far as crazy renovation ideas. We have to cut back on costs, number one, but also we must keep in mind that the home should appeal to the masses, not just us.

Any room can be repainted by a new owner. Many of our smaller rooms are already painted in shades of pink and purple and the next person easily change that if they wish.

But the hallway? We never got to it because it’s a major job that means building a scaffold. In our minds, the hallway was always going to be red. Now we’re concerned that it may be too dark. A dark hue would be historically correct (source here) and we do want to retain as much historic accuracy as possible.

But we also want to sell it. What’s your opinion? Red? Maybe one of the colors in the stained glass window? Please post your opinion here. We leave it your hands!

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