Reuse. Rehabilitate. Restore. Architectural salvage and repurposed pieces for the home.
Best of the worst agent shots:
This guy is a Pennsylvania mortgage broker, not an agent. I actually like the photo. Problem is, I can’t decide if it’s a cool, artsy photo or this guy is a total lame ass. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say it belongs in an art gallery.
Ah, photo’s not bad. I just wanted to say this: “Mandlebaum! Mandlebaum!”
WTF?
Now there’s a fish I can trust!
Still rockin’ out to Bon Jovi and Poison.
Author: Brett
Fueled by sensible home prices and city living (albeit, the outer boros), we returned to Bayside, Queens for another look.
On this trip, we took in two open houses: both condos in Northern Bayside. The first was a 3BR/2BTH in The Kennedy Street Quad complex on Corporal Kennedy Street. While our daughter slept in the car and Andrew watched our son stare at passing cars and shout, “Car! Car!” like some miniature carnival barker, I raced in to take a peek. The building itself was nothing special: your typical 1950s brick fare. Still, as I walked in, the friendly super warned me to be careful not to slip on the wet floor.
This spacious unit was empty, freshly renovated, and awaiting new appliances. At $409K, it seemed like a real steal. Located on the 1st floor, it was bright and felt more like a ranch house than an apartment. Then I noticed the lack of a washer and dryer and remembered that it was just an apartment unit. The agent, clearly shocked that anyone was attending this open house, asked me to sign in, then realized that she didn’t have a pen (memo to self: bring writing implement to OH!). She did have a couple of flyers on hand and I almost barfed when I saw the monthly maintenance fee: $1392.36. I don’t even care if an indoor parking spot is included (at an additional $45.90/mo.) It was a nice apartment, but this was no luxury building, mind you. There was no actual doorman or concierge present. After he saw the maintenance fee, Andrew did not even bother going in.
Next, we walked across the street to an Open House in the Bayside Condo Townhouses. This 3 BR/1.5 BA triplex condo in a gated community had a full finished basement with laundry (yay!), a Jacuzzi tub in the full bath and a fairly updated kitchen. The price was also reasonable: $629K for what really was like an attached townhouse plus the maintenance fee of $327.94 (and don’t forget your annual taxes of $2600). The unit was nice and felt roomy, yet I was distracted by the abundance of cat toys and yes, cat puke caked on the rug upstairs. I hate to sound catty (oh, yes I did!), but if you were this agent, wouldn’t you just grab a paper towel and scrub a bit? I bet you even cat lovers (and cat lovers feel free to chime in) are not fans of the cat puke. Anyway, yet more evidence that even in this shitty market, some sellers continue to think that their houses will sell themselves. Even without the cat puke, the backyard faced the Clearview Expressway. But if you like white noise and won’t be using the backyard, then maybe this is the place for you. Otherwise, if you are looking for a townhouse, we did see some attached houses in the area as well, like this one close to the train. At least you can avoid the maintenance fees. Also, we weren’t sure why the area was gated. Who were they trying to keep out, the other middle-class commuter-folks paying “luxury-style” prices across the street? Unfortunately, both properties are situated too far north to walk to the LIRR, but the express bus stops right outside, and shopping at The Bay Terrace is also a short walk away.
With both kiddies now awake, we headed further south to meet an agent and to see some detached single-family houses.
Now that’s what I’m talking about! This Old House features a kitchen renovation on a $6000 budget. It’s not rocket science. I’ve done it myself (as she pats self on back).
A few tips:
1. Salvage what you can.
2. DIY
3. Shop sales
4. Craig is your best friend.
Author: Brett
Still stinging from our near-miss on a 3-bedroom Colonial in Port Washington, NY, we decided to switch gears and started looking somewhere we had always intended to check out, but had never quite gotten to: Bayside, Queens.
Bayside is sandwiched between the Clearview and the Cross Island Expressways and is cut in half by Northern Boulevard. It has a LIRR train stop which is about a 30 minute trip. Bayside has a suburban feel with the added bonus of city buses, parks, and low property taxes. The city public schools are exceptional, and as a former NYC middle-school teacher, this is not a phrase you will ever hear me bandy about. The neighborhood elementary schools, in fact, are so high-performing that they were exempt from the Dept. of Ed’s Orwellian standardized curriculum—a very good thing (art, music and recess, anyone?)
Ok, so there could be less cars and chain restaurants, but there are still oodles of affordable houses within walking distance to the train. It’s no wonder that “Time Out New York Kids” magazine touted Bayside last month as being one of the city’s best new neighborhoods for raising a family.
We have made two trips to Bayside so far—once on our own, and the other with an agent. On the first trip, we saw a roomy Center Hall Colonial for $768K on 205th St. The house had many great features—a sunny eat-in kitchen and outside patio, a finished attic bedroom, and 2 1/2 baths, along with a finished basement. The catch, of course, was that nothing had been updated in at least 15 years and it needed more work than we could possibly afford at that price. A great opportunity—for someone, but not us. Still, the same house would have listed for around $825 in Madison, here in Brooklyn.
Next, we drove to 213th St to see a newly gut-renovated Tudor in Bayside Hills, a leafy, section marked by stone pillars and green malls. This diminutive Tudor for $725 (price has now been lowered to $715k since we saw it last month!) had 3 tiny bedrooms, a barely-there kitchen with breakfast bar overlooking the dining room (dining square foot?) and a postage-sized backyard. What really made it a loser, however, was the basement. You could actually see the raw seams of the main floor as you descended to the “unfinished” basement. There, in one corner, someone had laid the tile for a second bathroom and had attached the door. So, this must have been what the listing meant when they said that there were 2 full bathrooms! Apparently not, since when we asked the listing agent, he replied that this was it for the bathroom—there would be no further work done on it. And I thought that after house-hunting for 3 years that I had seen it all….
After attending the open houses, we had lunch at Pizzeria Uno’s on Bell Boulevard, one of the main shopping streets, and also where the train station is located (at 41st ave). Normally, we wouldn’t bother with a chain, but since we had the kids along, we needed something family-friendly. We decided on our next trip that we would focus on looking at houses north of Northern Boulevard, to make it easier and safer to walk to the train and to shops. We felt like we had a better sense of home prices in Bayside and we agreed that homes were definitely more affordable here than in Brooklyn.
The question remained: Would we find what we were looking for?
Why mostly Brooklyn? Because the other jackasses neglected to post photos. No photos, I don’t wanna know ya!
$100k: Monroe, NY
There’s something appealing about a shack in the woods. Property is 1/4 acre. Monroe is less than an hour north of the city. There are bus lines down to the city or Metro North goes to nearby Harriman.
$299k: Brighton Beach
Here’s a lovely shack near the beach. It’s cash only and needs complete rehab, but it looks real cute! And Brighton is awesome. You can’t get too much more “authentic old school Brooklyn” than this.
$419k: Marine Park
Cute brick townhouse! Personally, I wouldn’t live in Marine Park because I’d feel isolated. But if it’s this or the suburbs, I’d probably be happy to live here.
$489k: Bed Stuy
Looks like some nice details on this one! It’s a single family. If you can make it a legal 2 family and have your tenants cover most of the mortgage, that would be a sweeeet deal.
$134,900: 2 BR
$173500: Snyder Estate Carriage House
$204,900: 2BR Farmhouse
$279k: 3BR
Author: Brett
When last my house-hunting anecdotes graced the screen, we had been off to take a gander at homes in Marine Park. In the past, we had not been too interested in the neighborhood because it is a bit further from public transportation (think: bus to subway) but now that we have been living in Madison with Andrew’s parents for over a year, we were rethinking the area.
Row houses in Marine Park are priced in the 500s and a semi-detached might be in the mid-600k or even lower, but many need refreshing. One semi we saw was in decent shape. It was big and bright and didn’t even seem like “half a house” from the inside, but it only had one bathroom, which was a deal-breaker for Andrew who has his heart set on a detached single family. There was also a shared drive, which we were wary about. I mean, the whole point of buying a house is to have one’s own space, so why share a driveway when you don’t have to?
Still, I thought that it was worth buying this semi-detached, but then we took a look at the schools. The public schools are not rated so well. The elementary school in the heart of Marine Park is praiseworthy, but all but one of the middle schools is downright scary. When the neighborhood nannies and grannies tell you that they are afraid to bring their toddlers to the playground in the afternoon when the kids at I.S. 278 get out for the day, then you listen.
Prices in this neighborhood as well as in neighboring Madison are starting to drop, but they are still too steep for us both to buy AND to renovate. One detached single-family we looked at on East 28th St. between Avenues R and Quentin Road was asking $825K even though it had probably not been updated in 30 years. Another semi-detached with an apartment in the basement on East 23rd between Avenues R and S is currently asking 750K by owner. This home has a new kitchen, but that was probably the only update.
As for new constructions, there are many so-called luxury condos being slapped together all over Ocean Avenue and the streets surrounding the B & Q trains at the Kings Highway subway stop. None look particularly noteworthy or attractive, but I researched them anyway. One building on 17th Street between Quentin Road and Avenue R is asking $760k for a 3 bedroom; another on Ocean Avenue and Avenues R and S is $780k. Again, both are well above our budget.
Even if we could find an affordable, livable home in Marine Park or Madison in a pocket of the area that is zoned for a well-rated school, we have to admit that there is still the question of both neighborhoods having gone from communities with a varied mix of families to more insular ethnic and religious enclaves. It is obvious that this demand to stay within one’s close-knit community is what drives up the price of homes in these areas.
While we were wasting more precious time on our futile hunt in Brooklyn, a new listing came up in Port Washington, NY. It was priced higher than our budget allowed, but we made plans with our realtor extraordinaire to see it anyway….
Jean over at Renovation Therapy was kind enough to do this guest post for me. THANK YOU, JEAN!!!!
While Jackson Heights might have delusions that it’s the next Park Slope…Woodside/Sunnyside Gardens is trying to stay under the radar. We’re a very diverse hood and we like it that way. There are a few hipsters but we throw rocks at them and that is helping to keep their numbers down. Spaying & Neutering helps too – but rocks are more fun.
There are really 2 sections of Woodside, the 7 train section and the R train section. The 7 train section tends to be cheaper and not as well maintained as the R train section. Just sayin’.
The area around 39th Avenue and between Woodside Avenue and 48th Street is…gorgeous. Some people will argue with me and say that’s Sunnyside. It’s border-licious. The adorable brick rowhouse homes (typically) have shared back yards. I secretly harbor a desire to walk through them but since I don’t own one of those homes, not sure I’d be welcome. Still, I do love to peak into their secret garden-ness. Much to the annoyance of many local homeowners, the homes are now Landmark’d. Many of the gorgeous brick rowhouses were designed by Henry Wright and Clarence Stein who are better known for designing Temple Emanu-El and St. Bartholomews in Manhattan. Their vision was to combine urban and rural. They did a damn fine job. I’d love to own one of these rowhouses. Sigh. You can read more about the landmarking of the area here.
Many of the homes around here still have their “Say No To Landmark Status” signs in their windows.
Interesting current listing…
4 bedroom – $429,000
There’s an apartment building on 39th Avenue called Phipps. I have never been inside the apartments but I often sneak into the buildings piazza-like interior garden. It’s heavenly. It’s dark – with lots of trees, shrubbery and white fairy lights. OK, so they are Christmas lights – whatever, it’s heaven. There are benches in there and you can drift away sucking off the wifi for hours on end.
Across the street from this apartment building is an Italian restaurant called Donato’s. I love Donato’s. Hell, I just might go there for dinner tonight. The chicken francese can’t be beat. It’s a small family joint and it gets quite crowded after 7pm. It’s one of our hoods best kept secrets.
So there’s my quick Woodside review. I left out a million things, but come check it out…if you’re a hipster beware of rocks.
To be honest, I’ve never had any interest in foreclosures. It seems kind of icky to me to benefit from someone else’s hardship. I haven’t researched it enough to know the ins and outs. Where do you find them? How does financing work? Is it really a bargain? Whom can you trust? There seem to be a lot of sharks out there when it comes to this sort of thing.
A pre-foreclosure shouldn’t be such a bad karma thing though, right? Aren’t you actually helping the owner by purchasing the property before the bank takes it?
In any case, a quick search on Craigs brought up the following results. Proceed with caution. Beware the sharks.
$229k: East Orange, NJ
$295k: Mt. Vernon
$329k: Woodhaven
Check out this website! Rite Realty Group: “The rigth way”. Be sure to have your sound on for full effect. Miss Wi might just make it into the next realtor photo awards.
Listed by Mark David, a reputable firm.
Huh? Am I reading something wrong or do these apartments really exist? They were listed under “apartments for rent” not “vacation rentals”. I call bullsh*t.
$950: 1BR on Jane Street
Yeah, right! I read the ad 3x. It doesn’t look like a share or weekly rental. What am I missing? It must be weekly, right?
$650: 2BR, Flatbush
Well, not such a great deal considering it’s nearly in Flatlands. Still, the price can’t be $650 per month for a 2 BR. It’s fully furnished and says it’s great for visitors and vacationers. Is that per night? Too pricey for one night in E Flatbush! What gives?
$1200: 1 BR in Soho
????????????????. NO. WAY.
$1450: 2BR “Uptown West”
First of all, where is “Uptown West”? Is that the Upper West Side? Who calls it that? The same people who refer to the city as “town”? Secondly, the agent was obviously drunk when these photos were taken. Thirdly, they keep saying the photos are of the actual apartment. Well, yeah…I would hope so! Anyway, a 2BR for $1450. It’s probably uptown west side of somewhere in NJ.
Hey, I didn’t say it’s gonna be the boros, but let’s see how close we can get….
$199k: Yonkers
$219k: Nyack
$249k: Jamaica
My completely unscientific research has led me to conclude that Queens is the most affordable borough. Here are some coops under $200k. I don’t know what some of these neighborhoods are like or if they are the slightest bit desirable, but they are cheap.
I never understood why someone would want to live in the country and not have land around them. I’d pass homes close to the road, townhouses and condos and say “WTF”? Well, I’m much older and wiser now and I kind of get it.
Weekend homes are a hassle. The cleaning each time you come and go, the heat and water during the winter. Plowing snow. Garbage removal. Maintenance. It’s a part time job and you don’t really get to relax and enjoy the house if you’re just going for a weekend. At least that was our scenario.
So how about those country condos? Some of them offer amenities that would be too pricey for a single homeowner. Pools, tennis, lakes. No guilt that the home is sitting empty if you don’t use it too often. And let someone else worry about the maintenance!
Are condos the way to go or are the fees too high for a part time place? Plus it’s nowhere near as romantic as a cabin the in the woods.
Author: Brett
Our whirlwind real estate tour of Riverdale concluded at the massive Briar Oaks Apartment Complex on the Henry Hudson Parkway. Unlike the small, modern Waterford building that we had seen in the morning, Briar Oaks is the old-school apartment building (circa 1950s) where Mom grew up and where you went to visit Nanny and Pop-Pop until they got sick of the New York winters and moved to Boca del Vista with the rest of The Greatest Generation.
The apartment we saw on the 11th floor was a definite “diamond-in-the-rough”. For their asking price in the mid-500s and a maintenance of around $600, you could have a view of the Hudson River, 3 giant (by today’s standards) bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, a terrace, and ample living and dining room space in addition to a separate kitchen. The downside is that this particular unit needed to be uh, gutted. The paint and plaster walls peeled and cracked and the floor choices in some of the rooms left us puzzled (linoleum tiles in the bedrooms?) while others would clearly need to be updated.
While the Oaks has amenities like a playground, a playroom, a laundry room, storage lockers, and on-site parking, most of what they have to offer also needs refreshing. Parking is $100 a month and there was a wait list for an indoor spot, the storage lockers are also waiting-list-only and the playroom was downright depressing. Each building has a doorman, but the one we talked to didn’t seem to know that there was an open house in the building that day nor where we should park as visitors.
We took the tots downstairs to the playroom for a quick diaper change and I shuddered to think of all of the kid cooties on the ancient toys lining the shelves. I risked their contracting typhoid anyway since my son is in the middle of a motor vehicle obsession.
Ah, but the size of those rooms! And the view! The apartment was definitely in our price range and we would have money left over to really renovate. Andrew, however, was not impressed. While our weekend of apartment-hunting had been informative, he was suddenly thrust back into the realm of maintenance fees and laundry rooms, coop boards and noisy neighbors sharing walls—all of which he realized at that moment that he did not want to revisit. While I would not mind living out my life in a well-maintained apartment and I simpered at the thought of us turning down what could be a kick-ass dwelling, I had to admit that I could no longer make do with a laundry room since I currently do about 2 loads of clothes (and diapers) a day while taking care of the twins myself. There are single-family houses in Riverdale and the area is definitely beautiful, but if we were going to buy a house and fix it up, we might as well look closer to Andrew’s parents, in Brooklyn.
We decided to take a look around Marine Park the following weekend.
