Here’s a list of off-the-radar organizations if you want to lend a helping hand to Japan.
Posts categoriezed as REAL ESTATE
Framy Frames
The vintage clothing king and queen of the Brooklyn Flea are making frames now. Larry and Amy of Jellyroll Vintage are also Framy. Got that?
I do. I ordered five, count ’em, five custom Framy frames from these guys before Christmas and I finally hung them all today. So exciting!
A little background here. Amy has 15 years of framing experience behind her. She’s pretty meticulous with her work. I found out when I took the back out of one of them to change the photo and saw the crafts(wo)manship behind it. The frames are all made by hand from scratch. They’ve got a distressed look going on with a wax finish. That’s where Larry comes in. He does the mitering, joining and finishing.
Ah, but it’s not just frames. This rad couple does some pretty cool things with mats. Howzabout recycled vintage fabric?
Prices are totally fair. You have artwork sitting in a closet? Just do it already!
BTW, if the above photo looks familiar, it’s this one.
Brooklyn Apartments Under $1200
This looks nice! Huge 1 BR in Crown Heights with laundry for $1175. Pets are fine!
This Clinton Hill brownstone studio was lowered from $1100 to $1099, but I’m also seeing what looks like the same apartment for $1200. WTF? Looks like everything is new. Tasteful, a tad above average rental renovation.
1 bedroom in Bed Stuy at Hancock and Malcolm for $1000. That’s close to the A at Utica and the lovely restaurants on Lewis. Top floor of brownstone. Says it’s newly renovated. Looks like that means they might have just painted, but it’s got nice bones.
For $1099 you get a meh 1 BR apartment, but it’s only a few blocks to Prospect Park, so you can’t really beat that price. Plus, it’s near some darn good trains. Small pets ok.
Pet Friendly Flat with a Catch
The Lower East Side’s Ludlow allows pets in the apartments. The owner, who also runs an animal shelter, requires that they get spayed or neutered before moving in.
I love this woman. Who’s to complain? Many landlords won’t rent to people with pets at all. At least she allows responsible animal people to live there.
Personally, I’ve been known to only rent to people with pets because I know firsthand how difficult it can be to find housing.
The only problem I see with these new apartments with tons of amenities located across from Katz’s? Well, not everyone can afford them.
Via City Room.
Brooklyn By The Sea
Goodbye, Dream Home
In a few hours we’ll be closing on the sale of our Beacon house. Don’t get me wrong, I’m elated that I’ll have one less headache. You know the saying “The more you own, the more it owns you”. We’ll take weekends off instead of working on the house and we’ll buy toys for ourselves because we won’t be paying two mortgages. It’s all good!
I can’t help but feel a bit melancholic though. This was our dream house and it took us a long while to arrive at a place where we were able to afford our perfect house. We thought we would stay forever. We stayed for six years.
So, goodbye huge backyard. Goodbye spectacular antique woodwork. And stained glass. And awesome wrap around porch. So long, pocket doors. Turret.
It’s not you that we’re leaving, House. Don’t feel bad. As of today, you’ll get a fresh blast of love from someone new. If we could transplant you to Brooklyn, we would. But alas, it isn’t to be. We needed to be back in the city at this time.
We are fortunate enough to be living in another architectural dream of ours: The Brownstone.
But between you and I, House, Queen Anne Victorian trumps narrow brownstone living any day of the week.
I’ll miss you! 🙁
PS: I’m keeping the logo.
Coney’s Last Gasp
Yesterday was such a beautiful day that we decided to visit Aunt Elaine in Coney Island and have a stroll along the boardwalk. We happened upon the final last call (maybe) of Ruby’s and Paul’s Daughters (aka Gregory’s). Their leases have been terminated to make way for the Disneyfication of Coney Island. Amusing the Zillion and Sheepshead Bites have the full story.
I’ve mentioned here before that I lived in Brightwater Towers across from the aquarium during my teen years. I was still there, living with my parents, when I took up photography. To this day, my favorite place to shoot is Coney during the winter months, when it’s desolate. The decay is what makes it beautiful.
Coney Island’s appearance (or lack of) is not what makes it special. The people do. Like the lost Times Square of the 1970’s, Coney is home to a vast array of eccentric souls. The geriatric handball players. The big Russian guys swimming in sub zero temperatures. The ladies with hair to match the candy apples.
I like to think that they will remain. The courts, the water and the boardwalk will always be there for them. As gentrification spreads around the neighborhood, they will probably be priced out or bought out though.
Who knows? Maybe one day Florida will be become the new Coney Island. Oh right, a bunch of them are down there with my mom already. And you know what? It’s really not the same. 🙁
Beacon Open Houses Today!
Two open houses today from 1-4pm in Beacon. Both cute 3 bedrooms priced at $269,900.
The one in the photo above was written up here back in June. They’ve since lowered the price. It’s worth a look, trust me. Address is 21 St. Luke’s Place.
This 3BR home one is at Dinan and Rombout. I haven’t been inside, but it looks great from the photos.
More info @ JonCar Realty: 845-831-3331
Weekender: Greek Revival Under $200k
This fabulous Coxsackie, NY house belongs to a friend of mine. Sadly, I’ve never been invited up to see it in person. (How subtle was that hint?)
The Greek Revival was built circa 1839 and has been lovingly restored by said friend. I know that “lovingly restored” is a ridiculous real estate term, but it’s true…she did the restoration with love. And a bit of good taste didn’t hurt either. Before photos on Flickr.
$199,900 will get you 3 bedrooms in a 1969 square foot home on 1/3 acre bordering a state park.
So, where is this funny sounding town of Coxsackie? It’s upstate in Greene County. That’s west of Hudson (both the town and the river) and close to the other quaint towns of Athens and Catskill. It’s most famous for (in my mind) the kick ass Coxsackie Antique Center.
Check out the house! If you buy it, maybe you’ll invite me up.
This House is Empty Now
We rented a truck and some guys last Friday to move the rest of our belongings from Beacon to Brooklyn. Anything left in the house was sold off in our moving sale on Saturday. Apart from a few leftover items that will be donated or dumped, the house is sitting empty, waiting for the new owners to come and make it a home again.
The sale was called for 10am on Saturday. We woke up early to get our personal belongings out of the way. As I sat on the toilet at 9am, the bell rang. And that was it. The early birds had arrived.
The first moving sale we had prior to putting the house on the market was in the driveway. This time, we had things from the basement all the way up to the attic and out to the garage, so we let people wander around.
My husband asked afterward if I felt violated having people rip through our stuff like that. Had we been given that extra hour to get a few more tote boxes out of the house, it would have been fine. But I had forgotten about some boxes in the attic. When I went upstairs in the afternoon, I found Alpine’s garbage scattered about the floor. I felt protective of her. There were a number of antique bottles that we took back from people. That’s a memory that stays together. Not for sale.
Then I saw we had left a box of old tax files up there. Hopefully, we weren’t visited by an ID thief because they could have gotten our social security numbers and birth dates quite easily. Yeah, that was a big no no. More important than any other expensive possession I grabbed out of the house.
The thing about these sales is people don’t respect your stuff. They don’t carefully go through boxes and closets. They scatter things about. I can’t imagine what it’s like to run an estate sale if you’re a child of an elderly or deceased parent, when it’s a lifetime of memories up for grabs.
I’m not saying I’m not the first one through the door at an estate sale! I love going through people’s old photos and keepsakes. It’s a way of honoring their lives.
Anyway, I don’t know what I’m going on about. We were in the house for 6 years. We were just getting rid of some old junk. I’m just getting sentimental about the house now that the transfer of property is becoming a reality.
See You Monday
Hi. Oops, tried to pack in too much for this weekend’s Beacon house clearing and now stressing out. Have a good weekend, y’all!
Share NYC Office with Architect
Here’s a good deal for an interior designer or contractor. Share Upper East Side office with architect. The rent is below market value at $1500 and may be negotiable beyond that. Here’s the listing.
Bad Real Estate Photos
All of the shots on this $459k Bed Stuy home look as if they’ve been taken with a fish eye lens, but it’s obvious a guy took the photo. Because they don’t know how to PUT. THE. FRIGGIN. TOILET. SEAT. DOWN!
Wow, killer views of the parking lot on this Bronx apartment! The screen. The wire hanging down. But wait, there’s more…
WTF? Check out the listing. There’s an image of a hand taking money out of a mouse trap. I don’t get it. Can someone explain?
A 2600+ sq ft home in Ditmars Steinway, Queens. The realtor has 3 shots up on Trulia. All of the same bathroom.
New construction on Staten Island for $1,385,000. Ya think maybe for that price the agent might have gotten a few shots? No, this was it. It’s not making sense to me. Looks like two different staircases put together. And what’s the black business on the left side of the frame? Don’t tell me they snapped a shot from a video!
Oh Diane!
Reclaimed Space
A small house made an entirely from recycled materials. That’s what Reclaimed Space does. And they come pre-assembled too!
The Texas based company is the brainchild of rancher/construction guy Tracen Gardner. Kimber Reed is the design gal behind it all. Together, they build some super fab sustainable living quarters ranging from 336sf to 1240sf. Prices start at $38,460 for the smallest structure. That includes almost everything, but it looks like delivery is separate.
I totally would have done this back when I was thinking about my new garage that I never did. Too bad I can’t stick one of these babies in my Brooklyn backyard. Hmm…nah.