Comments on: Bushwick House of the Week: 454 Irving

By: Jimmy Legs

Jimmy Legs — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:53:58 +0000

Mopar, when you say ‘no plumbing, no heat, no electricity’ do you mean it was all in need of repair? or was it just turned off? or was the house literally stripped of wire, pipes, and radiators?

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:24:23 +0000

What a coincidence! When I was 21 I rented a small two room apartment at 448 Irving (I think it might be a few houses to the right of that photo). It was a great little flat on the top floor. I think the landlord (Dominican guy) split the top floor into two living spaces, I rented the front half. I loved living on that block. It was only a few minutes to the Myrtle avenue station and I was close to some good shopping areas. I think I paid $260/month back in 1985/88. I have a photo of me walking out of my front door taken back around 1987. Wish I had a scanner. I wonder what my old place is renting for now?

By: Mopar

Mopar — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:26:44 +0000

When I saw this house in February it had no plumbing, no heat, and no electricity. No thanks.

By: ricmac01

ricmac01 — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:29:32 +0000

“The grass is always greener…”. But you guys have put in quite a bit of work into your house in a relatively short period of time and are working at creating a priceless HOME! (kiss hug)

By: Jeremy Sapienza

Jeremy Sapienza — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:31:34 +0000

Oh I agree overall, and I do think an offer of 575 would probably fly here, if the owner is reasonable. I’d love to trade my ugly dump house on a loud street for this. *sigh*

By: ricmac01

ricmac01 — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:27:16 +0000

Yes, by 2006/07 standards this is a fair price and I agree, the photos of this house really look nice. But with the recent glut of empty/abandoned houses in this area, I think an owner will have to wait for the right buyer before this will sell at the asking price. The banks are no longer willing to throw 90% loans at anyone who asks, couple that with prospective buyers’ job concerns due to the unstable/inflationary economy (shh, Mr.Bush it IS called a recession) and I bet this house sits for a while longer unless they cut the price. But maybe, as long as there’s such a desire to throw money at any opportunity to be anywhere close to Manhattan people will continue to over-pay out of fear that it’s their last chance. And yes, I do think that with time this corner of the neighborhood will also become desirable and therefore, in retrospect look like a darned good deal.

By: Jeremy Sapienza

Jeremy Sapienza — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:02:48 +0000

This is quite cheap for an entire house in great shape — I think that even more now that I’ve seen the interiors. I mean, I’d still rip that kitchen out but the details seem totally intact. I saw ugly, small houses on horrible blocks that were completely destroyed inside for more than this in 2006 — considering this is the opposite of all that, it’s a deal. I don’t know by what standard the price is too high for 2008 — certainly not by the standard of the rest of Brooklyn and New York. These houses were in the 700s when we were looking.

By: Jimmy Legs

Jimmy Legs — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:38:14 +0000

i can’t decide if that’s too high. the economy for real estate is not so hot, but that’s a pretty good per sf cost. but it may just be a matter of time, when people discover that little corner of the neighborhood this may seem in retrospect like a darned good deal.

still, those interior photos show gross carpet and annoying paint color choices. but still…

By: ricmac01

ricmac01 — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:55:36 +0000

These old houses look great but the asking price is too high for 2008. Here’s a link to the Craigslist ad for this place and it does include some nice interior photos.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/rfs/721740745.html

By: Jimmy Legs

Jimmy Legs — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:30:40 +0000

damn that’s like 1100 sf per floor, $189 per square foot! i love the ridgewoody feel of this part of the neighborhood. actually it probably was part of ridgewood before they got all uppity.