I keep on reading about a housing crisis, sub-prime mortgage bailouts, foreclosures and an overall softening in the housing market. So when are all these things going to help me? In most area's of Brooklyn, my home base, prices went from outrageous to ridiculous when the housing crisis began. Now they’re inching back to outrageous. And Manhattan never even saw a slight correction. Average apartment sales top 1 million.
I don’t know about you, but I’m in need of a hefty market correction. Or better yet, a drastic "price improvement" – a term one broker used to describe a lowered asking price.
Here’s a listing that arrived in my inbox today that a broker thought would fit my needs.
343 4th Avenue, Brooklyn lists as a 2BR, 1019 square feet.
A gorgeous and spacious 2BR, 1 Bath apartment complete with double exposures, full sized modern kitchen, beautiful maple hard wood floors throughout.
The firm asking price is $645K with monthly maintenance of $492. Oh, and it is a new construction which means I’d pay a transfer tax (1% or so) to the city in addition to down payment, closing costs, monthly mortgage, etc. You can see the layout of the bedrooms is tiny with barely room for a double bed and dressers. On the plus side, this is one of the better floor plans I’ve seen.
The expensively depressing state of New York real estate got me thinking. I decided to see what a similar price would get me elsewhere. I hopped on Remax.com and picked a random town in commuting distance to the city – Pleasantville.
191 Marble was built in 1928. It’s a simple, yet charming 1425 square foot, 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 story house with a yard and 2 car garage. Asking price is $649 with yearly taxes $6,928 (about $577/month). Hmm...
Then I decided to see what this price would get me in some other random US city. Daytona, FL – home of the Daytona 500.
The first result of my unscientific Remix house search netted 642 N Halifax Avenue. A 7 bedroom, 7 bath, 4,400 square feet single family that could also be zoned for offices if you were so inclined. With an asking price of $642K, N Halifax Ave is a manageable, by NYC standards, $499,900 with $1830 in yearly taxes.
You know what $499K gets you, maybe, in the city? A 696 square foot studio in Dumbo. 189 Bridge Street.
Of course I'm just bitching. I could never live in Daytona. But I could very easily picture myself in a 7 BR, 7 Bath pad on Park Ave.
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this post speaks to me- i am in the same exact place/state of mind right now. la housing prices are starting to fall, but they are still obscenely high- i don't think i'll ever be able to afford much more than a moderately sized shoebox in this damn town.
Try zip code 30310 in Atlanta, it's the west end... everything under 100k and they all come with their own glock! Seriously, it bad. Your city is it's own micro-economy and as such isn't affected by anything except itself...
Where I live, you can get seven bedrooms plus 50 acres and it will still only cost you half as much. But you don't want to live here!