Brooklyn house (Gowanus) from $800k to $350k

Poor dumb bastard. I mean c'mon, this is Darwinian.

That's an ouch.

GG - are you in Gowanus now?

Hey it's just around the corner from 500 4th avenue. Shouldn't have any problem selling this thing. I hear that building is selling like HOT CAKES. I mean hey, who wouldnt want to live around the corner from PARK SLOPE?

Imagine if the fool put 10% or less down.

That makes the stock market decline look like the investment of the century.

And, god, that a bad location even for gowanus. a couple blocks from the prospect and the bqe. Ouch.

This is like the armpit of all of brooklyn.

Best part, mutations could lead to X-Men franchise.

Of course, because of secret identities, the prices around superhero homes never goes up. Spideman lived in crappy queens. Wolverine I think lived in the woods.

What a find - $800k for the entire block might have been pushing it, but for that house? What's nearby? Lowe's? Home Depot? Yes, 4th Ave is there, but that's still got a long way to go itself.

If you look at the closing data though, the seller is US Bank National Association.

"Hey it's just around the corner from 500 4th avenue. Shouldn't have any problem selling this thing. I hear that building is selling like HOT CAKES. I mean hey, who wouldnt want to live around the corner from PARK SLOPE?"

And it's just steps away from BROOKLYN HEIGHTS!

"If you look at the closing data though, the seller is US Bank National Association."

That means the house was a foreclosure.

"That means the house was a foreclosure."

Yes, I thought that would be clear!

No, I'm not in gowanus. I lived in Cobble Hill several years ago but now I rent in Manhattan.

> Yes, 4th Ave is there, but that's still got a long way to go itself.

When proximity to 4th avenue is your "draw", you know you have problems...

It may not be for everyone, but I really enjoyed living in this area. This section of Gowanus is not industrial at all - very residential, with a very "Brooklyn" population, and some very nice brick townhouses and frame house with porches. Reasonable level of services and amenities, and close to Park Slope for restaurants and culture. If this house is in even reasonably good condition, it would be a great deal.

I just took a walk by and and peaked in the windows and it's beat to hell on the inside and out. Looks like it hasn't been lived in for years. Horrible looking floor with wood panel walls. Would need a lot of work. Still, quite a surprise to see something fall from 800,000 to 350,000.

Looking at ACRIS paints a very different picture than what is being discussed here.

"It may not be for everyone, but I really enjoyed living in this area. This section of Gowanus is not industrial at all - very residential, with a very "Brooklyn" population, and some very nice brick townhouses and frame house with porches."

And a sewage repair garage right across the street. Just like grandma used to make!

I just saw this article about Williamsburg
http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/more-foreclosures-likely-as-williamsburg-inventory-grows-aptsandlofts-com-david-maundrell-jonathan-miller

Someone once told me that Williamsburg is the Greenwich Village of Brooklyn any thoughts on that analogy?

Williamsburg is what 'Greenwich Village' was once, sort of.GV is an over priced hood close to NYU. Any factor that once made it the hot bed of counter culture has been carefuly eradicated. It's just not that place any more because...times change. When we think of the idea of GV, Williamsburg is a heck of a lot closer. What WB lacks in true cultural germination it makes up for in worthless superficial hippsterism. In other word, they talk the talk but, do they realy walk the walk?
Hippsters don't make change. Dedicated uberworking relentless artists and intelectuals traped together under political, social and financial pressure create counter culture which in turn becomes culture. Dressing up 'like your cool' produces................not so much.

"Someone once told me that Williamsburg is the Greenwich Village of Brooklyn any thoughts on that analogy?"

I've lived in Williamsburg, and I've lived in Greenwich Village. Williamsburg is more like the Lower East Side of Brooklyn -- hipster youngsters trying to be cool living in crappy buildings that were never really nice in the first place, in a neighborhood that's one of the most inconveniently located in the city.

matt---you are full of shit...is there anywhere you haven't lived or anything you are not an expert on?

Yes. I haven't lived on the Upper East Side, Beekman Place, the East Village, Brownsville, or Staten Island. I know nothing about childbirth, fixing automobiles, or sports.

Don't be such a freakin high brow 30yrs... you have something to contribute?

30 yrs -- what do you mean it's a diff picture on acris? Could you be more specific? thx.

"hipster youngsters trying to be cool living in crappy buildings that were never really nice in the first place, in a neighborhood that's one of the most inconveniently located in the city."

That's a pretty gross generalization - within a one block radius of the Bedford stop, yes, it probably seems like a hipster haven, full of somewhat shallow people who all dress the same. Dig a little deeper and you'll find that's not really the full story. It's a facile characterization. As for being "inconvenient," it totally depends on where you need to be most of the time. If it's north of Midtown Manhattan, sure, you can do a lot better (though I get to 72/Bway in under 30 mins most of the time). But if you need to be anywhere in downtown, there's really no problem.

Back to the topic at hand - REO, can you elaborate? What's different in the ACRIS system? I can search it but I am no pro.

I believe he simply meant it was in foreclosure, not that this was a seller who was desperate to dump the property asap (though one could argue, what's the real difference?).

"As for being "inconvenient," it totally depends on where you need to be most of the time."

If it requires a subway transfer, it's "inconvenient".

"If it requires a subway transfer, it's "inconvenient"."

Unless you live in the Financial District, you pretty much need to transfer to get to several other parts of town. I understand the inconvenience of having to make two transfers, but complaining about one I don't get. But hey, to each his/her own.

"Unless you live in the Financial District, you pretty much need to transfer to get to several other parts of town."

Not necessarily. Most New Yorkers don't have to transfer as a matter of course EVERY time they board the subway. In Williamsburg/Greenpoint/East Village, unless your destination is always within walking distance of 14th Street, EVERY subway ride involves a transfer.

Pain.
In.
The.
ASS.

Been there, done that.

"Not necessarily. Most New Yorkers don't have to transfer as a matter of course EVERY time they board the subway. In Williamsburg/Greenpoint/East Village, unless your destination is always within walking distance of 14th Street, EVERY subway ride involves a transfer."

True, but they're pretty painless transfers, and all to express trains (or local if needed). When I lived on the UES, on 78th, was a quick walk to the 6, but getting to the West Village (or much of the west side in general) was unbearable. As I said, really depends on where you want/need to be most of the time. For some people, being close to the L is great. For others, there are clearly better options. I just disagree with your characterizing it as "one of the most inconveniently located."

No one said transfers were "painful". I said they were inconvenient -- since they double your wait time (unless you just HAPPEN to catch your second train just as it's pulling into the station ... and we all know that happens all the time, riiiiight??).

So let's see ... Williamsburg to Upper East Side. Two trains. Inconvenient. Williamsburg to all points south of 14th Street. Two trains. Inconvenient. Williamsburg to Midtown. Two trains. Inconvenient. Williamsburg to the Upper West Side. Two trains. Inconvenient. Williamsburg to just about anywhere else in Brooklyn -- two trains, involving a trip into Manhattan! Inconvenient. (Yes, I know about the "G" train -- been there, done that. It's faster to walk.)

What's convenient about Williamsburg again, please?

"No one said transfers were "painful". I said they were inconvenient -- since they double your wait time (unless you just HAPPEN to catch your second train just as it's pulling into the station ... and we all know that happens all the time, riiiiight??)."

You did say they were painful!:
"Pain.
In.
The.
ASS."
And as someone who does this everyday, I can tell you that the wait time is quite short, unless you're on really off-peak hours. I transfer A LOT to the 2/3 and 4/5/6 - average wait time is probably under 2 minutes. My commute to Wall St is faster now than it was on the UWS. I would say that's convenient.

BJW ... I'm glad you find your commute "convenient".

When I lived in Williamsburg, heading to Midtown, it was terrible.

What I also meant is that I'm not so sure there wasn't some "funny business" going on with the prior sales and some mortgage fraud going on: the guy who got foreclosed "sold it to the bank" the day he took out the mortgages.

A brief summary:

March 2003 Estate sale for 110,000 cash and "release of Estate Tax Lien"
April 2005 Sale for 700,000 with *** $700,000 FINANCING ***
October 2005 Sale for $900,000 with $855,000 financing
May 2008 foreclosure

From Estate to the 100% financing was a really sweet deal.... Too bad I didn't do it.

From April 05 to Oct 05 is very nice as well...

A snapshot of the housing bubble, in figures. Or of a Ponzi scheme; the ones who got in early made out like bandits, and the last sucker got stuck holding the bag.

I think the activity indicates more than a mere housing bubble.

"Not necessarily. Most New Yorkers don't have to transfer as a matter of course EVERY time they board the subway. In Williamsburg/Greenpoint/East Village, unless your destination is always within walking distance of 14th Street, EVERY subway ride involves a transfer."

Agreed... I'm very anti-transfer, even the "painless" ones still up the ante considerably. Figure you have twice the chance of a delay. Twice as much time sweating. ;-)
And it gets mucho mucho worse off hours, when the trains are fewer and farther in between.

Just more chances for something to go off. Personally, I'll walk (even if it takes more time) to avoid the transfer, because at least its more predictable.

Few neighborhoods are perfect for every work location. But thats why folks should (and mostly do) base location partially on work. This at least used to be a pretty standard concept in the city, though it does seem to have lost steam with all the newbies. Queens great for midtown. Brooklyn great for downtown. If you work at 42nd and 10th, perhaps the UES isn't best for you. If you work in east midtown, maybe not the uws. You absolutely should factor that in in my book, making no one neighborhood perfect for all.

That being said, I agree on the 14th street angle. If you work somewhere in between 10-20, great. Outside of that, you're in transfer time. Thats not a great thing in my book for the commute.