Sale at 127 West 88th Street - Single Family Townhouse

uwsmom, is it me or do the taxes seem a bit high for a single-family townhouse?

I don't know much about real estate taxes, but 13k annually doesn't strike me as terribly bad. Though, I'm comparing it to others that I've seen for 40k+.

I should rephrase. Not sure that this asking price seems so low as much as it reminds me of how terribly overpriced many TH's are (especially many in the 70's).

Ah, I assumed those were monthly! I think 13k annually is fine. 70s townhouses are indeed overpriced, but I imagine they're the trophy for any UWS-centric family.

I'm assuming it's annually. Monthly would certainly be startling!!

a) there's no question that it's annual taxes
b)it's only an 18 footer
c) it' a bit high up to be between Columbus and Amsterdam (as opposed to park Block)
d) I only see 2 bathrooms?
e) With no photos of kitchens (what is that second kitchen anyway?) or baths, my guess is the house needs work.
f) No stoop

it's also only 4 floors.

I would assume it needs work, but many do, right?

It's overpriced, considering that there are single family THs further south asking less than 5m. 13k for a single family TH s. of 96th, UWS is cheap. There was a discussion on this. You've already got the single-fam C of O, so no fear of tax increases due to improvements. You can renovate as much as you like, and keep the 13k taxes. Why do people think 13k is high? Ever seen what "unabated" condos on the UWS pay in taxes?

132W70, 130W70 went for less, had one more floor, and better location.

BTW, the lack of a stoop in this case is actually good. These particular houses were built without stoops - in many cases, the basements have light wells/windows, are 8' in ht and are more usable than the basements of high-stoop townhouses. I would much prefer a "low-stoop" house (as originally built) over a high stoop TH. Can't believe I caught you out, 30yrs.

are there vacant single family TH's asking < 5? I haven't been keeping up...

but weren't 132 and 130 chopped up into multiple apartments, thereby destroying much of the original detail/charm?

Yes.

132 and 130 each had 6 one-bedroom apartments in addition to owner's living quarters. hard to compare those to this one, don't you think?

Not really. There are few enough TH comps, that you end up comparing multi-fam to one-fam, etc. While original details are very hard to duplicate - they aren't priceless. Also, sometimes the lack of detail can be good for end users because you feel much less guilt about reconfiguring the space for your purposes. For example, there are probably original shaving sinks, with woodwork on the 2nd flr between the front & back rooms. Would hurt your heart ot rip out if you are a prewar detail fan like me, but OTOH, that space is just asking to have a bathroom, given that the plumbing stack already exists. 131W88 sold early '08 for 5.18m as a point of reference.

i'm thinking of the poor soul (sorry if you're on here) that payed $6MM+ for the, pardon my opinion, crappy TH on CPW/mid-90's. I think 4.5 is a good start. it will undoubtedly be lowered.

owned a single family on the block and know it well and would definitely buy there again. The beautiful block is tree lined and very convenient to the CPW 85th street playground. NYL considered W 88 to be one of the anchor blocks of the UWS. A cautionary note though, there is a public housing building at W88 and Amsterdam and lowers property values adjacent to it. 127 is towards Columbus and therefore really not affected by the project, price wise. However, Saturday nights we avoided Amst. / 88 since drug dealers were around. Pre-crash 127 would of fetched a bit more than $5M. The $4.5M is a high starting point in this market, particularly when considering the home needs updating such as a new kitchen and baths and ? On the other hand, the details from the photos look to be in relatively good condition and this would be a great project house to restore. The UWS TH inventory has remained lower than the increase that I thought would occur during the present correction. I hope inventory grows with the slower transaction volume and again be a market participant.

peeped in the window today. definitely needs dusting off but what a fabulous staircase. if we were in the market now i'd jump to look at this one. i'm guessing this one moves faster than others. i'm going with 3.8.

reasons: 1) it's vacant, 2) architectural integrity.

You're on. I can see 3.8. Agree with the arch. integrity of W87-89. I think 163W88 and another one on 87 sold for very high prices (over 6?) a couple of years ago - fully renovated (one more than the other) and both under 20 feet.

Uwsmom: you're not concerned about schools?

I have the addresses wrong for the two renovated single-fams that sold. But on the same stretch bet. Col & Amst.

yeah, haven't been down that block much. it's quite nice. all TH's if I recall correctly. we like that it's only four stories (much more manageable) and hubby likes the no stoop/tall iron gated entrance. wonder how much work it actually needs. assuming only cosmetic, i might guess a range anywhere from 3.8-4.2.

this is all pure fantasy for me. not sure i'll ever really be "in the market" for a TH. who knows?

if we're still in the city 3-4 years from now and have to decide on schools, we may lean toward catholic, but ... who knows?

Anderson on 84th and Columbus is a public K-8 magnet school and highly selective but worth the effort if you can get your child in. You need to apply in the fall prior to the year before your child attends. Open houses fill up quick and admission testing is very crowded. This is the only public UWS school comparable in quality to the exclusive private schools such as Trinity. There are not any public HS on the UWS worth considering.

"I don't know much about real estate taxes, but 13k annually doesn't strike me as terribly bad. Though, I'm comparing it to others that I've seen for 40k+."

$13k in taxes is dirt cheap. Come with me to NJ, Nassau, or Westchester one day and I will show you dozens of sub $1 million houses that pay over $15k in taxes.

taxes are usually given in the annual amount 99% of the time for single family houses. Taxes in condos, however, are usually given in a monthly amount.

Schools??? Do people who pay $4 million on a place to live really send their kids to public schools? You're kidding, right?

Absolutely, redelm. Shrimpys: admission for Anderson has changed in the last couple of years.

yes redelm. that is precisely why the children need to go to public ;)

Perhaps people in this income bracket should settle for 1 $3 million place to live so that they can send their kids to private school.

Redelm: it's not as easy as it sounds. I'm sure the private school parents on here can tell you that there are private schools that they would pay 30k+ for, and private schools that they wouldn't. If your children are young, it's wise to be zoned for a good gen-ed, so that you have a backup if your child doesn't get admitted into your private school of choice.

shrimpys - do you grow up on that block or own as an adult. if the latter, what made you leave? I thought north of 86th was zoned for PS166?

redelm - if only $3MM, then why waste the money on education. you could buy another vacation home with that. the kids should be thankful to be going to school at all! the more important thing is that they will have a trophy home. priorities here.

sorry shrimps - "did you..."

10023 - one of the benefits of parochial: stress-free admissions

bump - house went into contract. We'll see soon what the closing price is. IMO, a small premium was paid for the "low" stoop, limestone, original (and good) features.

bump

hey - i just noticed this. 3.9M. do you think i have the townhouse equivalent of gaydar? i swear i don't know the buyers. my circle ain't that fancy.

Don't know what TH equiv. of gaydar? D'you mean predicting a low price? I find the wide dispersal of prices unpredictable. Adam Gordon's W76th just went for a little under 20m. A couple of park-block W84s went for low 4ms.