Is this house a buy

happyrenter: I think you have to ask yourself why the owner would be eager to sell, since it's an income-producing property and the cash flow should be squarely positive. The answer might be that the real rent roll in 2009 is likely to be lower than the projection, and there's probably a fair amount of deferred maintenance looming, not to mention tax increases and curtailment of city services.

point taken 81st, but the house has to be worth something, and my question to you would be what do you think it is worth? Clearly any buyer would have to determine the deferred maintenance situation before getting involved, but even so, the house appears to be asking approximately half the relevant comps.

As you know, I am very bearish on NY real estate, but the truth is that unlike, say equities, or petroleum, or produce, or fixed income, there isn't so much a 'market' for real estate as there are individual properties. If I own a share of IBM, I know I can sell it, I know the price I can get for it, and I know that I can always replace it with another identical IBM share. So while I can get a good deal on a share of IBM, I can't get a better deal on one share of IBM than on another share of IBM at a given time.

WIth real estate, the opposite is true. One UWS townhouse can be dramatically overpriced, and another can be a buy. The real estate market can be headed down, but there can still be a buying opportunity. A relative of mine had an awful time selling his apartment right in the midst of the boom--an incompetent broker, two board turn-downs, then facade-work on the building... he ended up having to sell for a song even during a time of escalating prices.

If you don't think this house could be a buy at this price, at what price would it be a buy?

Well, $190k is the "estimated" income if you get those prices on the other units and keep them rented, assuming there's not a lot of work to do on them first.

So let's say it's really $160k to be realistic, and there's $30k of expenses... net you have $130k, or a 6% return if you're buying this with all cash.

The only way you'd want to buy this is if you're the kind of person who's very effective at encouraging rent stabilized tenants to move out.

The property is directly in front of Brandeis High. That alone might make me think twice.

Also, even ONE stabilized tenant can cause a tremendous and ongoing headache for a landlord, especially one living on premises (be prepared for your doorbell to ring regularly at 2am and other odd hours). For all you know some of these tenants have simply stopped paying rent, which is not uncommon. If so, you'd better enjoy spending your days downtown in court if you want to see even one red cent.

Isn't this a great deal for a family that wants to have the entire brownstone? I think in NYC you can work to evict all the occupants including the rent stabalized tenants if you plan on occupying the entire building as a one family home. Even if you factor in the legal fees to do all this and the renovation costs this seems like a really solid deal.

Yeah, but that eviction process can take months, even years, regardless of whether you want to occupy the building yourself or rent it out. NYC is very tenant-sympathetic. You'll have a major fight on your hands.

Brownstones like this are money pits until a gilded age comes along and some very wealthy family comes in, throws $5 million at it, and converts it to a single family mansion. Oh, but, wait, our gilded age is over and rich people haven't converted this one over to a mansion. Now what? My guess, it needs about $2 million of immediate work, or else it will soon be unlivable Owner is thinking that for $2.2 million, he/she can get out relatively unscathed, and will be able to sleep a whole lot better at night without the headaches of worrying about walls caving in, termites, rodents, boilers exploding, roof leaking, plumbing not working, electrical on the fritz, etc.

If I read that correctly, it looks like 6 of the 9 apartments will be vacant within a few months. What rights do you have (as an owner) to not renew rent stabilized tenants? Do you have any standing or is that a nightmare procedure?

If you could do that and had the money to put into a brownstone this could be nice. There is a certain segment of the population that looks for that situation instead of a large apartment. What if you had the cash to renovate and could get it for $2 million and could somewhat painlessly evist the tenants (if that is ever possible)?

Bramstar is 100% correct. If anything, Bramstar only scratches the surface of the pitfalls.

I won't even try to enumerate the things that could go wrong here, either with respect to the regulated tenants or the vacant apartments, which aren't quite the no-brainer you might think. Let's just say that an awful lot of very smart money has been gambled - and often lost - on the prospect of deregulating or evicting stabilized tenants.

The adversarial options - eviction for personal use, or deregulation via luxury decontrol or other means - are expensive, time-consuming and incredibly risky. The collaborative options - buyouts or relocation - require a substantial investment, and you still have to go through City bureaucracy to get the units out of rent regulation, on top of all the hoops and cost associated with the renovation.

At the end of the day, the market is pretty efficient and (at best) rewards you fairly for the risks you take. You can buy a beautiful townhouse for $4-5MM, or you can buy a big fat bundle of question marks for $2MM. If you go the cheap route and everything goes well, you'll probably wind up saving some money, but you'll also have to wait a really long time and deal with a lot of aggravation and uncertainty. If something goes awry, you could get hosed pretty badly.

West81st - Great points.

i think a good rule of thumb is "if a deal is too good to be true, it probably is" and slightly less well known but no less true, "if it was easy to do, the current owner would have done it already"

that rent estimation has more asterisks than oprah has read books. to me, it's a completely made up number. couldn't agree more w/ Bram & west81 - i bet when you look at the tenant situation, you are stuck with them for a long, long time and won't be able to easily evict them, period. in fact, isn't it a little strange that 5 of the 9 units are vacant in what appears to be pretty sizeable apartments (6000 sq ft/9 units) in a good area at very cheap rents - $2,200?? i bet the owner was trying to do exactly that (create a single family home, renovate, and either sell or stay) and failed.

Happyrenter,

lotsa good points here. If you do this deal, be prepared to be a landlord, as I am. If you know how to be a L, it's ok, if not, could be a nightmare.

In general, RSTs have the right to renew the lease as long as they are not nonprimary Ts.

Suggest you read the DHCR web site to learn about landlording rent stab Ts: http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/Rent.

If you're thinking of taking over the building for your use, please consult a Landlord-Tenant lawyer BEFORE you buy. It will proly take years to do this, but, RE is a looong term investment.

I think there's a bunch of vacancies because that's attractive to a buyer who seeks this as a "user" property, as opposed to an investment.

Also, before you buy, have the bld inspected: roof, boiler, facade (brownstone/bricks), termites, etc.

good luck.

Hold on a second, everyone. Great points, but I want to make very clear, I have absolutely no interest in buying this house, I'm simply curious about its value. I live in the West Village and I would never, ever, ever consider living on the Upper West Side. Ever. And I'm not a landlord and don't plan to be a landlord.

My reason for asking about this house, though, has been demonstrated by all these comments. I'm a bear on NYC real estate, but we bears have a bad reputation because we go on and on about everything going down but we're rarely willing to say when something is no longer a sell. I agree with everyone's points about deals that are too good to be true, the pitfalls of life as a landlord, the horrors of rent regulation, the possibility of deferred maintenance.

But it remains the case that a six thousand square foot house in the center of the Upper West Side with three vacant floors has value. I am not asking for all the reasons not to buy the house; I know the reasons, and I would essentially not buy it at any price. I'm interested in some best guesses of a value for the house.

Don't have the time to do the calculations, but realize there's 2 values: 1. as a 'user' & 2. as an investment

Price now is about 11.5 times rent roll, but some rents are projected.

So, if you aren't intimidated by legal proceedings (b/c one of you is an attorney) and you are willing to commit 1-2 years and $1-2M for renovations, wouldn't this be a good buy for a single family home on UWS??

From what I've seen, you can't get a newly renovated, single family townhouse for $4M on the UWS (but maybe I've missed them...I don't look that often). I only remember coming across upward of $7M. A big headache for 2 years would be worth a $2-3M savings,no?

I think this is currently in contract.

still curious if the above scenario that I outlined would be considered a "buy". To me, it seems like it would, but I am far from an expert.

Not surprised that someone snatched it up.

I think whoever 'snatched it up' is taking a major gamble, and may wind up regretting the decision. This building has money pit written all over it.

really? $2M wouldn't cover the "money-pit"?

eh...i'm w/ happyrenter...even if you had to put $3-4M into it it would still be a buy based on what move-in ready single family townhouses go for in this neighborhood. It's a no brainer that its a good deal, IF you have the money and the time.

ok --so I had called and tried to look at it the 1st week it was advertised at this price.
It WAS a buy. it would be possible to get several apts vacated and the conditions of those apts did not look bad at all. No disasters, current or impending, were disclosed by the broker even after being asked point blank.
They were apparently successful in generating a bidding war with buyers offering >50% cash towards the price and were working with the top 5 offers at the time.

West 81 makes excellent points as always. However, this was a place that could to all appearances have been remodeled into a 1 or 2 family for about a million.
Having the Brandeis school across is a different matter. Similarly located properties in similar condition have gone for 3 million plus in that neighborhood.

UWS - you must not forget to factor in the rent stabilized tenant issue. If one wanted to purchase a property like this to convert to single-family use, that alone would require time and hefty legal fees to accomplish. Rent stabilized tenants are like roaches in many regards - once you've got 'em they're very hard to get rid of.

And no, I personally do not believe $2 mil would cover the cost of a decent reno job on this building, especially if it needs a full gut reno, which I suspect is likely.

Joe - did you actually get into the building? I think your estimate of $1 mil for a full reno/remodel is overly optimistic, given what I've seen in similar buildings, though in fairness I've only eyeballed this property from the outside. Having the school across the street is, IMO, a value detractor.

I'm baffled that $2M wouldn't cover a full gut renovation, but I am also naive. How much would it cost? What would NOT be covered for $2M?

Well, it of course depends on what needs to be done. Before you even get to remodeling, there may well be structural issues that have to be dealt with (wood rot and the like) plus the building may need a new roof and boiler, both costly projects.

If you've decided to turn the property into a one- or two-family residence (and have successfully ousted the stabilized tenants) you'll need to reconfigure the current 9-unit layout. That will basically require gut renos on all 4 floors.

The thing to remember in a project like this is that yes, one could do bare bones work, using Ikea crap and the like, and save a considerable amount of money. However, if you're already putting down the dough to buy a beautiful old property like this, it is unlikely you'll want to schlock it up with a cheap reno job. So yeah, you could easily wind up spending quite a bit more than $2 on such a project.

Oh, and as an aside, I agree with you that these numbers sound staggering. I remember describing to my mom a lovely estate condition classic 8 that needed a full gut reno--$800K + was the quote--she nearly fell off her chair, "but you could BUILD and entire HOUSE for that in the country!" Yup. But not in NYC.

I've done a gut reno of a brownstone, and 1.2m is a very comfortable budget (even with structural & facade & roof issues - all new mechanicals, and gutting to the walls).

800K for a classic 8 in estate condition, IMO is excessive unless you want to completely reconfigure the space (and not just combine maid's and kitchen).

I refrained from commenting, because IMO unless there's a terrorist attack and crack houses pop up on the UWS, this house was a total buy & I was a very interested party. This is definitely a buy and hold situation. Collect rent, do the necessary repairs, and figure out slowly what the RS situation is.

""800K for a classic 8 in estate condition, IMO is excessive unless you want to completely reconfigure the space (and not just combine maid's and kitchen).""

Full gut reno (three full baths, kitch, all floors), complete restoration of original details, some reconfig. Yes, $800K is absolutely in the ballpark, sorry to say. Probably actually would have gone higher, when all was said and done, which is one of the reasons we walked.

We just disagree then. I've had massive amounts of work done for much less in an apartment. The sky is the limit when it comes to what you want to spend, but paying almost 300/sqft in an apartment is overkill. And I have no issue with spending $1000 on faucets - but I still come in under that 300/ft renovation in an apartment.

Well, again, it depends on the goal. Ultimately it wasn't something I was willing to take on myself, but whoever did must have created an absolutely amazing apartment.

i'm happy to be vindicated in the "is this a buy" discussion. wow was i pilloried for even suggesting this house was a buy.

I think the people who thought it was a buy kept it quiet. As a 1-family conversion in a hurry, this wouldn't have been a good choice. But if you had the patience and ability to live in one or more of the vacant apartments, as is, and monitor the situation, this would have been a good long-term investment. The rent-stabilized rents weren't all that low, there were no rent-controlled seniors, and no RS tenants approaching SCRIE age.

And for an 800k Classic-8 renovation, you have to look at the market. If it's not a marquee building, say at San Remo, it's not a good idea to spend that much money.

10023 - glad to hear from you -- the place was a definite buy and doing a gut reno between 500k and $1 million is indeed quite feasible in my view -- particularly if you do the design and hire a non-Manhattan based contractor.As you say, there is no limit to what you can spend if you are bent on it

Also -- re Squid's comment, I have no doubt that a contractor will be happy to charge you what they think you can bear for the job. I have received quotes from $150 psf to $400psf for precisely the same renovation job.

too bad you lost on this opportunity, as did I -- I actually started calling them the day it appeared on their email but no one would call me back for 3-4 days
wonder what it finally went for

glad i resurrected this post then =)

so the strategy is keep quiet and hope other people are idiots. I'm learning..

i know nothing about real estate but I would guess it went for close to or around $3M. That is a simple guess...

""i know nothing about real estate but I would guess it went for close to or around $3M.""

We'll know soon enough...

""Also -- re Squid's comment, I have no doubt that a contractor will be happy to charge you what they think you can bear for the job. I have received quotes from $150 psf to $400psf for precisely the same renovation job.""

Very, very true. However, without going into detail, that was not the situation in my case.

I don't think it went for much more than asking price, but it was a cash deal and a very quick closing. I think this house was an incredible buy, particularly for a conversion to a one family. None of the rent stabilized tenants were seniors, which meant that with an attorney, you could have claimed owner occupancy and converted it back to a one family. It was pretty wide (19' is nice!) with a nice backyard.

The broker wouldn't co-broke the deal, so it was a small commission....

$1.5 to$2 million is a reasonable estimate for a gut reno of a townhouse. Of course you can spend more than that, but you don't have to.

Wow, you can gut renovate a townhouse for as little as $500K? I thought putting in an elevator alone would set you back $100-200k. And a top end kitchen is $50-75k just for appliances isn't it?

4 floors 800-1000 sq ft per floor
$125-200 psf
no you would not be adding an elevator at this price
kitchen -- your price is right
bathrooms 10-20k each
the other items are not too expensive
but all this assumes you play a role in selecting things and do the design yourself
appliances at kitchenaid/ge profile level not viking etc
marble/granite counters bamboo or wood floors
marble in bathrooms, toto self closing toilets, kohler/moen fixtures etc
all electrical and plumbing new + gas -- separate meters for apts
double pane windows -- floor to ceiling in select areas
refinish details/woodwork is variable depending on condition
i am not a contractor, but these are the specs I was quoted

1.5m-2m is too much. For a full-gut job, and assuming there is some structural repair, you can definitely do it comfortably for 1.2m and get your Subzero/Viking/Miele appliances (upgrading from GE to Subzero et al. is only about 10k extra). This would include:
1) gutting down to brick and all new windows, interior walls, doors, etc.
2) All new floors & repair and/or new subfloor
3) Can't really break out bathroom #s because plumbing costs are not broken out separately. Even if you went all Ann Sacks/Waterworks, that's about 5k extra per bathroom. Add another 2k per bathroom
if you went all Dornbracht/Hansgrohe/Duravit
4) All new plumbing, all new electricals, mechanicals, central heat & central A/C
5) Architect fees, expediter fees
6) New roof

An elevator is 100k, so that takes you to 1.3m.

I seriously thought about going in for this, but in the end, I wouldn't be able to live there because of school issues.

Joedavis - saw that you're interested in Harlem brownstones. Personally, I think that there will always be buys like this one. In my experience, there have always been interesting brownstone opportunities on UWS so. of 96th. Just have to bide your time. In this case, if you really wanted this, you would have to show up at the agent's office and put in your bid. In the end, I think there was just too much interest at the price that they wanted, so they didn't bother returning calls.

thx will focus on uws brownstones. this one was not too different from harlem brownstone prices

I just want to add that in my dream scenario of purchasing this townhouse and tossing $1M + into renovations, I would SO add the elevator!!! Rock on sweet ass home!!!

On a more serious note, if you wanted to restore original detail, are you talking upward of $1.2M?

Also, in my dream scenario, I would NOT be designing anything myself....would need to hire someone to do that too. What's that run?

It depends on who your contractor is, and how hands on you want to get. If you just want to write a check, and have everything done exactly to your specifications & wash your hands in the interim - yes, a brownstone renovation can easily be 1.5m+ with full restoration. If you are willing to put a lot of time into it, and scrutinize every line item and deal with some subcontractors yourself & educate yourself on how something should be done (and then teach the workmen!), then you can easily be all in for 1.2m (even with an elevator.

The bulk of the cost of restoration in a brownstone consists of finding someone to strip all the woodwork, repair/make missing pieces, repair/recreate plaster details, and deal with the window frames.
This can be done for under 100k but you will easily find someone who would take your 500k for it.

Your architect can help you design. They run 20%+ of the cost of the project (which I've included in my calculations).

so, unless you have money to burn (seriously), why would anyone pay $8/$9/$10 million + for one?? I don't buy the "must move in immediately" response, either. That qualifies as "money to burn" in my opinion, b/c you could rent a massive space for much much less.

The people who pay 8m+ for an all-finished brownstone invariably have very deep pockets and are short on time. They have the money and don't want to be bothered going to design meetings, picking out tiles, etc. Many people in this bracket have multiple homes. They are willing to pay for the convenience. Frankly if my net worth was say, 50m+, I don't think I'd want to renovate either.

Damn those people!

NYC10023 - I appreciate your input on all accounts. Thanks !

from the junk email today from vandenburg -- the listing agent --

"Many buyers are nervous right now. The market was generally slow during the summer but we weren't too concerned. We expected the usual up tick of activity after Labor Day. That did not happen and each day brought worse news up until the stock market did its thing on September 29th.

The high-end buyers are still in the market, but they are cautious. However, there are the exceptions. In September, I presented an offer, which would have been a new West Side record, but the townhouse owner decided not to sell.

Most people, and there are a lot of them, are watching the real estate market and deals can happen if a property is priced right. For example, Vandenberg contracted to sell 123 West 85th Street for $2.2 million in an all cash deal to close in two weeks. This price is approximately 20% below what it could have sold for in a better market. It is 19 feet wide and located on a school block. It also has RS tenants in the entire parlour floor and garden rear apartments.

That particular seller was motivated to close this year because of a concern that the federal long-term capital gains rate of 15% may be increased next year, which could result in considerably higher taxes on sales of townhouses.

Have you all seen our website, TownhouseExperts.com? We got over 300,000 hits this past month, up from 160,000 in August. We are not sure how to account for this increase in activity on our townhouse-only site. The average visitor stays on our site for over 5 minutes, which is a very long time in web land.

This indicates to me that people are tremendously interested, but afraid to act. When we reduced the price down to $2.2 million on 123 W 85, interest in the property became almost frantic. In the two week period before the contract was signed, there were over 800 web hits and 19 showings. This is proof that there are buyers out there, and they are a combination of investors and end-users. It shows that we can do transactions in this market, but the buyers must believe they are getting a good deal. It was purchased by an end-user, and we had several backup buyers."

I've seen this building and thought about bidding. I heard it went to contract a few weeks ago. As an architect and developer I've renovated several brownstones and you should know that these are much more difficult than they appear to fix up. There are always structural issues and in a building that's been cut into multiple apartments the mechanical and plumbing systems will be disasters. Remember that these apartments were all rent stabilized/controlled and produced zero cash flow for decades so repair work and maintenance were done sporadically at best. The cheapest you could renovate a brownstone like this is probably $2.5 - $3M. Add another $125K for the elevator.

I know and like Dexter (of Vandenberg) and I don't work for him/related/affiliated in any way. He is absolutely telling the truth about the situation. If you take a look at random UWS townhouses on ACRIS, you will find that many of them are rental properties that changed hands pre-1990, so basically bought for almost nothing and have small mortgages. There are a great many of these owners who should be worried about the increase in capital gains tax. So keep an eye out for these deals. I think this owner was foolish to desire a 2-week closing. They could have made a few hundred thousand more if they were not so stringent. On the other hand, when you bought < 500k, it's all good.

Crashwait: I disagree with your assessment. Architects who do this work for themselves generally come well in under 750 (without an elevator). Even with structural issues.

226 West 71st Street - $4,450,000 - new listing on Vandenberg. For those of you interested in "mark to market" and bottom-line prices, this is interesting. The buyer of this house specializes in buying at bankruptcy auction and then flipping immediately. They bought 337 West 70th at auction and flipped it immediately. 226 W 71 sold for 3.5ish (or maybe 3.2ish) at bankruptcy auction earlier this year.

Anyone have an opinion on where this one trades, or what the reno might have cost?
http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/house/311-west-74-street-manhattan
It changed hands in 2007 for $4.7MM; now it's on the market for $12MM. A 150%+ markup from peak pricing seems pretty ambitious, even with the renovation, but maybe that's how this sector works.

I was very interested in 311 West 74th when it came on the market because it was a single-family home and therefore was in better condition than most things that have been chopped up over time. Therefore, the woodwork didn't need to be stripped, etc. Also, the owner had owned for a very long time and was in the music business so my understanding is that this was used very lightly as an office. I believe the buyers are serial renovators and sellers, so if they have assembled a team over time, it's entirely possible that they did it for way under 2m.

The problem with this house is that it's across from Schwab House. I think 12m is ambitious.

I only wish it were 5 years from now. I'd jump on one of those deals. Best of luck to those who can jump now!!

nyc10023: Thanks. I see your point about the view from the roofdeck.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00E4D71F3AF930A35751C0A9649C8B63

see bottom of page about 311

Who is going to pay $12m for a townhouse without an elevator? Are there other listings that expensive without an elevator?

Just to make you green with envy:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9503E3D8153BF935A15750C0A96E958260&scp=1&sq=van%20velle&st=cse

nyc10023: Speaking of turning green (though not with envy), I wonder how long that basement tenant lay there decomposing with a needle in his arm.

Not so impressive. At best they have maybe $1m in equity (they refi'ed twice probably to take out equity to spend) and that is liable to decrease rapidly. They have no other savings despite making $175k per year. Sounds like they are stretched to the limit and could lose their house if their incomes decrease in the recession.

Modern: that article was from 1998. The crux: bought a 30-wide for 999k in '95, worth 2.5m in '98 (so 1m equity 10 years ago). Now - who knows? I bet they have way more than 1m in equity today. Not bad.

Thought it was current. OK, they've done real well then. If they didn't go belly up first. Leveraging to the hilt is great if it works.

The Velle's seem to be (to refrain from calling them idiots) much more risky than i would ever be...maxing out credit cards, cashing in life insurance policies and borrowing from their 401(k) plan. Are you kidding me? Not a strategy I would use....but still an interesting story. Sounds like they are teetering on destruction though.

Agree that they were lucky. But short of getting lucky on a single company stock, they've done very well. I remember reading that article 10 years ago and wishing I'd been 10-15 years older and in NYC.

Also, regarding the price discrepancies for gut renovating a townhouse: perhaps the renovation price of buying it to die in it is significantly less than buying it to flip for $10+ million (regardless of including the super cool elevator).

And re: Dexter's comment - "When we reduced the price down to $2.2 million on 123 W 85, interest in the property became almost frantic... This is proof that there are buyers out there, and they are a combination of investors and end-users. It shows that we can do transactions in this market ..." - - - Yeah Dexter, if you reduce your inventory by 20% or more you're going to get hits. I'm sorry, no offense to Dexter who I'm sure is a smart business man, but this also seems like a no brainer to me.

" I bet they have way more than 1m in equity today."

I'm not a power ACRIS user, but I see $6.35m in 3 mortgages recently filed? Does that mean they now owe that total? Looks like they have been taking cash out over the years (they seem to still own it). What do you think it is currently worth? I hope they upgraded from Home Depot cabinets with some of that cash out.

crashwait
interesting that you think it will cost $2.5 to 3.5 million to restore this bronwstone. Nyc10023 is right
as an architect you should be looking at 750k -- especially if as a chopped up rent stabilized multi-family it lacks much that is useful to restore.
If I wanted to spend 3.5 million it would almost be better to demolish the building and build a modern house with a facade that is consistent with the neighborhood
It would be green - active and passive solar + many other features that one can imagine.
Indeed if you do find a place and wish to develop it for $3.5 million, please give me a call. I'll be happy to design it for you -- even if you like Louis XIV as your restoration style

Joe & 10023 - I've been in this building and it's typical of it's type & use. There's not a straight floor in the house, the rear facade masonry is crumbling, full electrical, mechanical, plumbing replacement. $750K will elevate this rent controlled hovel to a cheap, below market-rate hovel of studio apartments. There is no way you can get a quality single-family or 2-family townhouse renovation for the approx $120/sq ft that you suggest. (that figure is really no more than the finish trades in a good renovation). And if you think you're going to demolish a brownstone in a landmark district you must be smoking something good. I've worked with too many other architects who are clueless on construction costs and lead clients into open-ended, change order, projects from hell so I think I'll handle this one myself.

Crashwait: I can't argue with you unless I show you my actual invoices of what I've had done, and how much it cost and what I got for it in real life. Repointing of rear facade doesn't cost that much. Ditto electrical, mechanical, plumbing. I am not suggesting 120/ft cost for the end user, but 300+/sqft should buy you plenty. If you're in the trades (arch/contractor/repeat renovator), you can do it for half.

Wow - that was one quick closing.

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/closing/778185

i like the 164 clintn street property that corcoran had. that was a nice buy in brooklyn heights with parking and rentals and no RS or RC units

and everyone laughed at me for saying it might be a buy@

Not me, but I'm not the "everyone" you were referring to =)

This is your answer - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/realestate/21deal2.html?ref=realestate.

They were mightily handicapped by their need to close in 2 weeks.

yes

why is this guy a "real-estate-savvy investment adviser"?

Isn't he just a wealthy man that found a deal?