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Open House Agenda: 3 Apartments to See This Weekend

By Donna M. Airoldi | September 26, 2014 7:49am | Updated on September 26, 2014 1:21pm
 New York City real estate bargains may be harder to find in this hot market, but they do exist.
Affordable Starter Apartments
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NEW YORK CITY — Depressing is not an uncommon description for how it can feel when looking to purchase an apartment in New York City. Studios are approaching $1 million, maintenance costs can be as expensive as mortgages and, too often, a seemingly good deal will require renovation work, thereby not making it much of a bargain after all.

But there is hope. Open House Insider found multiple units for sale with open houses this weekend with not only relatively reasonable asking prices, but also generous layouts and fair maintenance costs. Here are three priced from the low $200,000s to the low $400,000s.

811 Walton Ave., Apt. E21, Concourse, The Bronx
1 Bedroom/1 Bath
Co-op
Approximately 700 square feet
$229,000
Maintenance: $708 per month
Open Houses: Saturday, Sept. 27 and Sunday, Sept. 28, 1-2 p.m.

Lowdown: The seller of this pre-war one-bedroom in The Bronx is an architect who gut-renovated the apartment when she purchased it about six years ago, said Marjo Benavides of Halstead Property.

“She took a little of the kitchen space and made it a walk-in closet; she opened up the kitchen to the living room. The electric is new,” Benavides said, adding that the seller took “environmental care” with the renovation, installing Energy Star appliances, LED lighting and other eco-friendly additions. “She had these in mind for saving on heating expenses.”

The new kitchen includes custom cabinetry and Caesarstone countertops. The bathroom has Kohler fixtures and glass mosaic tiling. The bedroom includes a second “well-organized” walk-in closet and, because the unit is on the fifth floor, the room also has “a view of the trees.” The seller also had “work space in mind” and installed built-in bookcases, cabinets and other storage facilitators throughout the unit.

The elevator building includes a gym, bike room, laundry and a yoga studio offering donation-based classes. There are also salsa classes on offer, Benavides noted.

Location: The building is near Yankee Stadium and within the Grand Concourse Historic District, designated in 2011.

“Since then, it’s become more known to prospective buyers throughout the city,” explained Benavides, who lives in the neighborhood. “For the person who didn’t know anything, now there is a checkmark. And they have friends or former neighbors from Williamsburg or Midtown already living in the neighborhood. They no longer ask if you feel safe at night or if there are services. It is a bright, busy business district, and it’s only getting better.”

Sweet Water Dance & Yoga recently opened nearby on Gerard Avenue. The landmarked Andrew Freedman Home hosts a lot of cultural events and the Bronx Museum is very active, Benavides noted.

Benavides added that the commute to Columbus Circle and Midtown is a “pretty amazing” 20-minutes via the B, D or 4 trains at 161st Street. Metro North is at 153rd Street.

Why put it on your open house calendar? The price and “high quality of the renovations” is attractive, especially for first-time buyers who don’t have the additional funds or time to renovate, Benavides said, adding, “Eight years ago, [the building] was only 22 percent sold; today, it’s 90 percent, which says something about what’s happening in the neighborhood. If [potential buyers] want to be smart New Yorkers, this is the neighborhood to see.”

60 Cooper St., Apt. 5A, Inwood, Manhattan
1 Bedroom/1 Bath
Co-op
Approximately 835 square feet
$324,000
Maintenance: $806 per month
Open House: Sunday, Sept. 28, noon to 2 p.m.

Lowdown: After completing this Art Deco building in 1936, the builder offered his secretary any unit she wanted. She chose unit 5A, and it stayed in her family “until we bought it in 2001,” said Bonnie Harken, the seller. Her daughter Avery has been living in it since then.

“The apartment is from the days when one-bedrooms were gracious and spacious,” Harken noted. The unit was in “beautiful shape” when purchased and the Harkens kept most of the original Art Deco features: parquet floors, built-in shelving, arch doorways, a porcelain sink, the original bathroom tiles and tub.

“I do some historic preservation, so there were things I appreciated about the apartment,” Harken said, explaining that any updates made were with carefully chosen, era-appropriate light fixtures and faucets.

“The apartment has a great layout for working from home,” Avery Harken said, adding that the unit’s storage spaces are huge and include a walk-in closet “the size of some small one-bedrooms.”

The apartment is on the fifth floor of the elevator building and “gets really nice light.” The co-op is finishing up a façade renovation, and the roof is about to be replaced, Bonnie Harken said, adding that during the recent lobby renovation, workers found and restored original brass Art Deco detailing when stripping the paint off the elevator.

Location: The building is less than two blocks to the A train at 207th Street and a couple blocks farther to the 1 train. Inwood Hill Park, with some of the oldest trees in the city and Manhattan’s last remaining salt marsh, is a short walk away. Darling Coffee “is a big neighborhood hangout,” Avery Harken said.

Why put in on your open house calendar? “Even though it’s a one-bedroom, it really is a home,” Bonnie Harken said. “We’re finding people are moving to this neighborhood from the Upper West Side because you can find these pre-war apartments that are really gorgeous for half the price. And it’s just another 20 minutes on the A train from 59th Street.”

311 E. 3rd St., Apt. 30, East Village, Manhattan
2 Bedrooms/1 Bath
Co-op
Approximately 600 square feet
$415,000
Maintenance: $373
Open House: Sunday, Sept. 28, noon to 1:30 p.m.

Lowdown: Each unit in this East Village co-op has been configured with the same two-bedroom floorplan, said Georgine Paulin, of Corcoran. Changes made by the seller of unit 30, which is on the sixth floor of the pre-war walk-up, include renovating the bathroom, installing new oak flooring and recently updating the appliances.

“The apartment is really bright and every room has at least one big oversized window,” Paulin said. “The light is amazing.”

The “really, really” low maintenance is another draw. There’s no underlying mortgage, and the co-op owns commercial units on the street level and other residential units that are rented out, Paulin explained, so income offsets the expenses.

Though an HDFC building with income restrictions — starting at $99,330 for a single dweller — “they’re reasonable,” Paulin said, adding that owners can sell their units for any price, there are no sales caps, and the flip tax is 5 percent of the profit, which goes back into the co-op.

Location: Aside from being surrounded by the trendy restaurants, bars and boutiques of the East Village and Lower East Side, the FDR Drive overpass is at Sixth Street, leading to the East River Bikeway and promenade, where there’s also a track, Paulin noted. During the summers, the East River Park Amphitheater has played host to arts events. Just south of Houston Street is Hamilton Fish Park, with an Olympic-sized pool.

The nearest trains are the F at Second Avenue or Delancey Street stations (they are equidistant from the apartment), and the J, M and Z at Essex Street.

Why put it on your open house calendar? “It’s a sunny two bedroom in a great location that is affordable,” Paulin said. And it’ll be hard to find maintenance that is any lower.