BROOKLYN — When looking for independence from condo or co-op boards — along with the possibility of having a yard, deck and income-earning rental units — townhouses are the way to go. Here are three on the market with open houses this Sunday.
1062 Decatur St., Bushwick
5 Bedrooms/3.5 Baths
Two-family Townhouse
Approximately 2,900 square feet
$1.2 million
Real Estate Taxes: $1,829 per year
Open House: Sunday, July 19, noon to 1:30 p.m.
Lowdown: The investor owners completed a gut renovation of this two-family building a few months ago, said Brooke Safford of Corcoran Group.
“They opened up the back of the kitchen on the parlor level, letting the natural light in and expanded the kitchen,” she said. “It’s really nice with the access to the back yard. It’s great for people who entertain.”
All the floors, the staircase and the deck are new and the basement is finished. The home is currently configured with a garden-level two-bedroom apartment with a three-bedroom duplex above.
Apartments like the garden unit are renting for around $2,100 in Bushwick, Safford said. “There’s a lot of demand for the rental, especially because of the train access. Plus, it’s a newly renovated property, which is a big selling point for the renters.”
Location: The building is situated between Evergreen and Bushwick avenues in the southeast corner of the neighborhood. There aren’t a ton of go-to spots at the moment, but within a 10- to 15-minute walk toward Ridgewood are the recently opened Industry 1332 and Houdini Kitchen Laboratory. In addition, “there are quite a few people in the next six months opening cafes and restaurants, particularly on Wilson and Knickerbocker,” Safford said.
It’s three blocks to the nearest trains (the J/Z Chauncey Street station at Broadway). However, the L at Bushwick Avenue-Aberdeen Street is four blocks farther east in Bushwick and it’s less than a 15-minute walk to the C train at Rockaway Avenue. Parking near the building is very easy, Safford noted.
Why put it on your open house calendar? Aside from the ability to offset the mortgage with renter’s income, “you’re getting two apartments for $1.2 million, and that’s hard to do, especially if you want to be near train access,” Safford said.
526 74th St., Bay Ridge
Two-family Townhouse
4 Bedrooms/3 Baths
Approximately 3,451 square feet
$1.495 million
Real Estate Taxes: $7,141 per year
Open House: Sunday, July 19, 2-3:30 p.m.
Lowdown: A house with a pool is hard to find in New York and it’s definitely one of the selling points for this Bay Ridge two-family home.
The sellers have lived here for nearly 20 years, said Susan Little of Corcoran Group.
“The wife is an architect and didn’t do a lot of upgrades to the place because she wanted to keep the integrity of the house, and she has preserved it quite beautifully,” Little said.
Three skylights, stained glass, the floors, the pressed board that lines the stairwell, the banister, moldings — all are original to the house, Little noted, adding that it’s also “beautifully decorated with impeccable taste” and the sellers are willing to leave some of the furniture for the right buyer, such as “a big, gorgeous mirror on a full brick wall that was just made to be there” and a table built by an Amish woodworker specifically for the dining room.
Though they originally rented out one of the units, the sellers have been using it as a single-family home, with the upstairs galley kitchen used by one of their teenage sons who is an accomplished baker, Little noted.
The sellers excavated the basement, so “there’s good ceiling height at about 7.5 feet,” said Clare Saliba, also of Corcoran.
The lot is unusually long, at 148 feet. The electric and roof were upgraded within the past six years.
“It’s on a fantastic community-minded block and has one of the best block parties in Bay Ridge, with each house allotted a certain number of tickets because it’s in such high demand,” Saliba noted.
Location: Within four blocks are Balady Foods, a Middle Eastern butcher and gourmet grocer; Tanoreen, one of the most popular restaurants in Bay Ridge; The Owl’s Head wine bar; and “all kinds of farm-to-table restaurants moving in,” said Little, who lives a block away. The 77th Street R train is 3.5 blocks away.
Why put it on your open house calendar? “The quality of the space coupled with the extraordinary amount of beautifully done outdoor space — a 148-foot deep lot, a pool, a patio, grass — it’s an entertainer’s dream, and it’s unrivaled in Brownstone Brooklyn,” Saliba said.
253 Halsey St., Bedford-Stuyvesant
Three-family Townhouse
4 Bedrooms/3.5 Baths
Approximately 2,100 square feet
$1.7 million
Real estate taxes: $2,385.62 per year
Open House: Sunday, July 19, 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Lowdown: Two couples purchased this three-family townhouse and wanted to “put their spin on it" and then sell it, said Ban Leow of Halstead Property.
“It’s very unconventional; nobody had done a corrugated steel façade before. It was a bold step, but it worked,” Leow said.
The gut renovation was completed about two months ago. The lower-level “owner’s duplex” is a two-bedroom, 1.5-bath unit; the third and fourth floors each are one-bedroom rentals. There’s a washer/dryer in the duplex only.
The sellers opened up the back wall on the ground level, “so it makes the property seem larger. When you walk in, it’s very airy, light and spacious,” Leow said, adding there’s a “huge backyard.”
Last week’s first open house already generated offers, Leow noted. “In Bed-Stuy, anything that looks reasonably well done and that is on the higher end, sells.”
The cellar, which has a utility room, is additional space and not included in the 2,100-square-feet figure.
Location: The property is about a block northwest of the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District. Potomac playground is at the corner on Tompkins Avenue. It’s also close to several of the new bars and restaurants that have opened in the area in recent years, such as Saraghina, three blocks away, and the new Tepache.
The Kingston-Throop station for the A/C is about four blocks away.
Why put it on your open house calendar? “For buyers who don’t have the time or extra expenses to do a renovation, everything is done,” Leow said. “You can move right in and immediately make rental income, which justifies the purchase and then helps with the mortgage payments.”
