Wooden row houses are the new hot properties in Brooklyn as prospective buyers look for homes that are cheaper than those ever-pricier brownstones.
The boards-and-nails homes – often on side streets and mostly in the neighborhoods of Gowanus, South Slope and Greenpoint – are priced from $1 million and $1.7 million, about a $1 million less than some Park Slope brownstones, according to the Wall Street Journal. The downside: They tend to be less well cared for and sometimes need repairs that cost big bucks.“A few years ago, a lot of the people who are buying houses in Gowanus now would never have considered it,” architectural historian Francis Morrone told the newspaper. “And they’re finding that a lot of the housing stock there is wooden.”
Price, though, isn’t the only draw. Wooden homes are often easier to fix up than brownstones and condominiums, broker Lewis Canfield told the newspaper.
“One rotten post or water damage—it is easier to go in there and put in a new one,” Canfield said. “You don’t have the same flexibility with masonry houses.” [WSJ] – Hiten Samtani