…to sell the worst house on the best block
Tina Fredericks, owner of Tina Fredericks Real Estate in East Hampton, who is in the process of selling 88 South Emerson Avenue in Montauk.
As told to Lauren Elkies
I think I just sold a house over the weekend which was a tiny little house in a great location on the ocean, but it wasn’t cheap. It was about $1.5 million-plus.
It was the worst house in the best location. It looks pretty much like a shack. It has not been kept up well at all. It’s a tiny little box which has two bedrooms and one bathroom and a living room, but it is smack on the ocean with a patio toward the ocean.
It’s adorable. We named it Montauk Beach Baby.
Houses on that block are going for between $1.5 and $2 million. They are more house and less land around them. They are two-story condos, a different kind of house, all lined up in a row, and they’re going for around $1.75 million. They’re sort of attached to each other.
Eighty-eight South Emerson Avenue is a real beach shack. The asking price was $1.895, but that was lowered to $1.695. The buyer is going to pay $1.550 million.
If it wasn’t on the ocean, it’d be worth very little, I would say under $500,000. If it was a small gorgeous house and maybe with two more bedrooms and a second floor, it would probably be worth $2.5 million or $3 million.
It happens to be unique. This doesn’t happen very often that such a little cottage would be available in such a good location. I think it has a big future ahead of it if somebody buys it that has some imagination.
It’s been on the market quite a while, I would say probably two or three years. Right now, the Montauk daisies are blooming in great profusion and making it look quite romantic because it’s surrounded by flowers.
Am I sad to see it sold? No. I’d be glad to have it go.
Rick Staula, agent with Aguayo & Huebener Realty Group, who is in the process of selling 53 Lincoln Place, between Fifth and Sixth avenues in Park Slope.
As told to Lauren Elkies
When I first saw the building I thought, what is this doing here? The other buildings on the block are beautiful brownstones. They’re all in really good shape with nice gardens and everything. And then there’s this white, wood house. It doesn’t look bad from the outside, but it looks weird against the other ones. But the thing about it is it’s a 25-foot lot so it’s nice and wide. It has a beautiful backyard and a beautiful front yard, though they are a little overgrown.
And then you walk inside and it’s just basically a farmhouse, a deteriorated farmhouse that hasn’t been fixed over. The floors aren’t shined. It’s very barren and stripped, and there’s nothing fancy at all about it. I can’t imagine these people even had a stereo.
Compared to the other lots, it’s bigger, but, to the other houses, it’s smaller because most of the other ones are brownstones. It has four bedrooms and two baths and it’s two floors.
I kind of liked it because I like quirky. If I had the money, I would’ve bought it. That’s a beautiful lot. I’m from New England and it reminds me of an old Colonial.
It went on the market July 12 and it was gone by July 17. The owner put it on the market for $1.3 million and within five days there were like five offers and the offers ranged from anywhere between $1.275 to $1.35. It’s selling for $1.35.
As a three-bedroom house, it’s probably not worth $1.35. As a developmental building site it’s definitely worth that because it’s a gorgeous block, it’s a nice area, and it’s a beautiful-sized lot.
I think that the average person looks at the house and they don’t want to do the work. If they were smart, they would’ve done the work because they would have ended up with a 25-foot house that would have been worth over $2 million when they were done with it.
It feels good [to sell it]. It makes you realize that people are paying attention to what you can do with a property and people have vision. It justifies the fact that people should really look at the worst house on a street.