Thursday, June 19, 2014

REPOST: Brooklyn real estate investor turns a Bedford-Stuyvesant brownstone into some serious green

Flipping properties in New York is always a high-risk undertaking for the inherent steepness of real estate price points. This article, however, showcases an investor who pulled off renovating a brownstone in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, pushing its value up by a million.  

The financier, who paid $1,200,500 for a 4-story Bedford-Stuyvesant brownstone in February, has flipped the historic building for a whopping $2.1 million.

The historic home attracted tons of interest. 
Image Source: nydailynews.com

This is flippin’ incredible!

A real estate financier who paid $1,200,500 for a 4-story Bedford-Stuyvesant brownstone in February has flipped the historic building for a whopping $2.1 million.

Eric Mann, 44, drew a tidy $1 million profit for the 3,600-square-foot Queen Anne-style building at 196 Hancock St. in gentrifying Bed-Stuy on Friday by making minor renovations. “It’s definitely a very good flip,” said Mann of the whirlwind 81-day turnaround deal.

The purchaser is an investor who likely plans to renovate the top floor and hold onto the historic property for a while, said a source familiar with the deal.

The sale was first reported by Brick Underground.

The renovations, which Mann spearheaded over the course of a week, cost less than $5,000 and unearthed 19th century moldings and mahogany wood panels.

Median sales prices for homes in Bed-Stuy have ranged from $1.5 million to $1.7 million over the past month, according to Zillow.com. The site predicts that home prices in the red-hot neighborhood will rise by 2.8% next year.

Mann said that at an open house earlier this year, interested people flocked from as far as New Jersey and Connecticut.

“The buzz was out there,” said Mann, who owns 40 buildings throughout Brooklyn, including 25 in Bed-Stuy alone. “The line was down the block.”

The prior owner of the  townhouse, Winston Smith, died in 2001. His family inherited the building but spent little time inside.

They rented out a two-bedroom apartment on the top floor to two female tenants. Mann paid them $5,000 to leave after their lease was up following the purchase.

Mann is experienced in the art of the rollover rodeo.

He owns 40 buildings throughout Brooklyn, including 25 in booming Bedford-Stuyvesant, an area that is gentrifying at sonic speed.

He noted that the successful sale after about half a year wasn’t his most profitable recent flip. “Things are changing really quick,” he said.

Construction company owner and contractor Peter Forchetti is a native New Yorker who is passionate about both historic and modern architecture, urban design, and real estate developments in the city and its many neighborhoods. More information about him and his business can be found on this Facebook page.