The One Thing Hurricane Sandy Hasn't affected: Park Slope Real Estate Prices

As The Real Deal reports, the former Park Slope Montessori School at 105 8th Avenue is on the market for... wait for it... TWENTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS. The three-story, 9,788 square-foot building has officially bumped the infamous DUMBO clock tower triplex penthouse as the priciest home in BK. I bet Patrick Stewart TOTALLY would have jumped on this place had he known that it would be available when he moved to the nabe.

The Pepto-Bismol Brownstone Is Getting a Makeover!

A tipster wrote in last night with some FANTASTIC news: the giant pink brownstone at 233 Garfield is FINALLY being stripped of its garish pink paint! 

This comes as no huge surprise, as the building was recently sold to people who promised to change the color, but still -- yay. 

[Photo via Brownstoner]

How Sir Patrick Stewart's New Park Slope Quarters Stack Up To His Other Homes

Patrick Stewart, a wonder of an actor -- and childhood hero of mine -- can't walk down the street of his new 'hood without someone in the Park Slope blogosphere writing a damn cutesy post about it. Or starting a tumblr devoted to it (which is genius, btw). And yes, I know that I'm the one who compared Park Slope to the Enterprise D, but it's just so much fun! We local bloggers do this, Sir Patrick Stewart, only because we love you and want you to stay forever.

And in the spirit of our collective nosiness, I believe we are all curious to know what lucky Park Slope pad you have decided to call home. Recently, Curbed spilled the beans of Stewart's nifty new digs at 288 7th Street. Let me tell you this place is sweeeet (click HERE for more photos). It is a 3-bedroom, 2.5 bathroom converted carriage house and includes a private 1,200-square-foot rooftop terrace and a ton of other amazing shit that I'm going to tell you about after the jump.

In short: it's not too shabby. But how does it compare to some of the other places Sir Patrick has lived? 

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Show Me Yours: 1-Bedroom on 7th Street

SHOW ME YOURS is a recurring column in which we do two things: show you Park Slope real estate (and a few from nearby neighborhoods!), and tell you how much it is. That's pretty much it!

Here's our latest victim Show Me Yours-er, who lives just down the avenues from proper Park Slope in nearby Gowanus:

• Location: 7th St between 3rd and 4th
• Type: 1-bedroom w/office
• Rent or Own: rent
• Cost: $2385 (as of this month - it just went up 6%)
• What year did you move into this place? 2011
• Square Footage: 600 square feet, give or take 
• How Did You Find This Place: broker
• Amenities: exposed brick, dishwasher, office, skylight and two working fireplaces.
• Who Calls this Place Home: A writer, someone who works with writers and a small, orange cat.
• What’s really good about this joint: We love the exposed brick. It's the first time I've had a dishwasher in years and I could never go back. It's been renovated very recently so everything feels new and clean (appliances, walls, etc). The fireplace is amazing in winter. We actually have two but only use the one in the living room. The office is big enough for a desk and a wall of books.
• What’s really bad about this joint: Very limited closet space. The kitchen and bedroom are pretty small. I think for some people the size would be an issue -- but coming from a studio, it feels pretty big.

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A FiPS Guide to Having a Successful Open House

Photo by Park Slope Lens

If you're selling real estate in Park Slope and want to get into a contract by the end of the year, now's the time to really step up your game and make it happen. Take advantage of the last few weeks of summer by holding weekly open houses until you get an offer.  With any luck, you can close on the sale by Thanksgiving. Since I've bought and sold real estate in Brooklyn (a couple of times, actually), I've put together some handy hints for making certain that your open house is a spectacular success.

1. LEAVE 

Do not hang around your own open house.  Let your real estate agent do what you're paying them to do, because if people know you live there, they're going to be uncomfortable.  When my spouse and I purchased our place, the seller's entire family was there at each and every open house and showing.  And every time we went there, they were feeding their baby in the dining room.  And the baby was always wearing mittens, even though it was August.  It was distracting, to say the least.  Why was their baby wearing mittens in August?  Why was it always eating?  We couldn't appreciate the fact that there was a fireplace, or the gorgeous hardwood floors, because we kept speculating about what the deal was with their ravenous lobster baby.  Had they just cleared out of the place, we might have made our decision to buy the place much more quickly.

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