🎃 A Brooklyn Halloween Stoop Crawl, Anyone?
Andrew’s Articles
A few fun things that caught my attention this week:
🫓 I’m excited to go here on my next date night! It’s in my neighborhood and the bread looks insane.
🎤 Dolly Parton’s Hollywood Hills home that she lived in with her husband in the 80s is now on the market. Anything that Dolly touches gets my vote of approval. The view from the primary bedroom is stunning!
💰 Have prices in NYC gone too far? I think yes. This post shows, among others, $100 for a single matcha latte, $60 for a viral loaf of bread…I fear we’re losing the plot here, people!
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Hot Homes: Brooklyn's Best-Dressed Stoops 🎃👻
Photo cred: An UES TH courtesy of @skaufman4050 on IG
Who doesn’t love a Brooklyn brownstone?! Especially when it’s dressed to kill. 💀 Halloween is a mere two weeks away, and Brooklynites are pulling out all the stops (or should I say stoops?) with their spooky decor. Some of our neighbors go ALL OUT and I love it so much.
So I thought it’d be fun to put together a little Brooklyn Halloween Stoop Decor Crawl. Here are five neighborhoods/streets worth checking out:
🎃 Park Slope: 10th–14th Streets between 8th Ave and Prospect Park West.
💀 Clinton Hill: St. James Place between Greene and Lafayette Avenues.
👻 Prospect Heights: Carlton Ave between St. Marks Ave and Prospect Place.
🕷️ Bed-Stuy: Jefferson, Putnam, Monroe, and Quincy Streets between Throop and Tompkins Avenues. (The annual Bed-Stuy Halloween Crawl featured 250+ participating homes last year!)
🦇 Crown Heights: Prospect Place near Washington Ave.
Of course, the UES and West Village always deliver too. If you’ve seen a stoop that deserves a shoutout, please send it my way!
Ask the (Mortgage) Expert
Danny Sassoon is a Senior Mortgage Loan Officer from Citizen Bank. I shared this client question with him to get his expert POV. Here’s what he had to say:
“Buyers who are waiting for rates to fall are making a mistake. Firstly, we don’t know when rates will fall and by how much. Secondly, if/when rates do fall there will be a rush of buyers to the market, so the competition gets tougher to purchase and the likelihood of getting your offer accepted decreases. (And even if accepted, the price will increase.) Therefore, I’d recommend a buyer taking advantage of the lower competition and buying now, then when rates do eventually fall they can refinance into a lower rate.
The 7-year ARM in NYC is a no-brainer over a 30-year Fixed, especially with interest rates at 25+ year highs. The average mortgage in NYC lasts about 4-5 years (and nationwide only ~7 years) so buyers are leaving money on the table by taking the higher rate on a 30 year Fixed. An Interest Only loan is best suited for buyers with variable income (bonus, commission, stock, entrepreneurs) that have low/modest base salaries and higher bonuses or seasonal income. The idea is to keep the minimum monthly payments due each month low, and then pay the loan down over the course of the year when these income spurts hit.”
Mortgages are a big part of any home buyers financial strategy and there’s more than one answer. If you’re looking to better understand your mortgage options, reply to this email and I’ll connect you with Danny!
Listing I’m Lovin’ 🎃
5 bed, 4 bath | $2,999,000 | Bed-Stuy | Gillian Anderson-Mann
It’s not the stoop, grand entrance, or ornate stonework that make this home stand out (although those are pretty great)! But the real magic is that decor! My jaw dropped when I saw that smokey grey couch, stained-glass windows, intricate moldings, and period character. The stunning renovation (including a chef’s kitchen with a French Lacanche range 🤤) brings it into the 21st century. Spooky on the outside, spectacular on the inside!
7 bed, 5 bath | $7,800,000 | Clinton Hill | Charles D’Alessandro
It's giving Addams Family mansion, in the chicest way 🖤 Between the dramatic entryway, ornate fireplaces, stained-glass windows, coffered ceilings, and mahogany interiors, this 1905 Clinton Hill villa has just the right amount of gothic glamour. And with seven bedrooms, a historic carriage house, and a sprawling lot, there's plenty of room for the whole Addams family.
6 bed, 4 bath | $6,450,000 | Park Slope | Jessica Buchman
There’s something about a turret that just screams Halloween to me. This Park Slope townhouse takes it one step further with a spire, stained glass windows, and brick the color of a gourd. 🎃 This home also has a Hollywood past, having appeared in one of my favorite Cher films, Moonstruck. It’s official, I’m under its spell…and I won’t SNAP OUT OF IT!
xoxo Andrew
Licensed Real Estate Salesperson
andrew.pritchard@compass.com, 917.972.1600
