Real Estate Bubble Reaches $1m Crackhouse Phase

It's stories like these that give you a glimpse into brooklyn real estate. The crackhouse that used be down the street from me has been repainted - and I predict will be sold once they get rid of liquor store on the corner.

Real Estate Bubble Reaches $1m Crackhouse Phase:A couple of years from now, after the American real estate market has utterly collapsed, we may well look back at this day as a kind of high-water mark, the spot where the insanity peaked and then rolled back. Curbed broke the story yesterday-- a crackhouse in South Williamsburg that has been flipped twice in the last six months, and is now being sold for about a million dollars. First, read the description from the broker's site:

This Williamsburg fixer-upper, built in 1910, is the perfect opportunity to tailor-design your own home; it’s also ideal for an investor (can covert into condominiums or rentals). It’s located on a great tree-lined street, one-block to the East River Waterfront in the fashionable Southside. Great shopping, bars, dining, and nightlife are within steps.

Then read the description of an in-person visit by blogger Red Sauce:

Speaking of real estate, I gathered Judy and made her go look at this building in Williamsburg. It was described as a "shell of a building" by what turned out to be a tall Big Gulp type woman who may have been a member of the Swedish Volleyball team. She slithered out of a red Volvo and grinned as she should. We shook her hand as we should.

We proceeded past the bacon on the stairs and checked out the place that was going for nearly $900,000. It was filled with dead pigeon parts and was covered about two feet high with rotting mattresses, broken pieces of wood and parts of the roof were strewn about.

Then read the Daily News' investigation into the recent flips:

Falling debris, broken windows and graffiti have all left a mark, said one neighbor who charged that concrete from a sidewall crumbled onto her driveway as recently as three years ago.

"To me, I think they should knock it down and build it back up again," said the woman, whose home abuts the building.

In October, a developer bought the property for $235,000 from Alizabeth Arroyo, a Connecticut woman, records show.

Four months later, the developer resold the property - with no apparent major repairs - for a cool $680,000, according to property records.

Now, does anyone else think is just redonkulously insane? How can anyone look at evidence like this and NOT conclude that a full fledged real estate mania is currently in swing and approaching its peak? How can anyone expect to buy this place, put in $1m worth of renovation, and make a profit? How can someone sell this building at this price with anything approaching a straight face? GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

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