First-time home buying in the stuy

carmen

As someone who has had a steady source of income for 5 years, I feel like its time to start looking at buying a condo/apt. I love bedstuy (been here for 8 months and loved every moment of it) and I realize what a great value lots of places in the neighborhood are. I've been googling and trying to find agents specific to this area with no luck (I think the brooklyn housing market is just too large, plus lots of people want to sell entire buildings or multi-family units which I don't want and cannot afford.)
I basically would like a little 2bedroom, 1 or 1.5 bath place within 5 blocks of the bedford/nostrand G stop. There's actually a really great looking building on Lafayette between bedford and nostrand (my current block) but there are no signs in the windows indicating how to get in touch with the owner. Thinking about it, I've seen quite a handful of buildings that I'd like to check out but there's no contact info- just a big empty building.

I spose I'm asking for general advice about homebuying and also buying in this area. If anyone has agents names, that would be extra helpful. Although I'm a first-time homebuyer, I have excellent credit and should be able to get a decent mortgage rate- I'm trying to spend at or below $250k (which doesn't seem too unreasonable for a little 800-900sq foot apt or whatnot.)

Anyone?!

ulove

Subject: Speaking from a little experience...

I just put a down payment on my first home (condo). When I first started looking I was hoping to find a 1 bedroom in the mid 200s and I focused on Prospect Heights, Clinton Hill, and Bed Stuy. As my search continued I realized that my expectations were a little high. I didn't find a lot of properties in that price range, especially for square footage in the 800s. I am familiar with the area you are currently living in and the prices are rapidly going up. You may have to expand your search to areas further in Bed Stuy and even Bushwick.

I don't mean to be discouraging, but this is what I found in my search. Even if you find a good agent (which I thought I did), you may end up doing most of the work yourself (which I did). I checked craigslist, nytimes, and any other real estate sites daily. Also, I went to any open houses I could, even if the price was outside my range or in an area I wasn't in love with. It takes a lot of patience and persistence. Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

vaguynny

I found my home in Stuyvesant Heights by just walking around in asking people on the street. That are is like a small town and people know what there neighbors are doing.

stacey

there was a pretty good thread here about that with some rec's and links

http://brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=31150

Good luck!