Prospect Heights Brokers and Rent?

I think it might be a harder to come by for "real" Prospect Heights unless you find a serious hookup(boundaries of "real" Prospect Heights on the north-south boundary are Atlantic and Eastern Parkway and to the west to east are Flatbush and Washington Ave). Because of buzz about the neighborhood 1 BRs can go for as much $1800 now. Hookups and deals can be found but you need to act fast if you find them.

You should have no problem finding a 2 BR for this price in Crown Heights or Prospect Lefferts Garden though. Many realtors will show you apartments in Crown Heights anyway and call it Prospect Heights so be aware.

I have never actually rented an apartment that I found with a broker- I have always found great apartments through word of mouth or Craiglist. On my last apartment search I did work with the brokers and one of the best of the lot was Marjorie Thompson, the owner of Washington Realty. She has been a broker in the area for 20+ years and before this area was "hot". She came with recommendations from multiple friends and acquaintances and managed to show me several great apartments.

Also Alma Realty represents the apartments from the Jewish Hospital conversions. Technically in Crown Heights but you can certainly find a nice 2BR (though smallish IMO) in your price range. I have friends who adore life in that complex though the place isnt really my scene. Hope this helps.

I have friends who live on Rutland Road in PLG, between Bedford and Rogers. Their block is an absolute dream, as are neighboring blocks (Fenimore and Midwood).

I am not personally a fan of Ms. Thompson. There has been talk about her practices on these boards over the years, feel free to do a search.

Erica Sullivan is with Prudential Douglas Elliman. She lives in the area and is very familiar with all, as well as being very nice, helpful, and pro-active. [email protected]

As stated above, I think $1,800 might be do-able for PH, but likely difficult to find. My wife and I have lived just past Franklin for almost 7 years (moved from PH) and have never had a problem. While the neighborhood has changed quiiiite a bit in the time we moved in, stuff certainly still goes down (obvious dealing in certain corners of Franklin, multiple shootings every summer on those same corners). Classon certainly has the feel of Prospect Heights, though not a whole lot of services directly on the avenue (just the wine bar, I think). Grand has more if an industrial feel to it.

Why are you interested in moving to Prospect Heights specifically? Answering that question might help folks answer some of your question and open up other neighborhoods you also might be interested in(Clinton Hill, Bedstuy, Sunset Park, Ditmas Park etc etc)

I dont know how to answer the question about safety. As a single woman I feel safe walking around the neighborhood and I live beyond the "transition" area. And oftentimes these questions to Brooklynian boil down to "Will I as a {insert race here} be safe?"

I am not sure this is a question someone else can answer for you. Do some research on crime stats that are of interest to you and walk around the neighborhood. Either you feel comfortable or you dont. When in doubt, dont move the area in question.

Generally in Prospect Height/Crown Heights I wasnt very excited about the blocks between Atlantic and St Marks from Washington to Franklin. They have a very industrial feel and the housing stock, blocks werent as pretty and I didnt like the vibe. But use google street view and walk around and get a sense of where you like the vibe. I also like Crown Heights south of EP especially down to Crown Street and over to Bedford.

In term of PLG, I loved the blocks within the historic district. And PLG has all the things that I loved about Prospect Heights when I moved there years ago- which sadly are gone. So I would look anywhere from Sterling Street and as far south to Fenimore Street between Ocean and Bedford Ave. This is not to stay the streets outside of that area are bad- just that I liked the aforementioned blocks more. And short walk to the park and train was an important consideration of mine.

I dealt with alot of brokers in my last apartment search and there were only two that I would have not been bummed about giving a broker fee to (Marjorie Thompson was one of them and the other was Raheem Jones at 347-635-4330 who shows alot of properties in PLG). There were a few other that were OK and you can PM me in interested. And recs can only go so far since people can have wildly different experiences especially once you hand over the deposit.

I think PLG actually has something different. I dont know if its a convenant exactly but something about the single family homes always remaining single family homes. There are many buildings in the city that dont have C of O because they were built prior to 1932. And because of the time they were built they actually dont necessarily need a C of O and can still legally have an apartment (I live in one of these).

Anyway whats great about PLG is the diversity of the housing stock: large prewar buildings, smaller pre war apartment buildings, limestones and wood frame detached houses. So there is a lot of great housing to choose from.

Homeowner here, not sure when in June you would like to move, but I will have top floor apartment free towards end of June/July 4 weekend. One bedroom plus den, eat-in kitchen, tons of closet space. Renovated last June. On Eastern and Bedford so very safe in all respects. Just give me contact info and I will send pics and more details.

Good luck in your search!

K