Another sign East New York is the "next hot" Brooklyn neighborhood: Flippers are everywhere
Home flipping may be popular with TV audiences (just check your cable listings and you'll see just how popular), and good for developers' wallets, but the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, a nonprofit that focuses on keeping housing affordable, says the practice is bad news for working and middle class New Yorkers.
According to a report released Monday by the group, there have been about 30,000 flips since 2003 (they define a "flip" as when a property is sold on the market twice in less than a year) and 1,800 citywide just last year.
And Brooklyn's East New York is the top neighborhood in the city for speculators who buy and flip homes (more about how that all works here). In 2015, 94 homes were sold for an average of $215,000 and resold for more than triple that amount within 12 months. (It's no wonder, then, that WNYC devoted an entire episode of its podcast on gentrification in Brooklyn to the neighborhood.)
East New York residents tell NY1 that they're often approached by speculators offering cash for their properties. The neighborhood's high foreclosure rate means that properties can usually be bought for cheap.
But the city and community groups are working to protect current residents of East New York. Just yesterday the City Council passed a rezoning proposal for the neighborhood that will see 1,300 new affordable housing units over the next few years and the roll-out of a somewhat controversial housing plan from the De Blasio administration.
And sources tell NY1 that community groups will also push for legislation against property flipping, and are encouraging homeowners not to sell without checking with housing specialists first. For more, read the full NY1 article here.
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