Buy a Brooklyn house for under $500,000 (if you can give up the subway)

By Virginia K. Smith | February 23, 2015 - 11:59AM

That old saw about "location, location, location" ruling real estate? It works both ways. Meaning that while you'll pay a premium for anything that's even remotely convenient, as the ease of your commute goes down, so go the prices.

This still bears out in plenty of far-flung parts of the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, and Brooklyn, but in particular, WNYC recently put a spotlight on Flatlands, a Southern Brooklyn neighborhood where you can still find an honest-to-god house for well under $500,000. That is, if you're willing to live in an area without any subway access whatsoever.

Residents of Flatlands have to take the bus for around 20 minutes to get to the nearest subway stop, as WNYC notes, and while one wonders at this particularly clumsy feat of urban planning, there is an upside: there are no alternate-side parking rules in the neighborhood, making it easier for residents to maintain cars (which quite a few of them do). "It's not brownstone Brooklyn, it's not Victorian Flatbush, but it's a bedroom community, mostly one- and two-family homes," one longtime neighborhood resident told the station.

With that in mind, we took a quick look at listings for available townhouses in the area, whether you're just armchair browsing, or so serious about the neighborhood that you're ready to buy a car to match your house:

This three-bedroom, three-bathroom townhouse is on the market for $499,000, and comes with a finished basement, parking, a washer/dryer, and this backyard patio and pool.

For $459,000, this three-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom house at 5704 Avenue O comes with its own garage and a sizeable backyard.

Currently listed at $490,000, this three-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom house includes a front yard, backyard with deck and shed, gated driveway, and fully finished basement.

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