Buy this cute house on City Island for a little less than $500,000
This cottage on City Island , which hit the market this week, could be a choice starter house for someone looking to slow down without leaving the five boroughs entirely. It's described as a 1,325 square-foot three bedroom, one and a half bath, and listed for $499,021. The house sits on a 50-by-100-foot lot, with an old tree and landscaped garden out front, and a lawn, shed, and brick patio in the back.
Inside, a wood-floored living room gets lots of sun, has a working fireplace, and leads to a formal dining room.
The kitchen is small, but still large enough to eat in, and currently has an antique stove. Depending on one's taste and how it works, the stove might need replacing, and/or the kitchen could be updated throughout.
There's no floor plan with the listing, and only two possible bedrooms appear in the photos. Both rooms look like tight quarters, and one has an unexplained sliding paper wall, so the description of it as a three bedroom bears further scrutiny. At least one of these rooms appears to have a closet.
The full bath is pictured, and looks to be on the small side for a house, but someone used to living in a shoebox-sized apartment may find it to be expansive. It is lined with olive tile that may not be to everyone's liking.
There is also a basement for even more storage.
The roof and furnace were replaced four years ago, according to the listing.
Nothing on City Island is very far from anything else on City Island, but it's nice that this house is a block from an express bus stop on City Island Avenue. There are no great transit options for the working stiff with a job in Midtown or downtown Manhattan—driving could take well over an hour in traffic, as does the bus off the island to the 6 train in Pelham Bay. Still, if given the choice, we'd go with the express bus, which tends to be clean, quiet, and for the hour and 15 minutes it's scheduled to take to Midtown, offers the chance to read in an upholstered seat high above the road. Take note, though, that the express bus currently only runs from the island twice in the morning, and there are only two direct buses back during evening rush hour. For more frequent service, you have to go to Pelham Bay.
PS 175, the K-8 school on the island, has higher than average test scores, but is rated 2 out of 5 stars on greatschools.org.
The house is just not in an official flood zone, according to NY Flood Help, but much of the surrounding island is, as is the one bridge connecting to the Bronx mainland.
You Might Also Like
