While I might be in the minority with this opinion, I’d say the location on Chelsea is not nearly as nice as you might think at first. There is a lot of traffic on Chelsea as people try to avoid LJ Blvd, and this traffic will only get worse in the coming years.
I’m not surprised though that there are lots of bids in on the house with such a low price. But whoever gets it is going to spend a good bit to put it back together. More than likely, more headache and cost than they currently realize.
For my money, there are several places in LJ that while a couple hundred grand more, are far better values if you want a construction project. (Not a lot of these mind you, but they are out there)
JP – you can always get a bidding war, even in horrible times, just set your asking price low enough and let the market tell you what the best price is. And there’s always the chance that someone will get caught up in the excitement of the auction and way overbid.
Of course, time will tell whether this optimism and bidding war is justified.