Why You Should Buy Their House: Baldwin

Mary Ellen and Eric Brengartner, pictured in their family room, want to sell their Baldwin home. (Jan. 11, 2013). Credit: Danielle Finkelstein
Sellers Mary Ellen and Eric Brengartner
Address 542 Madison Ave., Baldwin
Asking price $465,000
The competition The nearest listing in Baldwin is a Cape on Alhambra Road, about a mile away, on the market for $299,000
Recent sale in the area A three-bedroom Colonial on Dartmouth Street sold Jan. 7 for $380,000.
Taxes $10,800
Time on the market Since mid-December
Listing agent Mary McGinity, Baldwin Realty, Oceanside, 516-678-4980
Why it’s for sale Mary Ellen, 70, is a retired nurse and nursery school teacher. Eric, 71, a systems engineer for the New York City Police Department, is retiring in June. They plan to move to Center Moriches to be near two of their three daughters and their grandchildren.
The Brengartners have lived in their 1938 expanded Cape for 49 years and raised their daughters there. The 41-by-215-foot property accommodates the five-bedroom, 3½-bath home, a detached, one-car garage and an above-ground pool with an attached deck. Mary Ellen talks about the appeal of the home:
“It’s a nice, happy and spacious home. We added an extension off the back of the house 10 to 12 years ago and brought my mother-in-law to live with us. We built her a living room, a large bedroom and a full bathroom. We added a huge family room ... with a cathedral ceiling and glass all along the back. It’s my favorite area of the home. The extension we added has central air-conditioning, and there’s a gas fireplace in the family room. The other fireplace [wood-burning] is in the living room. The yard runs 225 feet deep. Children can run and play in the backyard.”