Banks wont give mortgages to this building…what to do?


Hoping for some advice for this unfortunate situation that just came up. We’re in contract on a condo, but just found out from the mortgage broker that because the original owner of the building still owns a high percent of the units after it went condo, most of the major banks will not take the risk of issuing mortgages for any units being sold. Has anyone experienced this, and if so what are the alternative channels to go through? Are there smaller or nontraditional lenders that would be more likely to lend?

Categories: Mortgage
By BSD | 01/20/2011 1:35 PM | Comment

How Many Renters is Too Many?


When looking at the % of owners to renters in a building, at what point is it deemed that there are too many renters, and the value of the units gets affected? The building I’m looking at is about 60% owners.

Categories: Real Estate
By BSD | 11/02/2010 1:45 PM | Comment

Quality of Life on Eastern Parkway?


We’re looking to purchase a unit on Eastern Pkwy b/w Classon & Franklin, and wondering how anyone living on this stretch feels about it? Is the noise bad? Do you feel comfortable walking around at night? Right now the school (PS 316) is my main but longer term concern.

Categories: Quality of Life
By BSD | 10/25/2010 11:45 AM | Comment

Reputable Sites for School Ratings?


Hi, am looking at moving into Prospect Hts., but wanted to get a sense of the school quality there…specifically PS9 (Teunis). Are there any reputable sites for this sort of research (i.e. the Consumer Reports of schools)?

Categories: Schools
By BSD | 09/14/2010 1:45 PM | Comment

Persistent Ants


Seems to be that time of year again. We’re getting an infestation of ants in the kitchen, possibly coming from the backyard. However normally its those tiny black ants, and they usually walk in a line and so we can find where theyre coming from and spray there. However now we’re getting ants that are at least twice the size, thicker black bodies, and theyre just scattered everywhere, no organized line to follow. Any ideas of what works? Should we just use Raid in all the cracks inside and outside? Do those little plastic traps work? (we have 2 cats, so am a little concerned about what might affect them)

By BSD | 03/23/2010 9:04 AM | Comment