Cost for electric and plumbing upgrades


We just received the report from the structural engineer on a 3000 SF four story brick federal townhouse we are about to purchase and it came back with several necessary repairs. Among them were a complete upgrade to the electricity and the plumbing throughout the house. The engineer’s estimates were ~50k each for plumbing and electric. He also estimated 50k per floor for taking down walls, refinishing the plaster, removing lead paint, etc. On top of this was an assumption of another 30% for general contractor fees. Can anyone give a sense for whether these estimates seem fair or very high? Any thoughts on pros and cons of using a GC, and costs?

Categories: Renovation
By firsttimebrownstoner | 03/12/2008 11:16 PM | Comment

seeking advice on securing jumbo financing


We are about to enter into contract on a brownstone in BK and will need to secure financing. The purchase price is ~$1M and we will be putting 20% down. So we are left with a few options to get to either a 30 year fixed or a 7/1 ARM – either one shot jumbo with very high rates, or splitting it into two pieces. Does anyone have any suggestions on creative ways to get our all-in APR down, or on Jumbo lenders that do not securitize and thus have lower rates than the big lenders are offering right now?

Categories: Mortgage
By firsttimebrownstoner | 02/21/2008 1:13 AM | Comment