About to Sign with Broker


I inherited an apt and need to sell it asap. I am about to sign a contract with a corcoran agent and am wondering if there is anything I should know before I sign. I am not looking to be disuaded from using a broker, or from using corcoran – I understand that I could sell it myself if I had the time, and that lots of people hate corcoran. I just want to know if there is anything anyone wishes they knew before they signed a contract with a broker. Thank you!!

Categories: Brokers
By glasgirl | 01/10/2010 3:40 PM | Comment

Should seller remove wallpaper?


We just made an offer on pre-war co-op that is carpeted throughout and has dramatic (!!!) wallpaper in every room. Sellers accepted the offer instantly. No papers have been signed yet. As part of the negotiation of terms, is it reasonable to ask the sellers to agree to deliver the apartment free of wallpaper and carpet? Or is it at all reasonable to negotiate a slightly lower price at this point to take into account the cost of removal? Should we have taken this into account before we made the offer and now we should just suck it up? There is no way to tell the condition of the floors under the carpet, and it will take a fair amount of work to remove all the wallpaper from this 920 sq ft apt. We are first time co-op buyers and friends have told us that there is room for negotiation even after an offer is accepted.

We don’t want to lose an opportunity to ask for something that we might be able to get, but we don’t want to be obnoxious either!
Thanks very much for any advice.

Categories: Etiquette
By glasgirl | 02/26/2009 6:14 PM | Comment

Latex painted bathroom tiles???


Re: small 1930′s bathroom with peach colored tiles – someone painted entire bathroom – tiles, grout, tub, shower stall, with latex paint – is it possible to remove the paint, and is it possible to resurface the tiles so that they can be a different color and we don’t have to rip them out? Any recs for good tile doctors?

Categories: Tile
By glasgirl | 02/14/2009 12:52 PM | Comment

Is this a reasonable quote?


Hi all – I am helping an elderly aunt prep an apt for sale – she is very nervous and daunted about the whole process and I am trying to take as much of the burden off her as possible. It is a 750 square foot prewar 1 bedroom – very basic layout. The apt is completely empty, my aunt has already moved out and I have cleaned the apt for her. We got a quote from a painter/handyman who was highly recommended by a broker who does not yet have the listing but probably wants it (someone I think I trust) The estimate is to paint the whole apt (walls are in pretty good shape, minor crack repair – i don’t think any skim coating required) repair some old water damage to ceiling (about 14 inches square of space) scrape and sand and paint 5 indow sills, some of which had some water damage and lots of paint buildup, strip old wallpaper from tiny kitchen (6 ft by 7 ft) and small bathroom. The quote is $4,000 to $4,500 and the timeline is about 2 weeks. We are not looking for rock bottom cheap – we are happy to pay a fair price for dependable quality work – this person says he does a lot of work in bklyn heights, where the apt is. Does this sound like the right ballpark? We could bring someone else in to take a look but my aunt is under some time constraint to sell (I know, good luck) and I want to help her get the work started soon. Any advice greatly appreciated. thank you!!

Categories: Renovation
By glasgirl | 02/14/2009 12:21 PM | Comment