Need AdviCe on Reno Financing


Hello,
My husband and I want to make an offer on a property that is about 20% to 25% below current market value.
We have the 20% down, however we do not have the $200K needed for the reno. Is a 203 Rehabilitation Loan our only solution? Can we obtain a solo renovation loan after close? What are the current rates for the above product?

Finally, my husband’s business partner offered us private financing @7% for the equivalent of the 203. Should we just run with that for the moment and refinance later.

Thanks

By kdabrowski | 03/22/2010 1:04 PM | Comment

Acris: $0 for a Sale Price?


What does it mean when the recorded sales price on ACRIS is $0? We are looking at comps, and out of the 8 records, 5 homes have a selling price of $0. Is there another way to find out how much a property sold for? Thank you

By kdabrowski | 02/08/2010 2:52 PM | Comment

Cost for Adding Extension?


We’re considering adding an extension to the garden level of our townhouse. The building is 18 x 36 while the lot 18 x 100. The addition would be 18 x 24. What is the range we should expect to pay?

Thank you.

Categories: Construction
By kdabrowski | 10/22/2009 11:43 AM | Comment

Our sale is not showing anywhere


We closed on our condo on August 7, 2009. Til this day, the transactions is not showing up on ACRIS. Could this mean it was never recorded? Should we alert our attorney, or is this no big deal?

By kdabrowski | 01/26/2009 2:36 PM | Comment

Renting with Option to Buy


We are in contract on our Brooklyn condo, and are about to make an offer on a house in the “burbs”.

We’ve been city people all our lives, and we’re 95% sure this is the right thing to do for our family, however there is still that slight hesitation. So rather than buying the house, we would like to rent it with option to buy in one year.

Do you set the price now, does part of rent go toward the down payment? How does the process work overall?

Thank you.

By kdabrowski | 06/02/2008 11:06 AM | Comment

Taxes on resale


Forgive me for being naive. We think we will make about 80K profit on the sale of our condo. We plan to use the money to buy another property, but it may not be immediately, but within a few months? What taxes if any are we obligated to pay?

By kdabrowski | 02/19/2008 4:16 PM | Comment

How to check on new development status?


About a year ago a friend of mine went into contract on a unit in a new dev/conversion. Although all units went into contract over a year ago, it looks like there has been no work done in about 6 months. In the meantime my friend is getting no answers from the broker.

Thank you!

By kdabrowski | 02/14/2008 4:26 PM | Comment

Mortgage brokers and credit reports?


After raising our credit scores to the mid 700′s we’re trying to refinance our condo. I have all 3 credit report for myself and my husband. Every mortgage broker I’ve talked to wants to pull up our credit before they even talk to me further. Is this necessary and will it lower out credit scores?
Why won’t the brokers take the reports we’ve pulled down as a reference in the beginning of the process?

Categories: Mortgage
By kdabrowski | 02/13/2008 11:36 AM | Comment

Appraisal for duplex with Rec Room


We have a 1277 sf apt. with
700 asf on the ground floor
and 500 asf in a windowed rec. room.
How are these types of units appraised, someone told me the below sf does not count?

By kdabrowski | 02/12/2008 12:02 PM | Comment

What are the legal ramifications to adding a shower to cellar/rec room bathroom


First of all why the units with below ground get flamed so much. We purposely purchased a 1200 sf apt with the rec room below ground, which we use as master bedroom with office and sitting area. We did this because otherwise we could not get the square footage for what we could afford. Plus we had the same set up in our brownstone rental which really worked for us.

Our place does not have a full bath in the rec/bedroom, although 90% of new developments we saw did. This is a major pain since we have to use the upstairs bathroom and we now want to ad a shower to this bathroom.
What are the legal ramifications for us and the building?
I know it’s not legal, but again, this was one of the only places with this set up that did not have a full bath in the downstairs space. And I really wish the developer just did it like the other ones.

Categories: Cellar
By kdabrowski | 10/04/2007 11:23 AM | Comment