Repairs in the Contract?


A couple of weeks ago, we made an offer on a place, it was accepted, and then we had an inspection done. The inspector pointed out a few small suggested repairs to be done.

We initially thought we could/should just put the repairs in the contract, but our attorney said he’s hesitant to put them in because sometimes a bank will hold up a closing and say they want to come and inspect the repairs. He said that we should try to press the owner to make the repairs prior to signing the contract, since the repairs were minor.

Is this pretty standard practice? We certainly don’t want to sign and leave ourselves no recourse if they decide not to do the repairs, but I also don’t want this to drag on for weeks with no signed contract. Anybody else had a similar experience? How did you handle it?

Categories: Real Estate
By pringler | 12/21/2009 11:25 AM | Comment

Need a Good RE Lawyer


Hello – can anyone recommend a good Real Estate Attorney? Our previous experience (on a now dead deal) was not great. Preferably someone who is familiar with deals that involve PMI or FHA financing.

Categories: Lawyers
By pringler | 11/23/2009 11:06 PM | Comment

Williamsburg or Clinton Hill


Hi all,

We’re looking at purchasing a condo in Brooklyn. Our chief concerns are space (>800 interior sf), a neighborhood that we don’t need to leave to do everything, a dog run nearby, less than 45 minute commute to midtown (where we both work), and some outdoor space.

Given what we’re willing to spend and the requirements above, we had initially narrowed it down to East Williamsburg and North Slope/PHeights. However, we came upon a place just outside of Clinton Hill (half a block east of Classon) that seems promising. There are two similarly promising places in East Williamsburg. The apt in Clinton Hill is bigger, but it seems your train options are the G and C, neither of which is fantastic.

So, any semi-objective opinions on the pluses/minuses of East Williamsburg vs Clinton Hill? Safety? Potential to hold value? Overall quality of life? We’ll be there at least 5 years, but would still like to hold onto it as a rental property if/when we eventually move on (hopefully to a house), so long-term value is important.

We’ve spent time walking around both neighborhoods, but you really never know a place until you’ve lived there, so opinions from those who have lived in both or either are appreciated.

Categories: Quality of Life
By pringler | 11/16/2009 5:59 PM | Comment

105 Lexington – Worth the Price?


I know 105 Lexington has been discussed on this site before, but just wanted to get opinions on the latest “deal”. Corcoran is offering 10% off the agreed-upon selling price if you close withing 45 days.

Assuming you can actually close in 45 days (given all the Nov/Dec holidays), what are people’s thoughts on the discounted price psf, given the neighborhood (which I’m not overly familiar with)? The $550k/$525k units are btwn 1100 and 1300 sq ft, so in the $450 psf neighborhood before the chop and roughly $405 psf after?

Also, would you rather live here or in “East Williamsburg” at the same price?

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/building/105-lexington-avenue-brooklyn

Categories: Real Estate
By pringler | 11/13/2009 7:01 AM | Comment

Montrose Ave L Stop


The East Williamsburg leg of our apartment search has focused around the area north of Grand Street (around the Graham L stop). However, we recently saw a nice unit near the Montrose Ave stop on the L that would give us a lot more space for the money. We walked around the neighborhood a bit, but haven’t had time yet to do a really thorough exploration. Any advice or opinions on the area around the Montrose stop from current/past residents? I’m a little nervous that there’s a huge housing project separating us from the rest of Williamsburg.

Thanks

Categories: Quality of Life
By pringler | 09/28/2009 2:49 PM | Comment

Should We Walk Away?


We are about to go into contract for a unit on the top floor of a newly constructed building.

The problem is that our inspection showed that the roof was almost completely flat (i.e. not angled or sloped at all for drainage). It is our understanding that flat roofs are supposed to have a slight pitch to keep water from pooling and leaking in. There are drains (2) on the roof, but absolutely no pitch and you can already see where some ponding has occured.

Having zero familiarity with flat roofs, here’s the question: Will an improperly pitched flat roof cause significantly more problems (leaks, costly repairs), than a properly pitched flat roof? Should we walk away if the developer refuses to fix the pitch?

We love the place and will probably have a tough time finding a similar unit in our price range, but we have no desire to buy into a potentially costly situation either. We will be the first ones to be leaked on if there’s an issue, and even though major repairs would be paid for by the whole building, there aren’t that many units to share the cost with.

So, thoughts from those who are more experienced? Is this something worth walking away over?

Categories: Roofers
By pringler | 09/08/2009 3:58 PM | Comment