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June 17, 2008
Professional couple wants to buy in Brooklyn
Couple wants to buy a co-op or condo in Brooklyn. We're partial to the following areas: Boerum, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Fort Greene, and Park Slope...maybe even DUMBO. We can't spend more than 400K and need a low monthly maintenance. Fixer-uppers would be just fine. Ideally we'd like to buy directly from the seller and leave out the broker to save some cash on the sales price. Our time-line is very flexible for buying...not in a big rush. We're not really sure where to post this sort of ad. Hopefully this works.
Comments
yayyyyyyy!!!!!!!! i love professionals!!!!!!! good luck kids!!!!!!!!! buy away!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: guest at June 17, 2008 6:40 PM
Hi OP, have you started checking out NYTimes & Craigslist, and going to Open Houses in your target areas? You should be able to find a decent 1BR on your budget.
I'm not convinced that a FSBO will necessarily be priced less than a broker listing. Some homeowners (wrongly) assume that their place is worth more than the neighbor's house for whatever reason. This is especially true in a softening market.
Posted by: seahag21 at June 17, 2008 8:50 PM
Good luck, but I would get approved for financing before starting your search. Coop boards look for certain rerquirements and every realtor is going to ask you for an approval. My partner and I just got approved from a guy on here people have been speaking about Brian Scott Cohen from Wells Fargo approved my partner and I in 24hrs....his numbers are 646 584 8009 and 718 780 9132.. If you need a good realtor I have one, but my partner and I still can n ot find what we want either..
Posted by: guest at June 17, 2008 9:45 PM
I would recommend going to lots of open houses and narrowing down what you are looking for and where you would want to buy. It was also helpful for us to have financials ready, find a real estate atty that we liked, and talking to some mortgage brokers/ banks so that when you want to make an offer -- and move forward on an apartment things are less stressful. (I wish we had done more of this actually.) You do not pay anything extra by going through an agent -- the seller does -- so do not limit yourselves in that area. We worked with brokers from Brown Harris, Aguayo, and Corcoran -- but ended up finding a place on our own. But it was very helpful to have someone to touch base with throughout the process. I totally trusted Rezwan Sharif from Aguayo & Heubener and would recommend him. Good luck on your search!
Posted by: guest at June 17, 2008 10:20 PM
Thanks to you all for the great advice. We are actually pre-approved through Wells Fargo but haven't checked into real estate attorneys as of yet. Very good advice. We were thinking about going to some open houses to meet realtors and basically shop around for a broker we liked to be our buyer's agent. We understand that the seller pays the broker's commission but would prefer to buy direct from the seller to hopefully have that savings passed down in the price. Good luck to all of you too.
Posted by: jarahmeador at June 17, 2008 10:49 PM
My buddy was selling his coop FSBO in the West Village. Very nice, large, 2 bedroom, sunny and quiet because it was in the back of the building. He had three offers fall through. He had no idea what his coop board was going to demand. I put him in touch with a friend who is my neighbor and a real estate agent here in Brooklyn. She explained she doesn't do Manhattan sales but that it's incredibly important to understand the coop board, what they will demand and then you don't waste your time going into contact with someone who the board will end up rejecting. Made me realize that sometimes it's important to work with an agent and that you're not just throwing your money away. And this is from a person who's sold 1 apartment and rented countless others. Good luck and welcome to Brooklyn.
Posted by: Brooklynnative at June 17, 2008 11:10 PM
Stewart Kong, Esq. 246 Fifth Avenue, Suite 504, New York, 212, 779-1111, 212-779-1010
Stewart is a great real estate attorney and knows Brooklyn well. He can help you. We are probably selling our 1bd in Bay Ridge without an agent - someone wants our apt badly (YAY). Trouble is, we can't find larger digs until another property is sold...
Posted by: guest at June 17, 2008 11:15 PM
Just to add to the above advice and in response to your comment above, you'll soon discover that unlike almost everywhere else, Brooklyn doesn't see many buyers' agents. Brokers don't share their listings, and they'd always rather deal with someone who doesn't have a buyers' agent so that they don't have to split their commission. So be prepared to do the work on your own - it sucks, but that's how it goes.
Once you get to know a few seller's agents, they'll start calling or emailing you their listings that they think you'd like. Once you have an offer accepted and go into contract, they start acting like they're your broker in order to get the deal done - assisting with coop board, etc. Good luck!
Posted by: guest at June 18, 2008 10:02 AM
400K will only get you a large studio or small 1 bedroom in Park Slope.
But it's beautiful as heck.
Posted by: guest at June 18, 2008 11:34 AM
If you're willing to look in Clinton Hill (but right on the border of Ft. Greene), the Clinton Hill Co-Ops are still one of the greatest bangs for your buck. You can get a large 1 bedroom (800 sf) for <$400K. I live there and got a great deal, and I love it.
Posted by: guest at June 18, 2008 12:47 PM
Best bet right now is to look at co-ops in Jackson Heights, Queens. I have a friend closing on a 2-bedroom there for $320K.
Maybe once the new condos in Brooklyn are finished they will reprice to what they are worth but at the moment they are all $700+/SqFt which is too high for most of them.
Posted by: Karka at June 18, 2008 2:57 PM
Have you looked at Bay Ridge?
It's a little known gem in Brooklyn.
It has a large concentration of restaurants, parks and good schools but is a quite area.
The Xpress bus (they're the large tour bus types, comfortable) will take you to downtown Manhattan in 15 min.
Posted by: guest at June 18, 2008 3:42 PM
jackson heights is nice, but rather ugly.
Posted by: guest at June 18, 2008 4:12 PM
Also, check out Prospect Heights and the area around the edges of it (Clinton Hill and Crown Heights). There are some great buildings/apts that are still very centrally located and in rapidly developing safe neighborhoods that are not quite as pricey as the areas you listed. You can get more bang for your buck, but still have easy walking access to Park Slope and Fort Greene. If I were buying today, that is where I'd be looking.
Wherever you're looking, open houses are the best way to get to know what you can get for what in each neighborhood. Just take your time. Also, if you can buy in cash, you'll rocket to the top of any seller's/coop's list.
Good luck!
-Sarah
Posted by: guest at June 19, 2008 9:02 AM
If you need low montly maintenance, don't bother looking at coops. The coops in the neighborhoods you mentioned, especially Park Slope are a minimum of $500 a month for a small 1 bedroom apartment. If it's a 2 bedroom coop (which you'll never find in Park Slope for $400K anyway) that's about $700 a month minimum.
You'd have to limit your search to condos. You can skip the close scrutiny of your finances by a coop board that way too.
Posted by: guest at June 19, 2008 11:48 AM
Condos seem to start in the 500s for a studio... 600+ for 1bed
Posted by: guest at June 20, 2008 10:19 PM
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