windsor place duplex rent

We let tenants have a dog in our apartment, and I have to say I don't think I'd do it again. The hall smells like dog, despite the tenants best efforts there is dog food in the apartment all the time around the bowl which attract vermin, and he's scratched up several areas of door/wall.

On the other hand if they are good tenants and you want to keep them... make sure you take some additional security deposit and write some kind of lease rider to get down on paper what they have agreed to pay for in relation to having the dog in the house.

Posted by: 11216 at June 19, 2009 4:10 PM in response to Tenants Want a Dog

You won't be able to get an accurate estimate without more information.
For example, you want to dig down 1-2' below the existing slab. The cost of this will depend on the depth of the existing foundation. If your foundation wall ends only 6" below the current slab -- which is the case in many brownstones -- then you will indeed need to underpin the foundation walls as eman1234 noted. This is definitely expensive. You can get a contractor to dig a test pit in a corner of the basement to assess the existing conditions of the foundation wall.
You definitely need an engineer or architect for this work. There are structural & waterproofing issues that must be properly addressed.

Posted by: 11216 at June 11, 2009 4:59 PM in response to Ballpark on basement work

The renovation does look very well done. And they did a great job maximizing space in that narrow building -- with the stair the way it is the living room is basically as wide as it would be in a 18' wide home if 6' were taken off for a stair hall...
None of which is to say they'll get their price...

Posted by: 11216 at June 1, 2009 1:43 PM in response to House of the Day: 130 South Oxford Street

It depends on the zoning, existing building height, FAR in addition to the question of ownership of roofrights. You might be able to get some sense of whether its worth pursuing on your own but you will need an architect to really understand if its possible and what all the options are. We usually have a consultant prepare a zoning analysis for clients who are looking to do this.

Posted by: 11216 at May 21, 2009 3:46 PM in response to Roof Rights?

I took the street tree class mentioned above and a few things to note:
bricks/block around the tree are really not a good idea, they prevent the maximum water getting to the tree.
Plants in the tree pit should also be kept to a minimum if at all, for the same reason.
The best thing is to put a metal fence around, though unfortunately those are costly. Our block got some done through the city (I'm not sure how, a neighbor organized it) but they didn't do the one by my house unfortunately

Posted by: 11216 at May 21, 2009 10:48 AM in response to Protecting Tree in Street

As others have said, the range is huge and depends on both how much work you need to do and the extent of that work. As an architect I have worked on a range of 'gut renovations' from $75psf to $500psf. Two years ago we renovated our own four story house in BedStuy for $75psf (construction costs, not including soft costs) and had tenants in 3 1/2 months after closing on the property! That was a gut renovation including all new electrical, plumbing, and totally revised layouts (changing from an SRO to a 3 family); we kept the costs down by keeping finishes simple and not doing anything luxurious (no central air, etc). And we have a great contractor that we work with. I'd be happy to answer any questions: tbraude at gmail dot com.

Posted by: 11216 at May 21, 2009 10:44 AM in response to Ballpark on a Gut Reno

Actually filing at the DOB yourself is not difficult, I did it when we renovated our house, and found that everyone at the DOB was very helpful and patient walking me through the various necessary steps to get it done. That said, I wouldn't do it again. Our job was small and simple and was filed as a 'professional review' therefore not needing an appointment with the DOB examiner, and even so I had to take enough hours off work that the $2,000 I would have paid an expeditor does not seem unreasonable. Sure, sometimes all goes well and the expeditor makes easy money, other times the plan examiner requests change after change and they are there at the DOB day after day waiting in lines for appointments. I'm sure you can find expeditors who will work for an hourly rate, but most of the time its a fixed fee, and $2K is about what it costs

Posted by: 11216 at May 19, 2009 4:04 PM in response to "Expeditor" = "Pay to Play"?

We worked with Nick Ferrone at Corcoran and I have since recommended him to a number of friends. He was conscientious, understood what we were looking for and stuck with us over several months until he found us the right place - then walked us through the purchasing process. and I enjoyed working with him.

Posted by: 11216 at May 15, 2009 2:25 PM in response to Help Finding a Good Bklyn Broker

have used this downspout diverter before and it makes the install super easy.
http://www.gardeners.com/Downspout-Diverter/33-991,default,pd.html?SC=XNET8419

Posted by: 11216 at May 1, 2009 11:08 AM in response to Water Collection

We rent two all new/ renovated floor-throughs by the Kingston-Throop stop for $1,500. I know people getting $1,600. It depends on the condition of the apartments but I think even in this market you are being very conservative w/ your numbers.

Posted by: 11216 at April 27, 2009 11:42 AM in response to Rental Reasearch

We installed bamboo on a job once in planters all around the top of the walls of the terrace. That landed up giving a very nice high privacy screen. The planters have to be relatively wide/deep to allow sufficient insulation for overwintering of the plants -- I think ours were 2' wide. I think it looks great.

Posted by: 11216 at April 22, 2009 1:03 PM in response to twenty foot tall fence?

Peaches on Lewis Ave

Posted by: 11216 at April 13, 2009 11:22 AM in response to Nominate Your Favorite Restaurants

I'm an architect and my partner and I have worked on many residential projects on all ends of the cost spectrum: from $75psf gut renovations to those costing $600psf. We charge a percentage of the cost of construction (we've found there is an extremely direct correlation between the cost of construction and the level of detail required for the drawings) -- where the overall fee is for full architectural services from the first schematic design through construction administration. We breakdown the fee by percentage according to the various phases of the work and, as others mentioned above, we can perform more or less of the various phases depending on your needs, budget and complexity of the job. I'd be happy to talk to you about this further and see if we could help you with the project: you can reach me at tbraude at gmail dot com.

Talia Braude
Braude Pankiewicz Architects

Posted by: 11216 at April 7, 2009 4:19 PM in response to Architect's fee?

look on the HPD website, there might be a record there of what the I-card status is. Otherwise you would need to go down to their warehouse to get a hardcopy. If there is no CofO this is the official record of what your house can be legally used as.

Posted by: 11216 at April 1, 2009 4:55 PM in response to B3-2 Family vs 3 Family

it was open this morning.

Posted by: 11216 at April 1, 2009 12:22 PM in response to T-Cup Cafe in Bed-Stuy?

I specified Poggenpohl for a job and was shocked at the low quality of the cabinet boxes when they arrived: pretty thin particle board, and not in great condition. I've also used a number of other 'high end' kitchen cabinet companies (though not Bulthaup) and based on those experiences I'd recommend going the custom route. We always do completely detailed drawings so I chose the company for their craftsmanship and reliability not their design sense, which isn't really their job. We've never had problems with anyone not finishing the work and our clients have always been happy with their custom kitchens. You have a lot more control over the finished product that way too.

Posted by: 11216 at March 25, 2009 1:40 PM in response to Design Kitchen Co Versus Custom

op here:
phripley, thanks for your thoughts, here is that additional info:
its about 1,450sf, plus the cellar (not finished but good for storage), utilities not included, but has a washer/dryer.
we get $2,000 for the upstairs which is a 650sf floor through 1 1/2 bedroom, so i'm pretty sure it should be in the $3K+ range, I'm just not sure of the +.

Posted by: 11216 at March 24, 2009 6:16 PM in response to windsor place duplex rent

Moss! check out http://www.mossacres.com/ and there was a pretty interesting article about moss in the nytimes about a year ago worth trying to find.

Posted by: 11216 at March 24, 2009 4:14 PM in response to Ground cover for shady backyard

if you like glass tile, you can get really fabulous glass mosaic tile for little more than subway tile from hakatai.com -- look at the classic range. we get them for around $3psf.

Posted by: 11216 at March 6, 2009 4:50 PM in response to Bathroom Design Help

For that price they did a shoddy job with the design. They clearly left all the plumbing in place and just worked around what was there, which is why, i would think, they landed up sticking a bath in the closet. thats fine if you are doing a $55psf renovation but if you are going to go pricing something way at the high end of the market for a given area the least you can do is think about how its going to be laid out. plus, the photos show almost none of the consequential rooms, the ones where money was spent, which does not bode well for their quality.

Posted by: 11216 at September 23, 2008 2:28 PM in response to House of the Day: 304 Union Street

another option is to file the day of closing and have your architect professionally certify the drawings which means you can get a permit within a day or two and not have to have the plans go through plan examination at teh DOB. Not all architects will be keen to do this as its seen as opening them to more liability but its actually not a big deal. However if it is a landmarked building that will not work as they will definitely need to review and that takes time. Anyway: thats what we did with ours and we started construction the monday after a thursday closing!

Posted by: 11216 at September 11, 2008 9:46 AM in response to Anyone filed before closing using seller to sign off on filings?

we used these guys and they did a good job. they had to come three times which they did (included in their cost is to come as many times as necessary) www.DialABedBug.com

if you have the actual bug save it for them to identify.

we never found a single actual bug despite getting eaten alive by them for about 2 months...

Posted by: 11216 at August 26, 2008 5:33 PM in response to Bed Bug Recommendation?

You should get an expeditor: they will be able to walk you through the process. Unless there is some strange situation (like the one described by ladybird, which is unusual) you should have no problem and you will not need a CofO as long as you retain the 2 family status (although for the record, its HPD not the finance dept that have the decisive record of the legal occupancy allowed for a building, you can check that online too, and again, an expeditor will be a great help)

Posted by: 11216 at August 20, 2008 4:08 PM in response to Permit sign-off and C of O

i use waheed at superior consulting for controlled inspections. (718) 625-5828. they generally will have someone out at a day's notice. only issue i've ever had with them is that they don't turn the TR1s around very quickly... but if you wait to pay them until you get those they will act pretty fast!

Posted by: 11216 at August 15, 2008 5:04 PM in response to need an engineer for a controlled inspection

my understanding of this kind of living is that everyone has their own kitchen, in their own unit, and can also choose to use and share the communal spaces. that combination of private and shared space is what, to me, makes this a workable idea. seems like it could be a really great lifestyle.

Posted by: 11216 at August 15, 2008 10:52 AM in response to Brooklyn Co-Housing Moving Closer to Reality?

is there somewhere that all the inside third and bond postings are collated so i can go through them sequentially. i've missed some and i'm not finding any easy way to get at them... maybe i'm missing something obvious

Posted by: 11216 at August 14, 2008 12:05 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 49

I've worked with Steve Kessler at Grogan on projects where I was the architect and he has always been extremely helpful, efficient, etc, even in situation with conflicts between neighbors, and such that got quite problematic. I'm not saying use them for this condo, but I certainly do not find that madamlee's comments are echoed by my personal experience and I assume there is another side to whatever story is being told there.

Posted by: 11216 at August 13, 2008 3:49 PM in response to Management Companies

As smokychimp noted, there really is likely to be an HPD record, as an architect, I've never heard of them not having the information. If you want to discuss further let me know: we do these kinds of renovations pretty often. You can email me at tbraude at gmail dot com.

Posted by: 11216 at August 6, 2008 11:32 AM in response to Reno

Finance dept is not the place to find the designation. Look at the HPD website, should list the number of 'A' apartments. Occasionally the website is wrong and you need to go in person to get the actual hardcopy listing the buildings use. You could have an expeditor look into it if you don't feel confident you are finding teh information yourself.
If its a legal 2 you don't need to change the CofO which is much simpler of course. You do need to file with the DOB to add a bathroom and kitchen, even if you aren't changing the CofO so you will need an architect. I'd imagine if you are going to change from a one family to two family use there might be other things that need to be done and an architect would be very helpful.
If you are going to need a new CofO its a much bigger process as you'll have all sorts of inspections and might well land up doing additional work you didn't want to, or anticipate having to do.

Posted by: 11216 at August 5, 2008 2:33 PM in response to Reno

it is not a commercial building in terms of zoning -- though as a multiple dwelling it might be just that in terms of mortgage requirements. To convert from a SRO to a single family the hardest thing is the certificate of non-harassement which it sounds like you have. check w/ the city if it is current/ sufficient. then you will need to change the C of O. Thats a pretty big endeavor and will require both architect and expeditor. You'll need drawings of the building and they city will do inspections of everything: so you might well have a good deal of work to do on it even though you don't want to do any renovations now because you will have to get everything in the building to code. Before you take this on have a thorough house inspection and a walkthrough with architect & contractor so you can ascertain what the costs involved might be.

Posted by: 11216 at July 22, 2008 2:11 PM in response to Conversion of SRO to one-family

This George must be something else. Silverstar seems to spend all his time online just touting the services of his architect. Come on: just say that you are an architect who can help this person with the job and finished. Its not like they won't want to work with you just because you admit you are yourself.

Posted by: 11216 at July 21, 2008 3:02 PM in response to digging out basement?

Its a great location but these apartments are overpriced and the renovation looks horrible.
I'm guessing at these numbers but I know the market in that area pretty well:
Say the whole building before renovation would be worth $750K
and the renovation cost $200K, then, with soft costs, etc, the owner spent around $1m or $1.1... With two units at $425,000 and a third at $550,000 plus a fourth not on the market (already sold?) which was probably the same $425K. Thats a total of $1,825,000 for the apartments. Thats just greedy.

Posted by: 11216 at July 21, 2008 2:24 PM in response to Condos of the Day: 83 Halsey Street

when we bought we took a mortgage for 80% to purchase. then took a second mortgage for 10% (at a higher rate) for part of the renovation and paid for the rest of the reno using new credit cards with 0% interest for 12 months. managed to finance $200K in construction. avoided having to get a construction loan. and could have refinanced once it was finished since it was worth more but so far haven't done that. the credit card thing is risky i guess, but it worked for us and was less pain. managed to get our gut reno done and have tenants in within 3 1/2 months of closing on a building that had been used as an SRO. So i'm not sure I agree with ontheparkway about you being in over your head... don't know how they can know that without knowing your situation much better

Posted by: 11216 at July 15, 2008 4:08 PM in response to Financing? How do you do it?

Officially (as in, when filing with the DOB, etc). A basement is anything below grade, so a garden 1 or 2 steps down is actually a basement. but no one would call it that in selling a house so they call it the garden floor/ garden apartment. Below that is the cellar. Code regulations about what constitute legal living space (bedrooms, etc) include needing sufficient light and air. You can turn any basement into liveable space with a 5' light well in front of it, which is much less than typical garden floors have.

Posted by: 11216 at July 15, 2008 2:38 PM in response to House of the Day: 219 Washington Avenue

I've allowed it several times & not had a problem. The training proviso is an excellent suggestion.

Posted by: Arkady at June 19, 2009 4:40 PM in response to Tenants Want a Dog

Over-Controlling landlords should find some other way to pay their mortgages (yes, I know it's "YOUR" property).

Some dogs smell, others have an "odeur"; if you like and/or have animals it's no big deal.

The thing about dog food and vermin is ridiculous (why were you checking their kitchen anyway?), if the tenants are sloppy, they could do all kinds of other things sans dog to bother you.

Dogs will cause some damage to floors (and hopefully nothing else) so asking for, say $500 extra deposit is reasonable (not $2000!). That's what I did.

Posted by: cmu at June 19, 2009 4:50 PM in response to Tenants Want a Dog

Anyone who's calling me anal has never seen an apartment after an untrained dog has lived in it for a year. It's simple: Dogs can cause an amazing amount of damage when they're not trained, but don't when they are trained.

Is asking a tenant for a credit report anal? What's the difference?

I think it's way worse to ask all dog owners, even the ones who know their dogs won't cause damage, to pay an enormous security deposit.

Posted by: vanburenproud at June 19, 2009 5:03 PM in response to Tenants Want a Dog

And as someone who's actually fixed the damages done to an apartment after an untrained dog has lived in it for a year, $2000 is totally reasonable.

In my situation, in the nineties, the damage was $1800 in materials alone, and I took $1300 in deposit, so I lost money even though I did all the work myself. A large swath of floor was soaked in urine and needed to be replaced. There was no more base molding in most of the apartment. I replaced three doors. All the screens in all the windows. Some drywall. The lower kitchen cabinet doors. The linoleum in the floor was done. The landscaping in the backyard was wrecked.

A deposit should reasonably accommodate a worst-case scenario. A dog can do way more than $2K in damage.

Posted by: vanburenproud at June 19, 2009 5:16 PM in response to Tenants Want a Dog

HAve they had the dog a long time? A reference from the previous ll may help.

Posted by: denton at June 19, 2009 5:18 PM in response to Tenants Want a Dog

Regardless of maturity level or damages, I would not want to hear a dog running back and forth on the floor above me. For me, it would be a very polite but clear no.

Posted by: MrsLimestone at June 19, 2009 6:09 PM in response to Tenants Want a Dog

I think the op mentioned that the current tenants have lived there for awhile and are now interested in getting a dog. Although, I am a bleeding heart for animals,I think I would have reservations with a tenant bringing in a new animal they don't know yet into the apt. I wouldn't say no way, but I would have to think about it as it's not so much the potential damage that would bother me as it would be possible barking,squealing, yelping etc etc
good luck

Posted by: gemini10 at June 19, 2009 6:21 PM in response to Tenants Want a Dog

Mrs L: read again: one floor separation. Dog footfalls would have to be heavy indeed to go though that.

Any tenants-with-dogs want to chip in? I can't believe the anti-animal sentiment here, no wonder people don't like landlords.

When my tenants said they wanted a dog, it was simple; they'd been there 2-1/2 years; they were quite mature, friendly and careful; use your judgement OP, as I did...if my tenants could've been flakey (as, obviously, vanburen's was, and I still have a hard time understanding how any middle-class tenants could be so sanguine to destruction) I might have refused.

Posted by: cmu at June 19, 2009 9:12 PM in response to Tenants Want a Dog

My experience was similar to cmu's. Our tenants (we're a two family house) had been great tenants for two years and said they were thinking of getting a dog. We trusted them, laid a few basic groundrules and said "sure". Their Golden Retriever became a much beloved member of the household, and we really missed all of them when they moved a few years later. Frankly, dogs also add a nice level of security. I never minded the dog barking when someone came to the door or rang the bell. As for damage, it was a non-issue...my neighbor whose tenants had cats had much more damage to deal with when they moved out than we ever did. As long as we like the tenants, we'd allow a dog anytime.

Posted by: parkslopemom at June 19, 2009 9:34 PM in response to Tenants Want a Dog

To clarify, I own a dog myself and have rented to dog owners successfully. I am not anti-dog. I'm anti bad dog owner.

The reason I make an external rule about training is because I am a softie about dogs, and because it's hard to tell when someone is going to become a bad dog owner. I don't think it's the same as flakiness. I think that living with a destructive dog is a deep kind of denial that's a function of knowing that you are responsible to a life that you can't take care of. From what I can tell, all this destruction just kind of turns into something that the owners just... watch happen. It just becomes the new normal.

If you are in doubt about the pervasiveness of the I Shouldn't Have A Dog Lifestyle, go to a dog run or park and stand near the people who only go to the park on the weekends. Within five minutes you'll be listening to a litany about the poop in the house, ruined doors, food stolen off the stove, angry neighbors...

I can't imagine having a dog that messed up my life like that. I would fix it. But people do it all the time. I think it's smart for a landlord to protect oneself from that crazy train. And I think it's better to protect oneself without banning dogs entirely.

Posted by: vanburenproud at June 19, 2009 11:21 PM in response to Tenants Want a Dog