YOu can contact the HPD Neighborhood Preservation dept.
They will work with you for free to remove the violations.
Now agreed that HPD is full of hacks no offense but you wont have to pay.
give it a try

Posted by: 646 at September 10, 2009 5:17 PM in response to HPD Violation Explanation

I am currently in the process of purchasing a coop in Brooklyn. I saw allot that would allow less then 20% down but you have to get loan insurance. It costs an extra 100 a month until you build enough equity to cancel it each threshold is different so talk to your lender about it.
Also I am using CHASE

Posted by: 646 at June 5, 2009 10:40 AM in response to Conforming Loan Question

ALSO A BIG FAN OF CROWN HEIGHTS (Western part), Prospect HEIGHTS and CLINTON HILL.
Windsor terrace is a little sleepy for me but nice.

Posted by: 646 at May 27, 2009 9:58 AM in response to Neighborhoods for Great Deals?

there are a lot of good answers here. I have never seen a offering plan with cubic feet. Most I have sen are zoning room or square feet. But this is a violation and not only does the shareholder have to fix this issue. IF HPD/DOB or any of these governing agency come by and see this you would be hit with fines. Plus the space between the walls is owned by teh coop to speak quite literally. In a coop you do not own your doors windows or anything in the walls just the walls floors and everything inside of them. It sounds like you board is a little confused.

Posted by: 646 at February 5, 2009 10:56 AM in response to Issue for our Co-op Board

Something you may want to think about is cooping the building that way each of you is protected. you need a lawyer but if you create a Mutual housing association and the MHA buys the building then each of you are given shares to your rights and interest in the building.
I am in the process of purchasing a multi unit building with a few people this is the way we are going about it. we can not afford by our selves but as a group and as a MHA we can and then we will have a blanket mortgage.If i want to leave there are restrictions to sales but I sell my shares and a new person moves in nice and simple.
This is just an idea but its a legal process. I think group purchases is a smart way to provide an affordable option for urban living.
Not sure if its just the two of you but with the right legal paper work and open communication this sounds like a great idea.
You should just figure out what your both looking for. is this long term investment or something to flip when the market gets good again? make sure you are both on the same page.

Posted by: 646 at January 21, 2009 4:01 PM in response to Joint Purchase of 2-Family?

1842, you're right, but my point is that while you may get more for your money in Brooklyn, you don't necessarily save money.

Posted by: alsawo at May 27, 2009 3:07 PM in response to Neighborhoods for Great Deals?

"still much, much higher than Brooklyn rents for comparable apartments in size and good location"

A one bedroom in Ft Greene would be a 3 bedroom in the East Village (comparing sqft). Very little in Brooklyn is comparable to Manhattan in size.

Do 200 sqft studios even exist in Brooklyn?

Posted by: dirty_hipster at May 27, 2009 3:22 PM in response to Neighborhoods for Great Deals?

There are plenty of Replicans in Bay Ridge but everyone I know here voted Obama. And my gay friends here call it Gay Ridge. So I'm not really sure that Bay Ridge is still the Republican strong hold it used to be.

Plus Repbulicans don't bite or smell for that matter and some happen to be very nice.

Posted by: italiana71 at May 27, 2009 3:23 PM in response to Neighborhoods for Great Deals?

alsawo,

I am much much closer to southern midtown and lower Manhattan in Bed-Stuy than I would be in Washington Heights. And you can park a car on the street without making parking a fulltime job in Bed-Stuy, which is just impossible uptown. I'm an old fogie but I like it better here than in Manhattan, and my 13-year-old daughter does too.

Posted by: rf at May 27, 2009 3:27 PM in response to Neighborhoods for Great Deals?

italiana71,

I'm not prejudiced--some of my best friends are Republicans, but, honestly, don't they smell, at least a little, and doesn't Dick Chaney, for one, bite? :-)

Posted by: Bob Marvin at May 27, 2009 4:48 PM in response to Neighborhoods for Great Deals?

No, Dick Chaney shoots you in the face.

Posted by: italiana71 at May 27, 2009 5:55 PM in response to Neighborhoods for Great Deals?

Sorry folks, Clinton Hill 1 beds were that price a few years ago, I know cause that was my rent in CH in 2003...

My suggestions: Ditmas Park near the Newkirk Q train, possibly near Cortelyou Q (the strip at Cortelyou is pretty good in terms of restaurants, cool stores, a food co-op) - both of these places will put you a 5-10 minute bike ride from Prospect Park, and in the vicinity of Coney Island Avenue - which has a great smattering of Middle Eastern, Russian, and Jewish food stores/restaurants; Prospect Park South, which is the back side of Prospect Park, on the Parkside Q (more of a Caribean flavor, in terms of shops & food); Bed-Stuy you can probably find a big place for that price or slightly higher - depending on accessibility to the subway (A or C versus the G) and the part of the neighborhood; Bed-Stuy at the border of Williamsburg and Bushwick, around Broadway and Marcus Garvey Avenue, on the JMZ train.

Good luck, Chantal!!

Posted by: Inquisigal at May 27, 2009 6:59 PM in response to Neighborhoods for Great Deals?

We have a 1 BR listed on craigslist for 1300- full floor of a private house (our house) with a small patio. South Slope/Greenwood- 18th between 4th and 5th-

Craigslist Ad here:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/abo/1189176187.html

Posted by: Park Place at May 27, 2009 10:28 PM in response to Neighborhoods for Great Deals?

thanks so much guys!! we are indeed looking to brooklyn because of the rumored lower rent prices. we were hoping to get more for our money, and heard that brooklyn is "greener" than manhattan (we are both from virginia).

i think we might go out this weekend and just walk around different areas of brooklyn. we don't really care about cool vs. uncool neighborhoods, we are just hoping for a place with a living room--and windows! :-)

thanks again for your help!!

Posted by: chantal at May 28, 2009 3:12 AM in response to Neighborhoods for Great Deals?

given my username it's no surprise that i would suggest that you can definitely find an apartment in bensonhurst that fits your criteria.

Posted by: 11214 at May 28, 2009 6:34 AM in response to Neighborhoods for Great Deals?