Look into filing a claim in Small Claims Court against the agent. You might be able get to get your money.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at October 2, 2009 10:28 PM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

Do FSBO with buyer's broker welcome. Give buyer's broker his/her cut of 2 to 2.5 %. You keep the seller's share.
Lots of agents will steer their clients away from your unit if they have no incentive to come to you. I recently sold and paid full commission. I am glad the job is done but it was very difficult to write those checks. good luck.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at September 11, 2009 11:58 AM in response to FSBO or Not?

What a shame. It's one of my favorite things to do in the area. Love, love love the campus. I hope they reconsider.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at September 11, 2009 11:40 AM in response to Pratt: Not In Our Front Yard

Try calling Community Bank of NY- they do commerical loans for small co-op building. the building where I am is similar to yours, also with small amount of mortgage. The rate is relatively reasonable compare to the few banks who are writing this type of commerical loans.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at August 13, 2009 1:35 PM in response to Underlying Mortgages

" Landlords of rent stabilized buildings may seek rent increases for certain types of building-wide major capital improvements (MCI), such as the replacement of a boiler, and for new services, new equipment or improvements to an apartment in accordance with the law and regulations. Under certain circumstances, a landlord may also apply for a hardship rent increase."

Remember the landlord can apply for an increase of rent base on the improvements made to the apartment. The new rent may not be as simple as an increase by a few percentage from the old rent.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at August 12, 2009 10:25 AM in response to Renovated Rent-Stab Question

Thank you Smoky. Your information is very helpful.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at August 4, 2009 12:28 AM in response to Work Permit

This appraisalserved only one purpose, to get your re-fi loan. Its job is done. There is no point to protest. The appraisals changes with new climate, new appraiser, a up swing, down swing market.. your neighbors renovation or lack of. too many variable. Also, keep in mind what is listed may not be the sold price. Leave it along until you actually is looking to sell. Why worry about possible future problems today.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at August 3, 2009 10:38 AM in response to Appraisal Question

yes it does cost extra 10 to 20 dollars for water per person per month. I do not charge my tenant extra when she has a roommate by the same token I don't give her a discount either when she does not. I take care of it. Does not mean the cost is not there. There are no free lunches, someone has to pay. Maybe you don't realized this- some expenses are constant (fix mortgage for example), some expenses varies. Simple concept, more flushes, more showers = more cost to landlords (small building or large makes no difference).

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at July 31, 2009 6:38 PM in response to No Rent Reduction: Stay or Go?

my 2 cents- get out your calculator. How long do you plan on staying in one place- 2 yrs, 5 yrs etc..calculate your average cost, figure in your moving expenses, put a dollar value on your desire to have a cat. If your monthly over time is a savings in your pocket, then it's worth while to move. Otherwise, not.

On the defense of LL not wanting cat. He or his family might be allegic. I allowed my tenants to have one cat each, but not everyone kept to just one cat, now the whole house smells. I had no idea my family is allergic until the cats came and now I can't ask them not to be. It's my biggest regret.

There are some additonal costs to having more people in the place. Mainly water (contrary to popular belief, it's not free). It can be additonal $10 to $20 per month per person. I's not much, but it adds up. In the winter, depends on schedules and so on, heat might have to be longer which can be hundreds more each month. One tenant's roommate worked from home, so heat on almost 24/7. Needless to say, he was high maintenance. I find myself breathing easier after he moved.

My tenants have roommates which I have to approved. I check the credit and background for each person. None of the people who wanted the apartment has any problems with that. Once you get them in, it's hard to get them out. I also live in the house and for safety reasons I want to know who I am sharing house with.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at July 31, 2009 3:11 PM in response to No Rent Reduction: Stay or Go?

yes, my next door neighbor caught one in the act. he heard noises out front., came out and saw the thief trying to pry the gate loose. They want the old original gates.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at July 24, 2009 11:02 AM in response to Front Gate Stolen

Mopar:
I'd agree with you for the most part. But, there is a lot to be said for not being emotional attached to the property. Naturally I think my property (my home) is the best thing on the market. It might be less than mediocre for all I know. An outside voice can also be the voice of reason. I see a lot of negative opinions on this site concerning brokers and I also have some negative expierences with them. I am pretty pleased with the current one. As far as the fees goes, one side will always think it's too much, the others not enough.. age old debate. My own barometer for anything is .. did the job get done on time.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at July 22, 2009 5:15 PM in response to 6% Broker Fees Still Happening?

Ditto:
why are the people who are actually looking to purchase through BHS "dimwits"? We will always disagree on name calling. At the end of the day, I believe and in my case proven true, the people who go to boutique brokerage houses are there as seriously looking to purchase their next home or investment and they have a higher budget limit. Would I rather keep the 6% for myself, absolutely, but once I made up my mind to sell, I rather it'd done than not. keeping the house clean every minute of every day wears me out.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at July 22, 2009 4:40 PM in response to 6% Broker Fees Still Happening?

I agreed to pay it-full 6% with highly respected and professional brokers. He is a pleasure to work with and got a contract in 1 month, almost at full asking, in this market. I tried to go at it alone but I found the NYT exposure alone is not enough. It was good amount of traffic but since it was FSBO, people expect it to be free. There's something about associating with a boutique type of brokerage firm brings a difference class of buyers.. the ones who are serious about purchasing and have the money to get the deal done. Don't get me wrong, it hurts to have to give up a huge chunk of change, but the alternative maybe to sit on the property for a lot longer.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at July 22, 2009 3:40 PM in response to 6% Broker Fees Still Happening?

do u still have these?

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at July 21, 2009 8:52 PM in response to Brownstone Entry Doors $600 OBO

thanks guy. not a short sale. Bank owns outright. I hope not too long as some of us are short on patience.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at July 21, 2009 7:05 PM in response to Buying REO

There's a tool rental company on Nostrand Ave off Myrtle Ave- I don't remember the name of the place but they have tons of tools and equipments. You can check if they have what you need.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at July 20, 2009 10:25 AM in response to Floor Refinishing Rental Equip?

I have family members going after 203(k) purchase + construction loan for very little money (less than 400K). Th bank pre-approved the laon but is now finding all kind of ridicules reasons to stall and not close on the loan. 2 months into the pllication process, they were asked to write personal eassys on why they want to buy and live in the house (vs living in a cave I supoose or maybe they think homelessness is prefer for a family with small children). They also implied they would report them to the IRS if any discrepency is found on the application. The stress is mounting and so far the loan application is 3 months in the making with no end in sight.
The bank is M & T bank... avoid at all cost. Very unprefessional and probably using illegal tactics to avoid closing on the loan. A simple "Denied" would have been enough if they don't want to extend the loan.
my two cents.
One of the way to do this is buy the house in cash and then take out a construction loan. You can apply for a 203(k) loan up to 6 months after closing.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at July 20, 2009 10:20 AM in response to Financing "Unhabitable" Property

You can buy great big victorian houses in Newark for very cheap, I mean 10K cheap. More than likely gut jobs. There are a lot of foreclosed houses in auctions these days. Jersey R.E. tax is high, even in Newark. There are also quality of life issues. on the up side, Newark is centrally locate and has great possibilities.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at July 7, 2009 10:23 PM in response to Newark 3 fams for under $400k

It did sound odd ball to me, which is why I wanted other opinions. I spoke to a friend who is a loan officer at a local bank. He's never heard of such a thing either. His opinion is that perhaps the bank does not want to close on the loan and therefore is putting them through the circus hoops hoping they'll get discouraged and abandon the loan.

I agree with you that it is not uncommon for co-op applications to include motivation letter as new tenants are joining the curent tenants in sharing the responsibility of the building. Most people want like-minded neighbors.

My suggestion to my family member was to start a new application else where in the interest of being able to close the deal. At the very least, start the inquiry. they are not taking my advice. This week marks the beginging of the third month into their application. I am waiting to see the next set of hurdles this very unprofessional bank puts in front of them.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at July 6, 2009 10:45 PM in response to Letter of Persuasion to Bank

When I rent my house, I list credit check, income check, verifiable bank information Statement), etc, upfront. If anyone is uncomfortable with sharing the information, they do not need to apply for the apartment.
In the past I found that the people who put up the most fuss when asking about pay stubs, bank statements, usually have trouble coming up with the monthly rent.
You can call a person's place of employment to verify if that person is indeed an employee. Personal reference is just a friend who thinks he/she is a good person.. meants nothing.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at July 1, 2009 1:30 PM in response to How to Assess Potential Tenants?

Serpentor:
this building is only a few minutes walk to a/c train to either Nosrtand Ave or Franklin Ave stations. Less than 20 minutes to downtown Manhattan. The location is very convienent.

Newer building designers tend to overlook how their building would fit into its surrounding. There are few cases where the new construction blend into the area nicely. One of my favorite is the newer building on the corner of Sterling Pl and 7th ave in Park Slope. the red brick building, not the Condo. If anyone know who the architect is, kindly share. If and when I want something built, I want it in that style.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at July 1, 2009 12:35 PM in response to Price Cuts at 111 Monroe Street

I am amzed at the price for the Bed Stuy house. I am looking for a house in the area and have not come acorss anything like that in that price range. Most of the houses are less than 2500 sq ft and for way more than 500K even for fixers. Someone stepped in some lucky $%^&. :) I wonder if the house was advertised, I don't remember seeing the photo anywhere and looking for a house is now my full time job.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at June 25, 2009 4:12 PM in response to Brooklyn Sales: Under a Million

Spray wall paper with fabric softner, leave it on for a few minutes, then peel and scrap the glue off with a putty knief. it's very easy.

Posted by: ClintonHillGal at May 16, 2009 12:14 AM in response to Wallpaper removal

I did FSBO because I was living in Queens, where there is no MLS and most of the brokers are incompetent. Absolutely nobody uses a buyer's broker. If you did, you wouldn't be able to find a place to buy, because few seller's agents would agree to split their commission.

I'm interested to hear Slopefarm's story -- wonder why that would be? Had I gone with a broker, it would have taken forever to sell the place and I doubt I would have gotten more money for it. The brokers don't have armies of buyers waiting to snap up new listings. Sellers do their own legwork and get listings off the NYT and Craigslist. Maybe it's different in Park Slope -- maybe there a few big agencies really do control the market.

If you are going to do FSBO, do not say "brokers welcome." Your phone will be ringing off the hook with brokers trying to get your business. There is no such thing as a buyer's agent in New York City, so don't be fooled into paying a seller's agent posing as one.

Posted by: mopar at September 14, 2009 2:03 PM in response to FSBO or Not?

Spread the word. Post it where you can. Call the papers (The Brooklyn Paper might go for this story).

Good luck.

Posted by: jland at October 2, 2009 10:49 PM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

Question, you said "an illegal unit with no CofO"...

... is this an illegal unit (finished basement type thing) in a building with a CofO that covers the other legal apartments but not yours or is this a single unit in a condo type building where the building itself has no CofO?

Posted by: christopher at October 2, 2009 11:01 PM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

Something is fishy here. You say it wasn't that bad (no C of O)except for the fact the stove doesn't work and there's no heat? That's pretty quick. It's pretty easy to fix a stove and honestly I haven't turned the heat on yet. Your beef is with the LL. You could of been living rent free for the lack of a C of O.

Posted by: modsquad at October 3, 2009 12:48 AM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

How large s the building. Many brownstones do not have a C of O. Define basement. If there are windows and it is 50% or more above ground level then it is legal.

Then we can start addressing your situation. No stove & no heat are different issues.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 3, 2009 8:27 AM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

Sounds awful. But really, were you forced to leave Brooklyn? There are many apartments available... legal, with heat and ovens and all amenities!

Posted by: coopfornow at October 3, 2009 9:18 AM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

totally illegal. Corcoran is in the wrong here, they can be held liable if you get hurt in the building or worse. No builging can have people living there without a c of o. A friend of mine works for a Real Estate company that got in trouble for this exact situation and now they verify every building before ever listing or renting in the building.

Posted by: IrieMan at October 3, 2009 11:00 AM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

also think you need to relate more info.
How do you know that there is no working heat(not heating season yet)?
Unless you control heat yourself and heating unit is in your space?
So oven not working....landlord may have not known this (as many people don't use them)....has landlord been notified?

How do you know not legal? Is this some industrial bldg?
What kind of bldg is it? how many apts?
Based on your info - you sound like drama person.

Posted by: Petebklyn at October 3, 2009 11:40 AM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

"No builging can have people living there without a c of o"

Wow, you live in a parallel Brooklyn than me. Half the brownstones on my block have no CO and have rentals.

Posted by: cmu at October 3, 2009 12:06 PM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

Same question here re: no C of O. MANY buildings do not have a C of O. There is nothing illegal about this. More info, please.

Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at October 3, 2009 12:31 PM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit