y00phemism: You can't have a condo association until people actually close on units. That being said, the only leverage people will have is if they have any "out" clauses in their own contracts.

Posted by: Emigre at August 15, 2008 1:08 PM in response to Delays at 317 16th Street

The biggest problem is the high common charges.

Posted by: Emigre at July 17, 2008 1:23 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 505 Court Street

As long as the outrageously long comment posts (you know, the ones that have been popping up lately composed of repeatedly supercopied stuff from other articles or posts) are blocked, I don't care whether people sign in as "guest" or with a login.

Perhaps simply imposing a reasonable size limit on posts would do the trick?

Posted by: Emigre at May 30, 2008 10:45 AM in response to Taking the Pulse on Anonymous Commenting

Chickenoid: You have put your finger on a fairly standard condo by-law provision: No leasing out less than 100% of a unit. The board should be able to act on this. Let them know.

Posted by: Emigre at March 31, 2008 11:01 PM in response to Condo Sublet Issue

Having seen enough of these inane neighborhood boundary debates, I think I am now firmly in the camp of "who-gives-a-shit-what-the-unofficial-neighborhood-boundary-is-as-long-as-I-can-sell-my-condo-like-it-was-actually-in-the-higher-priced-one" camp.

For what its worth, that part of 6th Avenue has a few fun places to go now (Kitchen Bar, BBQ Bar), and its nice that Toby's is added to the mix. Increasing amenities in that part of Greenwood Heights/Sunset Park will only increase the likelihood of it seceding to (or being annexed by) the South Slope.

Posted by: Emigre at March 19, 2008 1:38 PM in response to Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up

Brooklynnative: Given that no Novo closings have occurred, nothing has been filed with the city. So I think Streeteasy is mainly dependent on the Corcoran website for disclosures of what is in contract and what is still available.

Posted by: Emigre at March 18, 2008 11:41 AM in response to Novo Takes a Nosedive

Yep, it was. Go interview people in Union Square and ask them if they're in the East Village. And not your NYU classmates.

Posted by: Emigre at March 13, 2008 4:53 PM in response to Changing South Slope Gets Some Ink From AMNY

3:54, the only thing "absurd, ridiculous and laughable" is your description of Manhattan geography.

York Street made me do a spit take.

Posted by: Emigre at March 13, 2008 4:33 PM in response to Changing South Slope Gets Some Ink From AMNY

1:58 -- WTF? I'm simply trying to save the OP from a shitload of poor advice from other posters -- yours included (I'll spare you the "fiduciary responsibility" discussion). If OP followed the advice of some of the posters, he would get his clock cleaned in court, and would potentially have to pay the co-op's legal fees, depending on the governing documents of the co-op.

And, FYI, I have served on one co-op board in the past, also battled with a second co-op board as a shareholder, and now am a very happy condo owner. I personally would love to see co-op boards powers to be curtailed dramatically and specifically support the bill that would require co-ops to issue written reasons for rejections. But the fact of the matter is that the CURRENT law in NY is as I have stated in prior posts. I don't like it any more than you do.

In sum, I have no agenda except to help the OP and to extend this forum post further.

Posted by: Emigre at March 12, 2008 4:11 PM in response to The CO-OP Board refused to approve sale of the coop

OP, don't be misled by that Cooperator article excerpt. Go read the whole article and do your own follow-up research and you will see that the Oakley case (decided in Westchester trial court in 1995, check out that $35.5K purchase price!)) has been subject to a lot of criticism. Court decisions approving co-op price-based rejections also exist.

Posted by: Emigre at March 12, 2008 10:44 AM in response to The CO-OP Board refused to approve sale of the coop

1:51/3:51 -- There's no listing of specific Duties 1, 2, 3, etc, in the general corporate or even the co-op context. Its just all part of the general duty to do what you think is in the best interest of the corporation (the Duty of Care, in legal parlance). Perhaps a better way to think about what I said is to construe it as the board's duty not to approve sales that would have an adverse impact on the market value of the other issued and outstanding shares of the corporation -- which is in part guarding the financial health of the corporation.

Posted by: Emigre at March 11, 2008 5:31 PM in response to The CO-OP Board refused to approve sale of the coop

1:44 - "Directly interested" refers to an interest in the actual apartment on sale, not simply an interest in sales prices in general in the building - which is what you describe. The latter "conflict" would conflict every single board member who does not see themselves as staying in the building for life, which is ridiculous. Your criticms of co-ops are unfortunately valid. Board's ARE all-powerful. They can reject sales for any reason other than discrimination (i.e. race, sex, ethnicity, etc). If some idiot on a board decides that he knows the real estate market better than a willing buyer and seller, and concludes the sale price is too low, that willing buyer and seller are fucked. Its that simple.

1:51 - The board defines for itself what is in the best interest of the shareholders as a whole. Clearly, this board felt that the price was too low, and exercized its authority accordingly. Do not confuse the quality of a co-op's decision with its power to render it. There is somethign called the "business judgement rule". Look it up.

1:55 - Unless they're tiny loosely-run operations, coop's are not generally presented with two offers to choose from. That's the seller's job. The coop just approves/disapproves the sale after the seller presents one sales package.

Posted by: Emigre at March 11, 2008 2:38 PM in response to The CO-OP Board refused to approve sale of the coop

Anyone telling your client to sue has no idea what they're talking about.

I doubt there is a legal conflict of interest here. Maybe the board members are irrational, unrealistic, misguided, etc., but they still have a duty to maximize sales price per share. The fact that they have an apartment of their own for sale is actually aligned with that duty. Right or wrong, the board has discretion to determine what they think is an acceptable sales price, and you can't reliably challenge that. Its why co-ops SUCK.

A conflict would only arise if a board member was directly interested in the approval of the sale or non-sale of an apartment (i.e. if they were a seller, buyer, bidder, or broker of the apartment).

My advice: Don't waste your client's time claiming a conflict of interest. It will go nowhere. Instead, especially if its a small building, have your seller approach the board, explain whatever needs to be explained (i.e. foreclosure risk, condition of the apartment, etc.) to justify the sales price. Have them make a lot of noise about it. The board might be more receptive on the next offer.

Posted by: Emigre at March 11, 2008 1:05 PM in response to The CO-OP Board refused to approve sale of the coop

The very purpose of a "reserve fund" is to meet unexpectedly large expenses that can't be funded out of the annual budget. The fund doesn't exist just to sit there so you can be proud of it. If you want to keep an absurdly large reserve fund intact and assess residents for the big expense instead, then that is poor management.

Assuming you continue to operate at break even without raising maintenance (and that you do not want to raise maintenance further), then you could assess residents on a staged basis to replenish the depleted reserves, after using them to fund the unexpected large expenses. That way residents don't have to swallow the assessment all at once.

You may want to investigate opening a credit line for the building, if one is not in place already. That can serve as an on-demand reserve fund, although its availability depends on your current financial picture.

Posted by: Emigre at March 6, 2008 10:57 AM in response to Our Building Is Broke!

Is 7:54 your broker? Those might be the most ridiculous pieces of advice I've ever seen.

Posted by: Emigre at February 25, 2008 9:55 AM in response to When to fire a broker?

$25-$50K for a gut reno ain't gonna cut it.

Posted by: Emigre at February 15, 2008 2:30 PM in response to Park Slope Renovation Advice?

2:56, that might be the most ridiculous idea on this board. Do people get new workplaces/residences every six months too?

Posted by: Emigre at February 6, 2008 3:14 PM in response to Pols, DOT: Parking Permit Program For Many 'Hoods

If you simply think about this neighborhood as a nice quiet safe suburb of Park Slope (which is really selling Windsor Terrace short), the price is easily justified. The same house in Park Slope would be a couple hundred thousand higher.

Posted by: Emigre at February 5, 2008 12:55 PM in response to Bidding War at 538 16th Street?

3:30 is right, except perhaps if its a newly constructed condo. If no one is living there yet, odds are that the condo has not yet been divided into separate tax lots, so no tax information on the unit itself (as opposed to the whole condo building) will be available. If that is the case, the broker is likely quoting the tax estimate from the offering plan, which is not necessarily anywhere near what you wind up paying.

Posted by: Emigre at February 4, 2008 4:59 PM in response to calculating property tax

10:54, what color is the sun in your part of Brooklyn?

Posted by: Emigre at January 29, 2008 11:01 AM in response to Pols Rallying for Residential Parking Permits

I would guess that the reason the OP for the 800K apt. removed the posts is likely because forum comments were damaging the sale prospects at that price. Of course, that price was ridiculous for that apartment but ...

Posted by: Emigre at January 28, 2008 4:07 PM in response to Today on the Forum

I'm with 12:44, but in fairness, the Park Slope hijack was pretty foreseeable in this case. The article above postulates that WT's "hotness" is related to PS overspill (wasn't that a Steve Winwood song?).

And BTW, I nominate Brenda from Flatbush for mayor. Her above shoudl be the post of the day.

Posted by: Emigre at January 8, 2008 12:53 PM in response to Windsor Terrace: Hot or Not?

I just moved there. I don't know if WT is hot or not. But if rainy last Saturday night at that restaurant in the picture ("Elora") is any barometer, it is hot. The place was completely packed and with a very diverse group of people: WT old-timers, newcomers, singles, families, etc.

From what I can tell so far, many of the restaurants on Prospect Park West (a/k/a 9th Avenue) south of 15th Street are pretty hopping at night, which is probably an effect of the mainly residential character of 8th, 10th, 11th Avenues that far south. PPW is a pretty good blend of "old" and "new" Brooklyn, albeit leaning more to the "old". That may change depending on the pace of development.

BTW, Elora in the picture is sit-down Mexican. Food and service were good, but don't get the "Shrimp with Green Sauce" special unless you REALLY like it spicy.

Posted by: Emigre at January 8, 2008 11:29 AM in response to Windsor Terrace: Hot or Not?

Bring on the Papa Johns!

Posted by: Emigre at January 8, 2008 10:20 AM in response to Slurpees for the South Slope: 7-11 On the Way

Timing a near simultaneous buy/sell is virtually impossible with all the variables like co-op boards, rate-lock expirations, flighty buyers/sellers, etc. But it can be done if all of the stars align. Having tried and failed at this twice in the last two moves, here's some lessons learned:

1. DO NOT rent back, even for a few days, an apartment you just sold. It is a vehicle for a douchy buyer to extort money from you via invented damage claims against the security deposit you leave for whatever time period you rented back.

2. To protect yourself from being really screwed, sell your apartment before buying another. Its cheaper to find a short term rental than it is to carry 2 apartments, which can be really painful financially if you're not careful.

3. Start looking at properties to buy now, so that you are in the thick of your search when you eventually find a buyer for yours. Don't make any actual offers until you have a contract deposit for your place, and if you're selling a coop, don't make any offers on new places until your buyer is board approved.

4. Once your sell-side is lined up, use your knowledge of the marketplace (gained while you were window shopping) to be very aggressive on the buy side. After a few weeks/months of window shopping while you're waiting out your sell-side, that will not be a problem -- especially because you will undoubtedly be "on the clock" at this point under your contract. You will be surprised at how much of an advantage that gives you over the typical indecisive buyer, especially when pursuing properties that have been sitting for a while.

5. Then try to stretch out the closing date on your sale so that it coincides as closely as possible with the buy-side closing. This is the most difficult part, but can be done if you set a closing date way off in the distance in your original sales contract.

Good luck.

Posted by: Emigre at January 7, 2008 5:50 PM in response to Buying and Selling at the Same Time

3:18, check your subway map. Subways (M,R, and F) are very conveniently located to that South Slope address. It basically halfway betweeen the Prospect Avenue and 9th Street stations on 4th Avenue.

Posted by: Emigre at January 7, 2008 3:47 PM in response to Open House Picks Redux

Try Oz Movers. They were first rate when I used them a few months ago.

Posted by: Emigre at January 4, 2008 4:41 PM in response to Mover Recommendatioin

Hey folks. Don't confuse this guy any more than he already is.

Last time I did one (a few months ago), there was no title guy at a co-op closing because there's no title insurance. That's only for condos. For a co-op, a simple search is run to make sure there are no claims on the shares attributable to the co-op unit being sold. REmember, co-op sales are transfers of shares in the co-op corp., not sales of real property.

Posted by: Emigre at January 4, 2008 12:35 PM in response to Closing in four days--Seller still showing apartment

If the seller hasn't cashed your check OR signed the contract, then he hasn't accepted your offer. You are screwed. Your attorney should be disbarred if he thinks this is normal.

By the way, what is the basis for your conclusion that the closing is scheduled for Tuesday? It better be something more than that is the date typed-in on your unsigned contract.

Posted by: Emigre at January 3, 2008 11:57 PM in response to Closing in four days--Seller still showing apartment

Your story is so bizarre I'm almost speechless. I 90% don't believe you, but the 10% of me that does believe you is shocked that someone paying all-cash can be so naive. Get an attorney now. If you already have one, fire them and get another one.

If you really and truly have no signed contract, yet allowed a seller to cash your deposit check, then call up the seller right now -- better yet drive to his house -- and yell "WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU HAVING AN OPEN HOUSE AND WHERE THE FUCK IS MY SIGNED CONTRACT????"

Posted by: Emigre at January 3, 2008 9:54 PM in response to Closing in four days--Seller still showing apartment

I agree with 1:06. Beautiful place, just not $1.25 MM beautiful.

Posted by: Emigre at January 2, 2008 1:18 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 10 8th Avenue

Each time I looked for an apartment it took a few months to find what we were looking for. The key is to see so many places in your price range that, after a while, you can tell upon sight whether you want to move forward or not (subject to due dilligence, of course).

BTW, you can't look for an apartment "on and off" as you described earlier and expect good results. The weekend you were "off" could be the weekend something nice and fairly priced comes on the market and goes to "best and final" before you even know its available.

Posted by: Emigre at January 2, 2008 10:29 AM in response to How long did it take you to find/buy your first apartment?

4:55, I'm dying to know where you live. You're stacking the entirety of the "5 boroughs" ahead of Weehawken????

I don't even like Weekhawken, but c'mon, you'd rather live in the middle of Staten Island??? Or East New York or Jackson Heights or some "section" of the Bronx (and I don't mean Riverdale).

Posted by: Emigre at December 31, 2007 5:11 PM in response to Choosing the Suburbs Over Brooklyn

The Weehawken guy sounds like a reasonable fellow. However, Weehawken is closer to being a 6th (or 7th or 8th) borough than it is to being the type of "soul-deadening" burb that people are talking about on this thread.

When my family was priced out of prime Manhattan, we considered and looked in Upper Manhattan, Brownstone Brooklyn, LIC, and the Hoboken/Jersey City/Weehawken/Union City/etc. area in Hudson County, NJ, as potential destinations. We thought of all of those places as cousins of one another -- not Manhattan, but still urban, and definitely not "soul-deadening".

We ended up buying in Windsor Terrace, BTW.

Posted by: Emigre at December 31, 2007 4:45 PM in response to Choosing the Suburbs Over Brooklyn

No. Someone who lives near the BQE was just feeling insecure.

Posted by: Emigre at December 28, 2007 2:48 PM in response to Six Months Later: Open House Picks 6/29/07

Tip 'em like waiters. 15-20% of total pre-tax bill depending on how good a job you think they've done. These guys like the tip in cash. I typically give the whole nut to the foreman to distribute, rather than each mover individually.

Posted by: Emigre at December 28, 2007 2:02 PM in response to Tipping the Movers?

I think its against the law for balconies, but I'm not sure how much enforcement the city actually does on this issue. I think the only place you can use a grill legally in NYC is in a backyard, and possibly on a roof or terrace of certain minimum size.

I do think its pretty rude, however, to be grilling right under a neighbor's window in a multiple dwelling (i.e. if your balcony is so situated as in many of those big apartment houses).

Posted by: Emigre at December 20, 2007 12:00 PM in response to LP Gas Grill on a Balcony

Wow, 12:31. Paranoid, pretentious, and insulting all in the same post. Good job.

Posted by: Emigre at December 14, 2007 12:43 PM in response to South Slope Renaissance? We'll See.

12:52, its really right on the border of each.

I've heard reasonable people say the southern border of South Slope is the Prospect Expressway, others say Prospect Avenue, and others say 15th Street. But the West/East border of Park Slope/Windsor Terrace (for those like me who think South Slope goes below 15th Street) is median line on Prospect Park West.

Posted by: Emigre at December 13, 2007 1:13 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 280 Prospect Park West

Don't take this the wrong way. You have no right to a response at all, let alone one within a certain time frame. There are no rules, at least until someone signs a contract.

Based on the fact that the seller did not respond to your offer, my guess is that (i) it wasn't high enough to warrant responding or (ii) the seller isn't serious about selling their place.

Keep shopping and leave your offer out there. Worst that can happen is you find a better place.

Posted by: Emigre at December 10, 2007 10:53 AM in response to What is the standard wait time after making an offer?

Went to their open houses. Building has nice finishes and the area is up and coming, but I think you can get lot more for your money in the South Slope. The huge terrace in the 3BR might have got me, though, if the price was closer to a million.

Posted by: Emigre at December 3, 2007 1:21 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 515 5th Avenue

Can we now call the bailout-beneficiaries "mortgage stabbers"?

Posted by: Emigre at November 30, 2007 9:44 AM in response to Subprime Bailout In The Works

I would ordinarily agree with 1:15's point about not needing a lawyer for a simple lease, but not in this case. No offense intended here, but OP's intial question indicates that he/she probably needs more guidance than available in the stationary store (i.e. "Is there no lease at all?" is a huge red flag.)

Posted by: Emigre at November 27, 2007 2:14 PM in response to Month to Month Lease?

A month-to-month is still a tenancy and you would have to be on crack if you didn't have a written lease. Call a lawyer to assemble one.

Posted by: Emigre at November 27, 2007 12:27 PM in response to Month to Month Lease?

If you NEED to sell your apartment, you should put it on the market now.

I can't imagine Wall Street bonuses have any kind of material impact on the Carol Gardens 1BR market, and by waiting you are gambling for no reason. Nothing is going to happen in a month to make your apartment sell for a significantly different price than right now -- except if the whole market gets spooked by stock market jitters, Bernake comments, a hurricane, oil prices, etc.

At best, by waiting, you might have a slightly bigger buyers pool because people are back from vacation.

Posted by: Emigre at November 8, 2007 3:39 PM in response to Better to Sell in December or January?

Something smells fishy about this one. Is it typical for a non-prevailing bidder to find out (i) how much the house actually went for, (ii) the number of other bidders?

Posted by: Emigre at November 8, 2007 11:35 AM in response to Report: Bidding War in the South Slope

Not that I'm ever happy to see a bar close, but when did a landlord's decision to raise the rent -- on a bar, bookstore, or whatever -- become subject to negotiation?

Either the bar raises its prices to pay the rent, or it goes away. Capitalism ain't so bad.

Posted by: Emigre at November 7, 2007 10:25 AM in response to Prospect Heights Watering Hole Getting the Boot

Its too late for this to be handled in a non-acrimionious fashion. Sounds like you're dealing with someone irrational, who you either need to shut the hell up or get the hell out. Only way to accomplish either goal, given her refusal to allow anyone in the apartment to try to remedy the heat "issue", is to initiate legal proceedings to terminate her proprietary lease. Either she will back off/settle if she doesn't have the means to defend the lawsuit, or you will be tied up in litigation for a very long time.

She might get rational very quickly if she faces the loss of her proprietary lease.

One question: How do you actually know she's leaving her oven on all day if she won't let you in the apartment?

Posted by: Emigre at November 5, 2007 3:34 PM in response to Best way to deal with an unreasonable neighbor?

If you are talking about physically decombining the apartments, then unless this is some unusually lax coop, the coop board has absolute power to approve/disapprove the decombo plan. So even if the owner was fine selling to you, you have another huge hurdle to get over.

Here's some other free advice:

1. Anyone who tells you what this co-op board "would" do doesn't know what they're talking about. Every coop board is unique and unless you're actually getting a read on THIS particular board, blog advice is irrelevant.

2. I'd be shocked if any co-op seller, not just this one, would have any interest in moving ahead with you if you disclose this plan. If you want to take your chances later with the co-op, fine, but no need to tell the seller/broker. They will just demand a premium or turn down your offer.

3. If your "friend" is same sex, you have a better chance of getting approved by the co-op, if they're cautious, because you would have a good discrimination lawsuit if they turned you down. This has nothing to do with the decombo plan, only approval to purchase itself.

4. Suggest you and your friend avoid this whole mess and go be neighbors by buying in new construction condos rather than gamble on this coop actually signing off.

Posted by: Emigre at November 1, 2007 6:36 PM in response to how do you de-combine a combined apartment?

don't use Movers not Shakers. the movers will demand over a 20% tip for each part of the move (loading and unloading). what can you do? they have all of your stuff and they can be belligerent.

Posted by: cass at August 9, 2008 11:38 AM in response to Tipping the Movers?