I recommend Windows We Are. After speaking and having visits/quotes from a number of local window outfits, WWA came out on top: customer service, product pricing and availability. I was very happy with installation as well. I bought 5 new windows from them and am definitely going back when the others need replacing.

Posted by: Queenie at November 20, 2009 9:47 AM in response to Replacing Windows/Brownstone

Earlier in the year I had all the cylinders changed on my exterior doors (5 in total). I dropped by my local hard ware store and one of the guys who works there just came over to my house, checked out what he needed, went back to hardware store to get supplies and then returned and changed everything. He charged me $30/lock plus cost of the materials. Much cheaper than a locksmith! Email me and I'll send you his info if you'd like.
By the way, the one time we tried to change a cylinder ourselves (yes, it does seem easy!) - every once in a while the key would just not open the door. A royal pain. I called the same guy from earlier in the year - he came over and after taking a peek told us we'd used the wrong interior plate, so the whole mechanism was "slipping." Fixed this for us for a reasonable rate.
Anyway, whatever you decide to do, good luck!

Posted by: Queenie at November 12, 2009 2:08 PM in response to Lock DIY?

While I did post on craigslist in the "apartment for rent" section - I actually found my tenant because she posted an ad in the "apartment wanted" section!

Posted by: Queenie at November 3, 2009 12:38 PM in response to Landlord Paying Broker?

On the entire first floor we had to strip about 5-6 layers of old linoleum. In some rooms, nice old wood floors revealed themselves, and in other areas (like the bedroom above) we just stripped it down to the original wide plank baseboards. Then, we just had the wood floor sanded, patched, primed and painted a few layers of high gloss white floor paint. I think it looks great too!
Re: your ugly tile floor - our kitchen has this - and I've been reading about epoxy and latex floor coverings that you can just pour on...

Posted by: Queenie at October 27, 2009 12:44 PM in response to Handy Man Recommendation (Pic!)

My partner was nervous about me posting even these photos of the interior of our house. I'm sorry to say this is all for now! My handy man, Jackson, worked over a few months on the whole house - it was a mess! He is fairly quick, but more importantly, he is reliable, he showed up every day on time and didn't take on any more jobs till he had finished mine.

Posted by: Queenie at October 26, 2009 4:56 PM in response to Handy Man Recommendation (Pic!)

His hourly rate is $20 - $25 (depending on project).

Posted by: Queenie at October 26, 2009 4:17 PM in response to Handy Man Recommendation

Earlier this year I bought a house in Crown Heights and highly recommend my mortgage broker, whom I found through a friend:

HAROLD I. DUBIN
Senior Loan Officer
Mortgage Master, The Lending Experts
102 Elm Street Walpole, MA 02081 508-850-4104
888-263-1435 Ext 4104
hdubin@mortgagemasterinc.com

Harold is a hard-working broker that patiently explained the complexities of financing my first home, was able to trouble-shoot on other aspects of the deal when necessary, and moreover - got me the best rate going!

Posted by: Queenie at October 19, 2009 10:10 AM in response to Good Mortgage Broker Needed

Thanks everyone - for your interest and advice. I did call National Grid - unless you are replacing your system with them, they dont do this sort of thing. I also called Petro, whose big sticker is on my boiler and who I buy my oil from, they also dont do this sort of thing unless they installed the boiler. But, both companies gave me recommendations on who to call, made my calls and got quotes from $400 to $2,000, but of course seeing what the job actually entailed would garner much more realistic numbers. Problem is I dont have this kind of $ to spare right now.
So, I looked on craigslist (thanks, renomandru) and found a guy who was willing to come and take it away for free for the scrap metal! He is coming this morning, so will update later. But, based on the enthusiasm with which he responded to my letting him know about an old boiler up for grabs, think this was the way to go!
Thanks again.

Posted by: Queenie at July 23, 2009 7:55 AM in response to Removing Old Boiler?

A plus: this building is directly across the street from the recently renovated YMCA. Apparently, more renovations and an expansion is on the way.

Posted by: Queenie at June 28, 2009 11:53 AM in response to Price Cuts at 111 Monroe Street

I highly recommend Windows We Are. I had about 5 window dealers/companies come over to discuss the job at hand (replacing up to 6 windows in my home) and quote. I had some runaround tactics, pressure sales, wierd behaviour (!), bloated prices etc. Windows We Are were the most up-front, honest and direct window sales team by far. No hidden install fees, etc. the best quotes, and THE best customer services by far. For example, the morning they were to come to install I called to confirm they were on way and I heard "Hello, >" - I were stunned, they recognized my number as a client! They said that > and > were on their way and would be there in 20 minutes. I was thrilled. I also received a call 2 days after install to confirm that they were processing my payment and that I was content with the job. Indeed I was.

Posted by: Queenie at May 8, 2009 8:19 AM in response to WINDOWS

I recommend Andre from A&A Chimney. Put a chimney liner in my 3 story for $2,000. Friendly, fast, reliable. 917.767.6841

Posted by: Queenie at March 5, 2009 2:47 PM in response to New chimney liner

I highly recommend Tony from Pillar to Post:
718.278.7867.
I called 5+ inspectors a few years ago and Tony was the friendliest and most reasonably priced, plus available on weekends. Over the last 2 yrs looking (and putting offers on homes), Tony inspected 2 homes for me, one of which I bought. He is thorough, spending 3-4 hours on a inspection, sharing information and advice as he goes. He was invaluable as I figured out how to budget for renovations and figure out what was pressing and what could wait. He completes his inspection by giving you a complete personalized binder full of info on the house. Plus he is always available for follow-up calls - and frankly, always seems pleased to hear from me - never irritated like some individuals I have dealt with (once they've done the job and have your $ don't want to see your number appearing in their phone!). Say the client from the Rogers Ave house this summer sent you.

Posted by: Queenie at February 25, 2009 9:06 AM in response to Need a good inspector

My two cents:

Outspoken and quirky he is... in fact, when he visited my house to look at the job he wasnt at all interested in what I had to say or questions that I had. He new exactly the product he wanted to sell me and insisted he knew best. When I inquired what brand of windows he used, he repeatedly declined to share this info, saying I should "trust him" - all other vendors are more than happy to disclose the window brands they are quoting you. How else is one able to comparison shop? He actually suggested removing my windows and boarding them up with wood (!!) for the period that he would be constructing the new windows in his shop. No thank you.

Each to their own. Glad he worked out for you. For the reasons above, I would not recommend.

Posted by: Queenie at February 6, 2009 6:48 AM in response to Bernies Glass, 1554 Fulton St, B

No, Ive actually never been to Massachusetts! Lived in New York the whole time. Harold knows Brooklyn and NYC.

Posted by: Queenie at January 26, 2009 2:46 PM in response to Recommedation: Mortgage Broker

Thanks also, Slopefarm, very helpful. I have to think this is all just plain incompetence. So much evidence of two supposedly professional real estate guys who don't know what they are doing. However, when you say "playing games," what exactly do you mean? The two worse things would be to take off with my deposit (which I understand is safe in esrow) or sell the house to someone else/hold out for better offer (most likely not so in this market, as you've all rightly pointed out), so I have to be on my toes. Meeting with new lawyer tomorrow to go over contract and title document. Going away for the holidays with this all so unsure makes me uneasy. Need to start kicking those tires!

Posted by: Queenie at December 15, 2008 11:15 PM in response to Help! Closing Nightmare

Thanks to both karo25 and HOBOKENROCKS for your thoughtful responses. You've both made me realize it's time to dump my overly polite lawyer and hire someone who can get to the bottom of this - also and protect me and my money. I've just placed a call to a RE attorney that a colleague recommended months ago. You've made it crystal clear as to what my own attorney just isn't doing, but should be: demanding for documentation as to how the seller's team are handling the title issues, helping with dillegence on outstanding mortgage, demanding a small monthly fee each month we are delayed, putting forth solutions (re: escow accounts), or being pro-active, so at the end of all of this, if they are trying to back out of the deal we will make them pay the penalties.
Many, many, thanks. I'll keep you posted as to how this works out.

Posted by: Queenie at December 15, 2008 1:38 PM in response to Help! Closing Nightmare

Susan,
I too am super curious about the 5.5% rate you were quoted for "developing communities like BedStuy." I am purchasing a home in Crown Heights and my mortgage expires Monday - they are still sorting out title issues. aarggh. I was locked in at 5.875% and thought that was good! The next best rate I can find is 6.2%. My email is queenie78@rocketmail.com
Cheers + thanks!
Queenie
PS. Thanks also for posting the info on how to find tax photos and for posting the Elkins House pic. stunning.

Posted by: Queenie at November 20, 2008 7:40 PM in response to Mortgage Rates

AWIF ~ Check out this NYTimes article from Oct 08 covering the Vanderbilt scene:
http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/travel/12surfacing.html?ref=travel

Some of my fave Prospect Heights' estasblishments:

Restaurants/Cafes:
Le Gamin (French cafe, nice garden, Vanderbilt)
Zaytoons (middle eastern, very nice garden, Vanderbilt)
Cheryl's Global Soul (great brunch, Underhill)
Franny's (upscale pizza, Flatbush)
Noo Nas (Korean, Vanderbilt)
Garden Cafe (French, Vanderbilt)

Bars:
Weatherup (incredible aesthetic, Vanderbilt)
Barrette (burlesque, Vanderbilt)
Soda (classic drafts, Vanderbilt)
Sepia (chill bar, Underhill)

Posted by: Queenie at November 13, 2008 8:23 AM in response to where do I live, and do you have any suggestions for the area?

Thanks for all the information and advice. Very helpful! We are going through with the purchase as a 1-family - hopefully closing next week. I didn't know filing for a 2-family would be so pricey, so perhaps we won't pursue this.

Posted by: Queenie at October 28, 2008 8:38 AM in response to Questions: Changing C of O from 1-fam to 2-fam

Thanks for all the information and advice. Very helpful! We are going through with the purchase as a 1-family - hopefully closing next week. I didn't know filing for a 2-family would be so pricey, so perhaps we won't pursue this.

Posted by: Queenie at October 28, 2008 8:38 AM in response to Questions: Changing C of O from 1-fam to 2-fam

Trulia, Propertyshark, BedStuyBlog.com, craigslist, and the best method to find a deal - just walking around the hood and calling all the numbers on signs that you see and talking to neighborhood residents. You'll notice that if you stop outside a house with a for sale sign, inevitably residents will come over to you and start chatting about houses that they know about that will soon go on the market. Good luck!

Posted by: Queenie at October 28, 2008 8:33 AM in response to resources for new home buyers

wasder, just to answer your question: we close on Oct 30, will spend Nov living in our current apartment, going over to the house each weekend to strip the floors, paint, etc. Lucky for us, Nov has 5 weekends, plus a few extra days at the end what with Thanksgiving. If all goes well, we will move in on Nov 30. How about you?

Posted by: Queenie at September 27, 2008 10:27 AM in response to Congratulations to me?

Thanks for your post, Lisa. Just to point out that this new bakery is actually in Crown Heights! Crown Heights - especially Franklin between Atlantic and Eastern Parkway - has a burgeoning restaurant/bar/retail scene. And, cause I am just so damn pleased to see new spots opening up on this stretch that I thought it would be useful to have Lily & Fig promoted as the latest addition to the Crown Heights scene. Hopefully others will follow... For anyone out there looking to open a commercial venture in Crown Heights - how about a bakery selling bread, bagels, etc?

Posted by: Queenie at September 26, 2008 2:18 PM in response to Streetlevel: Bakery in Bed Stuy Crown Heights

MM, thank you for this recent post! hadnt even had a chance to think about the changing seasons... the visual of putting pumpkins on the stoop really made my morning! thanks.

I'm also feeling the stress of getting as much organized (sourcing materials, etc) as possible before moving in... so to hear you say "... see what the house needs you to do.... it will tell you".... was also a comforting thought that just makes so much sense.
Aside from feeling a heady mix of excitment and anxiety (can you tell I'm a first-timer?!) I've been split as far as what to do with myself before we actually move in: part of me has been wondering how I could possibly make decisions on kitchen floor tile etc without spending time to see the way the morning vs afternoon light falls in the room, while at the same time I feel the urge to cluelessly stroll the aisles of Bergen Tile!

Posted by: Queenie at September 24, 2008 8:12 AM in response to Congratulations to me?

Congratulations! I know it may feel like you are the only one buying right now... but if it helps you feel better - I just dove in and bought a house in Crown Heights. And, two of my colleagues are purchasing homes right now as well. Turns out we'd all been cruising open houses for the past years, zeroing in on neighborhoods we liked and getting a good sense of the market. We each found places we liked over the summer, and worked with a fabulous mortgage broker who locked us at rates below 6% on the day after the feds stepped in to take over Freddie M. and Fannie M. We are all committed to our current jobs, and don't feel at all that's it a crazy time to buy. Luckily, we have each other to talk to about inspections, good faith estimates, power of attorney, etc!
I too am looking forward to painting and putting up shelves knowing that the place is mine, mine, mine! Plus, being able to have a coffee in the morning in the backyard will make it all worthwhile!

Posted by: Queenie at September 23, 2008 7:21 PM in response to Congratulations to me?

On the entire first floor we had to strip about 5-6 layers of old linoleum. In some rooms, nice old wood floors revealed themselves, and in other areas (like the bedroom above) we just stripped it down to the original wide plank baseboards. Then, we just had the wood floor sanded, patched, primed and painted a few layers of high gloss white floor paint. I think it looks great too!
Re: your ugly tile floor - our kitchen has this - and I've been reading about epoxy and latex floor coverings that you can just pour on...

Posted by: Queenie at October 27, 2009 12:44 PM in response to Handy Man Recommendation (Pic!)

Ooh... please post a link if you get a moment, thanks!

Posted by: Ghostnote at October 27, 2009 1:07 PM in response to Handy Man Recommendation (Pic!)

I do not charge the owner. Tenant pays. Some owners will pay because it will attact more interested prospective tenant because they won't have to pay a fee. Regardless of who pays, the broker is almost always working for the owner. Sometimes, a broker will use a dual disclosure.

Posted by: broker at November 3, 2009 1:27 PM in response to Landlord Paying Broker?

get used to it - that's what happens in weak markets. I'm a landlord and we paid a (reduced) fee to rent out our 2 bedroom. It's a pretty simple calculation: list it with fee and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait, or list it as no fee (i.e. YOU pay the fee) and watch it get rented in two weeks. We actually had the broker tell renters that if they rented it no fee, the rent was $100 more per month, and that's what the renters chose.

Posted by: slopenick at November 3, 2009 1:35 PM in response to Landlord Paying Broker?

In most parts of the world the owner pays an agent to find a tenant, the agent works for the owner - "He who pays the piper calls the tune." New York is a heavily regulated market, however, which results in their being a chronic undersupply of rental apartments, so tenants are willing to pay a broker to find an apartment for them. If the tenant pays the fee, the broker is working for them. The broker prepares a rental package for the tenant that presents them in the best possible light for the landlord, most brokers know the landlords in their market so won't send tenant packages that the landlord won't approve, e.g. they won't send a pet owner to see an apartment when the owner doesn't allow pets.

If you pay, they work for you. If the tenant pays, they work for the tenant.

Posted by: bohuma at November 3, 2009 1:52 PM in response to Landlord Paying Broker?

"If you pay, they work for you. If the tenant pays, they work for the tenant."

No.

In NYC, if the landlord pays, the realtor works for the landlord. If the tenant pays, the realtor works for the landlord.

The only difference is that when the landlord pays the person paying is both the person getting the service and the person with leverage. When the tenant pays, the realtor is primarily interested in getting them to sign a lease for the 1st apartment that they see and would rather dump them and find another tenant than negotiate or put up with any annoying requests (for example, "an apartment below the third floor").

Posted by: northsloperenter at November 3, 2009 2:19 PM in response to Landlord Paying Broker?

"We actually had the broker tell renters that if they rented it no fee, the rent was $100 more per month, and that's what the renters chose."

For any apartment over $1000/mo, I'd much rather pay $100/mo rent than a fee.

Also, as a tenant, I'd rather give my landlord more money every month of the lease than write a big check to a broker at the lease signing. I'm actually getting a service from the landlord.

Posted by: northsloperenter at November 3, 2009 2:24 PM in response to Landlord Paying Broker?

northsloperenter - that has been my experience as a landlord as well. Even when the renter was paying, the apt. broker essentially worked for us - helping us evaluate tenants, showing the place, etc. They want the lease signed ASAP and to move on to the next apt.

Posted by: slopenick at November 3, 2009 2:24 PM in response to Landlord Paying Broker?

northsloperenter - just out of curiousity regarding your comment about paying extra rent, when you say you'd rather pay the extra $100/month, is that because you assume you will only be in the apt. for a year, and so $1,200 paid over the year will be less than the fee (+/-$2,000), or is it because you just don't want to pay all that money upfront and you'd like to leave your option open to leave after a year whereas you'd be committed to two years if you paid the fee?

Posted by: slopenick at November 3, 2009 2:44 PM in response to Landlord Paying Broker?

slopenick -- there are 3 reasons:

1. It would take 2 years of lower rent to make up for the fee, and I'm only signing a 1 year lease, so there is no guarantee that I'll be there 2 years (the place might turn out not to suit me or I might find a better deal or the landlord and I might have conflicts, etc.). There is also no guarantee that the landlord won't raise the rent 10-15% after the first year anyway. So, paying the fee and then hoping to make it up in lower rent is a higher risk approach.

2. I'd rather have the money I spend on my apartment go to the landlord than the broker. Hopefully, getting a higher rent will encourage the landlord to maintain the building better and respond to repair requests in a more timely fashion. Obviously, it won't matter with some landlords, but with small landlords who don't have a lot of free cash flow for dealing with unexpected repairs, it could help.

3. The broker does nothing for me that warrants getting paid that much money. The broker works for the landlord. The landlord should build the cost of the broker into the rent and pay the broker. That way when the broker's fees get too high, the landlord can negotiate or just say 'no' and go with a different broker. A tenant doesn't have that option since they can't choose which brokers will be the ones managing the apartments they want to see, so there is no mechanism to control brokers' fees when the tenant pays.

Posted by: northsloperenter at November 3, 2009 3:37 PM in response to Landlord Paying Broker?