I guess I blocked out our whole experience. I forgot to mention that after also researching and finding out that the practise is not illegal, just unethical as coopfornow said, we did have some back and forth with the realtor of the second house and got reimbursed for the $950 we spent on the inspection. We wanted the realtor's company to pay us back since it was their unethical practise, but we got a check in the mail from the owners. Also, out attorney did not charge us for the work he had already done since we planned to use him the next time. Find an excellent real estate lawyer and not that woman in brownstone Brooklyn who everyone uses. She just pushed paper. You need someone who will actually fight for you.

Posted by: VHR at March 10, 2010 10:30 AM in response to Deal, No Deal

That happened to us twice before we actually closed on a different house on 1/15/10. The second house ended up selling for 200k less than we had a contract for, so the sellers lost out on that one after the 'higher bidder' they left us for fell through. In the end we are very happy with our purchase, but it was long horrible road to get there. We never even believed we would close on the house we now have until we walked out of the attorney's office on 1/15/10. That is how bad it was. I hope you are able to work with good honest people. That is really the only way to get a deal done around here.

Posted by: VHR at March 9, 2010 4:51 PM in response to Deal, No Deal

It’s not sleepy at all anymore since Vinegar Hill House opened. While it would be nice to actually have a restaurant in the hood, we can't ever get in since it’s so popular with people outside of the neighborhood. The environment at the restaurant and the people who go there do seem to have a sense of entitlement. So now we have cab drivers and car services asking us for directions to the restaurant or back to the Brooklyn Bridge every time we are outside our bldg.

The F train is only a 5 min walk and the A train (which I tried to take to work this morning except for the track fire closing the station at High St) is a 10 min. walk. Or in 35 min (as I did today) one can walk across the BB to lower Manhattan. It's a great neighborhood to live in if you commute to Manhattan and don’t need amenities right outside your front door. Walking 10 min. to DUMBO, or stopping at the grocery in DUMBO on the way home from the train works. Now that there is so much more attention to DUMBO, there are lot more amenities for us VH residents.

Posted by: VHR at March 8, 2010 11:03 AM in response to Spotlight on Vinegar Hill

No one lives there. Neighbors nearby have had things fall off the building and into their backyard for some time now. The scaffolding for that bldg has been up for the entire 5 1/2 years I have lived around the corner. Around the same time his bldg around the corner on Water and Bridge went up in flames. He now uses that space as an illegal parking lot, even driving trucks into the lot where there is no crub cut. Everyone in the hood has called 311 about this guy.

Posted by: VHR at March 3, 2010 12:21 PM in response to Guttman Finally Caves on 53 Bridge Street

John
917.415.8272 he has a woodshop in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. One man show, easy to work with.

Posted by: VHR at December 8, 2009 3:16 PM in response to Cabinet Door Maker Rec

Choice is about to open? They have been saying that since the spring of 2008 and the space is still under construction. What's the deal? Did they run out of money?

Posted by: VHR at December 7, 2009 2:14 PM in response to Streetlevel: New Cafe for Dumbo

We looked at this unit when it went on the market last February. The price was $1.6 then. It is very nice and a good use of space. The top floor is open so walls need to be put in to make 3 bedrooms and the back room would have no windows. So it could only be a legal 2 bedroom. We though then, as we do now, that the condo is not worth more than the owners bought it for during the peak. The walk through the projects to get to the condo from the subway is not the prettiest walk either. If you want an open space, a private setting away from the street (you can't see the street at all from the back unit) and to be in a small condo bldg, then it's good for you. But I think the price should be around what it was bought for when it was new.

Posted by: VHR at December 3, 2009 4:42 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 262 Bond Street, #2

The Sweeney bldg apt was less expensive per sq foot than its neighbors because its not a 3 bedroom. Its a one bedroom and then has 2 interior rooms. DUMBO realtors are always calling these 3 bedrooms and they are not legal bedrooms. Even section 8 apts will not allow a bedroom to be called a bedroom unless it has windows (not lot line windows) and a closet. But for some reason in DUMBO you can call it a bedroom. The only real 3 bedrooms in this bldg are in the B line which is the corner unit facing the Manhattan bridge/park and along Main Street. The windows are on two sides so all 3 bedrooms have windows(and their views will not be blocked by the Dock Street project).

Posted by: VHR at November 24, 2009 12:15 PM in response to Last Week's Biggest Sales

If the first person doesn't work out, please contact me. I could use it for a garden level bathroom and pick it up this weekend.
Thanks.
lswinston@gmail.com

Posted by: VHR at November 13, 2009 11:07 AM in response to Free Bamboo Flooring!

You all have me rolling with laughter. I used to work in downtown Brooklyn and I could see a Red Lobster or the like down there. In middle America, a fancy chain restaurant is Bahama Breeze. No one mentioned Outback Steakhouse.

Posted by: VHR at November 11, 2009 10:29 PM in response to 'Nationally Known' Restaurants May Land in 345 Adams

Stuy--We looked at the first house again with our contractor/friend who said to run away fast because the renovation the owners had done was awful. So that was easy to walk from. The second house they just called us back last week. It had been a month since they had accepted our offer. In the meantime we had moved on and we told them that. I think we decided it was meant to be not to have those houses. If we did go back to the second house, we would certainly not give them the same price we had originally agreed on. Good luck with whatever you choose. It's so crazy out there. I want to buy a house we can stay in forever since I don't want to do this again!

Posted by: VHR at September 22, 2009 11:39 AM in response to Worst Broker Experience Ever

The same thing has happened to us twice this summer. We already have had the contract and then another contract goes out to the new higher bidder. Both houses are still for sale since the other higher bidder never signed the contract. Then the sellers have come crying back to us. We had already moved on from both houses. We don't understand why the sellers would take such a gamble. We even told the sellers of the second house that we would walk away if they considered another offer after accepting ours. I'm not sure if it's the sellers who are doing this on their own or if it is the real estate brokers who are making this mess.It seems to be the brokers. It's so hard to actually buy a house now. Hoepfully we will finally get a signed contract now with our 3rd contract.

Posted by: VHR at September 22, 2009 11:06 AM in response to Worst Broker Experience Ever

As Hide posted on DUMBONYC blog:
Spike Lee is directing a commercial for Rocawear, starring Jay-Z.

Posted by: VHR at August 4, 2009 2:35 PM in response to Spike and Jay-Z Do Dumbo

We live there because it's quiet, we have water and city views from our 3rd floor apartment, it's a 5 min. walk from the F train, one stop from work in Manhattan, the trees, the light is amazing at sunset, we have friendly neighbors who all like this hood because other don't.

Posted by: VHR at July 7, 2009 3:25 PM in response to Development Watch: Glacial Pace at 109 Gold

How do you define 'one of the worst projects in Brooklyn', brickoven? I have lived around the corner from Farragut Houses for 5 years and never had a problem. I believe there are other neighborhoods in Brooklyn, East NY, and Brownsville for example who have a worse reputation for problems with projects than the Farrgut Houses, next to DUMBO and Vinegar Hill.

Posted by: VHR at June 23, 2009 3:21 PM in response to Development Watch: 277 Gold Street

I contacted the realtor about this unit back in January and she never called back. I wanted to know if it was a true 3 bedroom. Now I see that it's not a 3 bedroom, maybe that is why she didn't call me back. It's very frustrating looking for a 3 bedroom apt when realtors advertise their 2 bedrooms with home office as a 3 bedroom apt. A windowless room is not a bedroom. Isn't it illegal to advertise it as such?

Posted by: VHR at May 7, 2009 12:50 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 70 Washington Street, #9G

This happened to us as well. Getting the $ you spent back will cost more than the $ you spent. In our case, we kept asking what was happening and kept getting reassured that everything was fine. It was disheartening. A more affordable recourse might be to report the broker to the ethics board. We threatened to but didn't. Even though the broker lied, we were told that he did it because his clients asked him to lie. I'm a little confused how a profession can profess to have ethical standards, yet they never actually apply to the work that they do. In my world, when a client asks me to lie for them I say "no." I don't think the bad karma is on the part of the buyers, BR.

Posted by: stoppedlurking at March 9, 2010 5:55 PM in response to Deal, No Deal

RE karma,we consoled ourselves by reminding ourselves that the broker had it worse since ultimately he had to live with himself all the time. So, move on, you'll find something better.

Posted by: stoppedlurking at March 9, 2010 6:04 PM in response to Deal, No Deal

SL -- I agree re karma on behalf of these buyers.

Posted by: Boerumresident at March 9, 2010 6:10 PM in response to Deal, No Deal

Sorry that happened to you. Similar happened to me a couple of years ago. I asked some people then and the consensus was that it was unethical but not illegal. And the bitter advice was make sure you use her when you want to sell, she clearly will get the best price...
wondering if it was the same person.

Posted by: coopfornow at March 9, 2010 6:57 PM in response to Deal, No Deal

How and why did you do all of this before you had something signed by the owner of the house?

Posted by: jockdeboeraia at March 10, 2010 7:16 AM in response to Deal, No Deal

Your situation sucks, but did you really spend thousands of $? Getting a home inspection for a 1-2 family would cost max $600, I'd think, and would your attorney charge you his/her full rate even though the deal fell through? Wouldn't that be another couple-few hundred dollars that you've paid him/her at this point?

Posted by: GoodProspect at March 10, 2010 7:47 AM in response to Deal, No Deal

I guess I blocked out our whole experience. I forgot to mention that after also researching and finding out that the practise is not illegal, just unethical as coopfornow said, we did have some back and forth with the realtor of the second house and got reimbursed for the $950 we spent on the inspection. We wanted the realtor's company to pay us back since it was their unethical practise, but we got a check in the mail from the owners. Also, out attorney did not charge us for the work he had already done since we planned to use him the next time. Find an excellent real estate lawyer and not that woman in brownstone Brooklyn who everyone uses. She just pushed paper. You need someone who will actually fight for you.

Posted by: VHR at March 10, 2010 10:30 AM in response to Deal, No Deal

If the lawyer you are using is competent, he/she should have known to send the check and the signed contract with a deadline by which it needs to either be signed or returned. Usually the threat of having the offer pulled is what causes the seller to sign rather than wait to finish negotiating a better deal.

Posted by: CuriousGeorge at March 10, 2010 11:05 AM in response to Deal, No Deal

"tortious interference with prospective economic expectation." what night school did you get your law degree from Boerum? Hope it's not in the back of those Middle Eastern dried fruit shops on Atlantic & 4th.

Hmmm, thousands of dollars aye? It just said "contract out" You didn't say what relationship "your" broker or the other broker has with the seller. I assume that it was an open listing. I don't see anything unethical about what the other broker did based on what you wrote. It sucks but its not illegal. It's a shame that the seller didn't come back with a counter offer considering he "accepted" yours. Just shake yourself off and start looking again.

Posted by: Crownlfc at March 10, 2010 5:13 PM in response to Deal, No Deal

Thanks so very much for the feedback. To clarify:

Thousands of dollars, aye?
Retaining a lawyer (due diligence, contract prep) =$1,000
Inspection=$600
Loan Application with Mortgage Broker= $400
Refurbishing my own kitchen and bathroom
(which I did b/c I was getting my apt ready to sell)= $1,300
Total: $3,300

But this is not about recovering money. It's about 1) airing my hurt and frustration and 2) finding out if this has happened to anyone else and what--if anything--they did about it (like reporting the broker to the ethics board as stoppedlurking brought up; like doing nothing and learning from the experience like many others have suggested).

To answer Crownifc:

I did not have a buyer's broker. I submitted my offers through the seller's broker. The other broker from another firm knew the seller's name because the seller had originally accepted her client's higher offer (which fell through) before she accepted mine.

I think the point is clear: no laws have been broken; perhaps what the current buyer's broker allegedly did was unethical; I should move on and hope that acting in good faith gets me somewhere next time.

I really do appreciate that so many folks joined the conversation.

Posted by: navyyardbird at March 10, 2010 10:33 PM in response to Deal, No Deal