Thanks, all. I NEVER thought of the insurance issues that could arise.

If we were to go through the process of converting to a legal two family, how long does that take, approximately? I have no idea how much it costs to hire an architect to draw plans and what the other related steps and costs are.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at November 12, 2009 2:24 PM in response to 2-family vs single?

Thanks, guys. Good to know.

Believe it or not, I found it on ebay. The only catch was that you have to pick it up yourself in PA = about a three hour drive.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 19, 2009 5:05 PM in response to Cost to Fabricate Granite

Welcome to NY!!! I'm from MN, too. There are actually a lot of us out here and sometime next spring I'm going to try to recruit a bunch of us for a cocktail party at our place in Stuyvesant Heights.

Good luck.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 18, 2009 5:57 PM in response to ConEd newbie bill question

We used David Roma and loved working with him. He answered all of our silly, first-time buyer questions, was not pushy at all, and he was available for us after hours - nights, weekends. Can't recommend him highly enough. Tell him Andrea and Anthony sent you.
(516) 358-6500 - ofc

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 18, 2009 11:30 AM in response to Good Mortgage Broker Needed

Probably a dumb question but do they change the houses that are on the tour from year to year? I've gone on the BS house tour once before and it was great but I don't think I would do it again if it were the same homes again. Anyone know???

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 16, 2009 6:45 PM in response to House Tour Double-Shot This Weekend

Call our MB, David Roma. He specializes in FHA loans and is SO helpful and patient. He's wonderful, not pushy and available to answer any questions you may have after hours on his cell. Can't say enough good about him. Tell him Andrea and Anthony sent you.

(516) 753-6090 ext 230

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 7, 2009 5:39 PM in response to FHA Loan Question

In any economy, this one in particular, $20-25k is a lot of money.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 5, 2009 1:35 PM in response to Contractor Estimates

Forgot to add link: http://www.iswesttile.com/

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 5, 2009 12:57 PM in response to Contractor Estimates

I wouldn't work with anyone that gave an estimate with no breakdown of the costs.

Why don't you call All Renovation and have them come and take a look? They have one of the best reputations in the industry. We did not work with them because we ended up going with a different house but they came out and gave us an estimate on a job which seemed really fair.

It sounds like the contractor who gave you the 35k bid will be sourcing the materials for you. Check out the link below. This place is a tile importer/distributer located in NJ. We are going out there next weekend because they were selling the exact same Calcutta basket weave tile for $11.95 sf that we saw at a very reputable retailer for $48/sf.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 5, 2009 12:55 PM in response to Contractor Estimates

Thanks everyone.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 4, 2009 11:25 AM in response to TV Above Working Fireplace?

Are you kidding? You made it sound like they are still living there and not paying rent. Let it go and move on.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 1, 2009 8:21 PM in response to Non-Payment of Rent

In addition to my last post - prices are lower in BS than in CH, too. On the negative side of BS, there is a lack of amenities but if you have a car it won't be a problem. I think this is changing though and the area will be more competitive in the next couple of years.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 1, 2009 6:03 PM in response to Clinton Hill/Bed Stuy

I personally like BS better than Clinton Hill for a couple of reasons. BS feels more like a community because of the brownstones and lack of multi-family apartment buildings. Also, we used to live in CH on the G line which I'm convinced is the worst train in the transit system. If you want to take the subway home after rush hour, you could wait up to 30 minutes and those stations are desolate sometimes. Lastly, depending on where you would look in CH, you will notice that the public housing there are like little cities - they are HUGE!! The public housing in BS doesn't have the same presence that it does in CH.

Good luck and like everyone else is telling you, get out there and walk around to see what feels right for you.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 1, 2009 5:57 PM in response to Clinton Hill/Bed Stuy

OP - great questions.

If one were to do the background checks themselves - LT court, credit, criminal - is there one place that you can go to to do this on your behalf?

Thanks.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 1, 2009 5:32 PM in response to Advice on Finding Tenant

You cannot buy a co-op with FHA though, only condo or 1-4 family home.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 1, 2009 3:06 PM in response to Downpayment as a Gift

FHA loans allow you to receive your DP as a gift. If you are "cash poor" you can also ask for a 6% sellers concession which will cover your closing costs and allow you to buy your mortgage rate down a little bit.

Call David Roma, our mortgage broker who specializes in FHA loans. He won't put any pressure on you at all which is why we decided to work with him over anyone else. Tell him Andrea and Anthony sent you.

(516) 753-6090 ext 230

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 1, 2009 3:04 PM in response to Downpayment as a Gift

Janus: Just want to mention that if you do proceed with eviction proceedings right away, this will be on their record for the next landlord who may search LT court records and decide against accepting them and therefore taking them off your hands. I would start with a strongly-worded letter from an attorney.

Or, is there a way to embarrass them into paying? For example, if they have an Assistant who answers their phones at the office or if calls go through a switchboard, leave a detailed message about you needing to collect all of the back rent that they owe you or you will begin legal proceedings.

Just a thought - not a very mature one but it may work.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at October 1, 2009 12:30 PM in response to Non-Payment of Rent

Have you tried Gracious Home? they seem to have everything.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at September 30, 2009 11:26 AM in response to Cabinet Pulls

Bkrules: question for you. Did you pay the fee or did you have the tenants pay the fee? Also, what was the fee if you don't mind me asking. We are in SH and will have an apartment for rent and am just wondering what landlords do in respect to the fee.

Thanks.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at September 29, 2009 2:28 PM in response to Can you recommend a great agent?

My friend's uncle is at Corcoran and a super nice guy. He lives in CH so he knows both areas very, very well. He's wonderful. I don't have his contacts but you can look him up on Corcoran's site. His name is Greg Todd.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at September 29, 2009 2:04 PM in response to Can you recommend a great agent?

Just a thought - there are a lot of student designers that would maybe work with you for a discounted rate so they could have something to add to their portfolio. They probably would not be able to get you discounts but if you are only talking about layout, etc, that wouldn't hurt your bottom line.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at September 23, 2009 2:35 PM in response to Interior designers?

I saw have them take care of the issue. Give them a list of two or three companies to choose from to ensure they use a reputable company - write this in the contract. If you were in their position, you would find the cheapest place to do it - we all would.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at September 23, 2009 2:17 PM in response to Asbestos Removal Question

I had an EXCEPTIONAL experience with a gentleman named David Roma at East Coast Capital - he's a mortgage broker. He is always available to answer any questions and will hold your hand through the entire process. He's not at all pushy which I really liked. It's definitely worth giving him a call - 877-781-7788. Tell him Andrea and Anthony sent you.

I highly doubt that you would get a rate of 4.875 without buying the points down. If you are purchasing with a seller's concession, no money can be left on the table so you could use any difference to buy down the points - that's what we did and it saved us about $200/month.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at September 23, 2009 2:13 PM in response to Recent Mortgage Experiences?

I've been told that the reason asbestos has to be handled the way it is is to protect the contractors. With continued exposure, a person can develop health problems such as mesothelioma, etc. Obviously it needs to be cleaned up properly because you wouldn't want it circulating in your home but chances are your home is heated with steam, not vents. This is why there are so many cases of people that cleaned up after 9/11 being terminally ill - it was continued exposure. I found this place online that will come and give a free estimate - maybe try calling them.

http://www.adalexgroup.net/

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at September 23, 2009 12:34 PM in response to Asbestos Removal Question

I know - it's Mike Corley. He's a total dirt ball. The guy works on his own schedule and expects you to deal with it. Amazed he's still in business the way he works. Hopefully this will discourage people from working with him or anyone else in his firm.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at September 22, 2009 11:12 AM in response to Worst Broker Experience Ever

Whatever you do, avoid Corley Realty. The owner, Mike Corley, is completely unethical, unprofessional and a scam artist. Wish I had known that before working with him.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at September 21, 2009 4:55 PM in response to List of local brokerage shops

We visited Decatur and the house is a mess. The wiring is a total fire-hazard. On the parlor floor they have an outlet sticking out from one of the fireplace mantels - not a typo. Plumbing is also in horrible shape. When you go to the back yard, the neighbor two doors down built this horrible trailor-looking thing. Needs to go down again - even for this block.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at September 20, 2009 10:47 PM in response to Open House Picks

Get pre-approved for an FHA loan. The minimum DP is 3.5% and they allow up to a 6% sellers concession which will cover your closing costs. Minimum MIDDLE credit score is 620. When you are ready to start looking, you must tell your agent because a lot of condo buildings have minimum DP requirements of 10% and you don't want to waste their time or yours.

Good luck.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at September 18, 2009 1:39 PM in response to First-time Home Buyer

You could always buy down the points to get to 5.125 from 5.375. If you have a sellers concession, you cannot leave any of those funds on the table once you close. Actual closing costs are around 4% even though everyone says 6%. That will likely leave you with enough money to buy your rate down to what the other guy says - he has not collected supporting documentation or run your credit and is probably saying whatever he can to get your business. With a tricky situation like what you are buying into, it seems like you are splitting hairs and may risk losing the condo and perhaps your DP over this.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at September 18, 2009 1:31 PM in response to Choosing Broker

I can't believe that anyone actually had a good experience with Corley Realty. They are HORRIBLE, particularly, Mike Corley, the owner. When you look at their website or call their office, they refer to themselves as "the best experience in real estate" They should change it to "the worst experience in real estate." Both buyers and sellers beware of this cut-rate shop.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at September 17, 2009 12:13 PM in response to Help Finding a Good Bklyn Broker

To clarify, I'm looking for cost estimates to make this repair.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at August 26, 2009 5:27 PM in response to Repairing Frozen/Burst Pipes

What are you asking?

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at August 25, 2008 1:03 PM in response to Fireplace Surround

Call Bill Bianco Jr at Bianco & Bianco - 718-366-2600. He is fantastic. He's not the sort of attorney that just says sign here and here and asks for his check. He will protect you and hold your hand through the process. For a townhouse, he charges $1000 to close. I'm not sure if it would be the same for a co-op. Please do yourself a favor and call him.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at August 23, 2008 4:00 PM in response to RE Attorney Recommendation

If anyone knows where Kathia went and has her contact details, please post them.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at July 30, 2008 4:27 PM in response to Need Referral for 203k loan

Just stay away from Alphonso Gill at Wells Fargo - he has a horrible reputation.

Check out 203k loans, they are purchase + reno loans and could be what Wells Fargo offers. These I believe are FHA loans.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at July 19, 2008 6:31 PM in response to Financing? How do you do it?

The guy from Prospect Architecture will do one free walk through and his work is amazing but expensive. Pietro at All Renovation is really good as well and a little less expensive. There are definately cheaper guys out there but you might as well do it right the first time and these guys will do that.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at January 31, 2008 11:44 PM in response to need help on a renovation in Greenpoint

I like mortgage-calc.com

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at January 31, 2008 10:48 PM in response to mortgage calculator

OP here

Thanks, 10:12 we are not bad people but it is hard to save 100k to buy your first home when we are paying off NYU and Princeton student loans since we funded our education ourselves as we are both from lower middle class families. Appreciate the comment.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at January 31, 2008 10:44 PM in response to Is 3% down on a 3-family, 700k possible?

OP here - I looked on ACRIS and I could not find info on liens but it was somewhat difficult to figure out if I was looking in the right place.

Any other suggestions? I definately want to figure this out before we get stuck in a contract and before I spend $1000 on inspections and whatever else for an attorney.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at January 30, 2008 3:57 PM in response to How do you find out if property has liens?

OP here - thanks all for your comments.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at January 2, 2008 8:28 PM in response to Renovation Question

Go with Parkway - they are the best. I found them on this website and have been very happy.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at December 28, 2007 12:08 AM in response to TERMITES????

OP - out of curiousity, is this house on Decatur?

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at November 25, 2007 2:43 PM in response to Termites! How bad are they??

OP here.

Thank you for your feedback.

We had our own inspector who found all of the problems with the work that was done and based on these findings, we wanted our contractor to come in and come up with an estimate to repair the damage the owner had done in hiring unskilled labor trying to save a buck or two. The home luckily is not structurally unsafe but there is about 10k (a guess until I receive my estimate) of damage to un-do.

I should have mentioned that the property has been on the market so long because the owner had it listed with another company who had it way overpriced so they just recently switched to the broker who told me the owner was doing me a favor who lowered the price to where it should be. We, however, are not being represented by a broker in this process.

We love the house, the location which is why we want to continue. We made an offer on the spot at the open house and have only been back for the inspection and the walk through with the contractor and we feel like we are being bullied.

Thanks guys - I do feel a little better. I was made to feel like I was doing something unethical in asking for this.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at November 25, 2007 12:10 PM in response to Is it unreasonable to have a Contractor walk through before contract to determine damage by unlicensed workers owner hired?

4-6% at least and depending on how much you are putting down, you may have to pay PMI which some lenders require you pay up front. It all depends on who you bank with. We were all set to go with Wells Fargo when they gave us a good faith estimate on closing costs of 49k on a 550k home. They tried to slip in 14.5k on PMI in advance so we told them to forget it. It all worked out for the best as we are first time buyers and ended up working with Bank of America which has a program for first time buyers that covers alot of the closing costs but they charge 4%. I liked Bank of America far better than Wells Fargo and that has nothing to do with the numbers WF threw at us - I found them to be much, much more professional and helpful in the process. We worked with a woman named Margaret Rivera - 212-503-7234.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at November 16, 2007 5:11 PM in response to closing costs

OP here,

Thank you for your recommendations, 11:11 and 12:13.

2:05, thank you so much for all of your input. I have to be honest, the recommendations I have received so far from real estate people have been less than stellar upon inspection of seeing work they have done for others. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder but it drives me nuts to see things like holes that were cut too large for recessed lighting, cabinet doors that are slightly off line, etc. I guess I feel like if I am going to spend my hard-earned money, I want it to be perfect.

I really appreciate the numbers you provided, it really helps to put things into place for us. Bases on the amount of damage done by previous owner, I am adding 10k into the budget to any estimates we get for the work - I cannot tell you how much damage the people did behind the walls, clearly they used someone who is not licensed.

Thanks guys and I look forward to seeing more posts from the community.

Posted by: bedstuytownhouse at November 16, 2007 2:41 PM in response to New Bathroom with skylight questions

Chmod, my bldg requires a contractor to be licensed and insured but I don't think I'll need a permit since I'm not doing any structural work. The bids do incl insurance costs.

Isaacly, do you have someone who did your work whom you would recommend?

Posted by: pampers28 at October 5, 2009 10:33 PM in response to Contractor Estimates

pampers28, I highly recommend transcend construction 718-851-1140. I was recommended to them here on the forum.

The experience was friendly, efficient and professional from beginning to end.

Posted by: isaacly at October 6, 2009 6:52 AM in response to Contractor Estimates

Thanks for the referral and kind words Rick but I'm not with Approved any longer. You can reach me at my new office at 212-351-8020 or my new work email. adahill AT wcslending.com

Posted by: Adam Dahill at October 18, 2009 5:02 PM in response to Good Mortgage Broker Needed

@Rick and @Andrea: Many thanks for your recommendations! I will contact David and Adam. @Adam: I'll speak to you soon.

Posted by: slightREobsession at October 18, 2009 7:11 PM in response to Good Mortgage Broker Needed

I had the BEST GUY EVER. I was a small-time client with no big payout and he treated me like I was supremely important - always was available or got back to me right away, answered all of my questions promptly no matter how small or unimportant-seeming, and once all was said and done he even sent me off with a bottle of his home-made wine that was actually great. I recommend him as a good broker and as a good person:

Jim Kroll
Asst. Vice President
Apple Mortgage Corp.
19 West 44th Street, Suite 1514
New York, New York, 10036
212-221-6666 x111 -tel
212-596-0444 -fax
917-568-3368 -cell

Posted by: Ghostnote at October 18, 2009 10:02 PM in response to Good Mortgage Broker Needed

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

My name is Craig and I'm a Loan Officer. I would be happy to get you some information. I work directly for a bank, I am not a broker. I have an Unconditional Direct Endorement Approval from the US Dept of Housing and Urban Developement and can help you with FHA finacing.

Craig Goldberg
Sr. Mortgage Consultant
ICG - InterContinental Capital Group
55 East 59th Street, 4th Floor
NY, NY 10022
212.485.9674 (Direct)
646.786.4983 (Fax)
www.icghome.com

Posted by: craigd275 at October 19, 2009 1:24 PM in response to Good Mortgage Broker Needed

Not trying to throw cold water on your hot find, but. . .

What kind of granite is this?
What makes you think the price is "incredible"?
How big is the slab?
Will you have navigation issues with it, once you get it to back to your site in Brooklyn?
How do you intend to transport it back to Brooklyn?
Do you know how to check for cracks, fissures and other possible slab defects? (All are not immediately obvious)

Just a couple of additional considerations besides the matter of trying to find a fabricator is neither the supplier nor installer.

Good luck!

Posted by: Brooklynista at October 19, 2009 6:05 PM in response to Cost to Fabricate Granite

this seems like a stupid idea...you have no idea of the quality of the slab that you are buying, and will pay endlessly to get it made into your counter top..kind of like saying that you have a great deal on copper and want to make your own pipes

Posted by: eman1234 at October 19, 2009 9:39 PM in response to Cost to Fabricate Granite

Mark Maimon at Universal Mortgage

Posted by: brooklyncurious at October 20, 2009 2:23 AM in response to Good Mortgage Broker Needed