Mark Maimon at Universal Mortgage

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

nacho 6464362411

did a great job on my one bedroom in 3 1/2 days

Posted by: brooklyncurious at October 20, 2009 2:20 AM in response to Desperately seeking painter

Thanks, BrooklynGreene, for bringing some sense to the senseless, ignorant comments on this post.

Posted by: brooklyncurious at September 21, 2009 8:14 PM in response to House of the Day: 135 Lafayette Avenue

My closing costs were around $1700

Posted by: brooklyncurious at September 6, 2009 8:44 PM in response to Universal Mortgage rocks!

thanks all flipping all the breakers off and then on worked. I GREATLY appreciate it. Happy Labor Day!

Posted by: brooklyncurious at September 6, 2009 11:27 AM in response to Help! AC Blew 7 outlets!

Mark Maimon at Universal Mortgage

Posted by: brooklyncurious at September 6, 2009 2:05 AM in response to Mortgage Broker for Refinance

Great suggestions - thank you!

Posted by: brooklyncurious at August 19, 2009 1:07 AM in response to Runners

UPDATE: I was just approved for PMI with 10% down for a co-op in Fort Greene and am a few days from closing. Good luck!

Posted by: brooklyncurious at July 28, 2009 10:00 PM in response to Still Hard to Obtain PMI?

I just got a mortgage commitment letter for 90% financing and am waiting to hear about PMI - crossing my fingers that it will come through. Before I went into contract my mortgage broker called different insurance companies and gave specifics of the deal to see if there would be a problem with PMI and based on the neighborhood and my finances the companies said it should be alright. You might want to have your broker do this or if you're not using a broker call around to banks and specifically ask about PMI - ask them which insurance companies they use and call the insurance companies directly and give them the specifics of your tentative deal. If they've redlined the area you want to buy in you might have a problem. I've heard that 85% financing has not been a problem so if you're really worried and don't want to do 80% financing try and swing that. I was pretty set on wanting 90% financing and will just have to wait and see what happens with the PMI - I'm nervous!! Will update this posting if it goes through for me.

Posted by: brooklyncurious at July 6, 2009 10:09 PM in response to Still Hard to Obtain PMI?

Thank you, denton! What great advice.

Posted by: brooklyncurious at July 5, 2009 11:39 AM in response to Tips for Co-op Board Interview

Hate The Floors

Posted by: brooklyncurious at July 2, 2009 12:54 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 201 Clinton Avenue, #15E

Definitely get a pre-qual letter ASAP if you're serious about buying. I'm in contract on a place and going through the mortgage process now and I found that when making bids having a pre-qual letter was necessary (lets the seller know that you're serious and have done your homework). You can get this through a mortgage broker. It will take them less than a day to get one together for you (you just let them know all of financial info). If you get a prequal letter through a broker when you make a bid they can re-write the pre-qual letter so that it matches the exact amount your bidding for (if you do it through a bank I don't know that they would re-write the letter every time you make a bid like a broker but not sure). Note that pre-qual is different than pre-approval which can take several weeks. Pre-approval is the stronger of the two but I found that pre-qual was fine. Also using a broker for pre-qual was really helpful to me because seller's brokers were very familiar with agents in my mortgage brokerage (Universal Mortgage) so it strengthened my offer to have the broker speaking on my behalf.

Good luck!!

Posted by: brooklyncurious at June 30, 2009 7:55 PM in response to When to start mortgage pre-qual?

I'm using them now. So far, so good, but I'm still a long way from closing.

Posted by: brooklyncurious at June 25, 2009 4:29 AM in response to Universal Mortgage in Brooklyn?

www.brooklynproperties.com/

http://www.brooklynhearth.com/

Posted by: brooklyncurious at June 24, 2009 7:32 PM in response to List of local brokerage shops

PHer and lechacal - my issue of course isn't that the higher interest rates mean i won't be able to afford the apartment but i'd definitely rather have that extra $115 in my pocket and not the bank's! and i think anyone would admit the rates have jumped quickly in a relatively short period of time.

Posted by: brooklyncurious at June 11, 2009 2:26 PM in response to Interest Rate Jump

Thanks guys - great advice. Will stick with my present attorney and hopefully be in K ASAP.

Posted by: brooklyncurious at June 9, 2009 12:43 PM in response to Switching attorneys?

Thanks all - my lawyer is saying the same thing. First-time buyer and I think I got way too excited about getting an accepted offer. Just need to keep looking until we go into K. Thanks all!

Posted by: brooklyncurious at June 4, 2009 11:26 AM in response to Open Houses After Accepted Offer

Thanks for this - have been gathering recs for good inspectors.

Posted by: brooklyncurious at June 3, 2009 11:38 PM in response to Inspector recommendation

Thanks all!

Posted by: brooklyncurious at June 1, 2009 5:19 PM in response to Should I reconsider my offer?

I LOVE Butler Place. I think it's one of the prettiest streets in all of PH. I've been looking for a place to buy in BK for a few months now and considered putting an offer on an apartment on that street because it's so lovely. I also looked at a one bedroom in Butler Plaza - I really liked the building but the apartment was just ok. Kitchen needed a total renovation. If the price was dropped 30k I'd consider it though cuz other than the kitchen the apt. was in good shape although an odd layout.

Posted by: brooklyncurious at June 1, 2009 3:51 AM in response to 44 Butler place

I went to the open house on Sunday. Absolutely lovely details but the bedroom faces the street which made me uncomfortable and the kitchen needs an update (hence why there's no pics of the kitchen). And I agree with an earlier post - if you're going to spend that money why not buy a two bedroom you can grow into? All that being said, it was lovely.

Posted by: brooklyncurious at April 7, 2009 3:21 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 32 8th Avenue

I must admit I am so happy Mr. B started this post. I am relatively new to Brownstoner and joined because I am on the verge of buying and moving to Brooklyn. I'd be classified as a "lurker" - I commented on a property once and was pretty shocked that almost right away I was accused of being the property's broker and mocked. I think this is a great and useful site but at times it feels like it is highjacked by a handful of folk. For instance, there was a thread several weeks ago about Fort Greene: I was super-excited because it is one of the neighborhoods I am interested in. Almost half of the comments were a childish back and forth between the usual suspects about an unrelated topic. Others desperately tried to keep it on topic. I would like to see more intervention from the moderator when comments go completely off topic; there should be a way to flag racist and other offensive comments which pop up from time to time and are NOT okay; and one might consider a cap on the number of comments per day.

Posted by: brooklyncurious at April 3, 2009 11:22 PM in response to Let's Talk About Commenting

thanks to the fortgreeners for all their helpful postings! i'm looking to buy this year and have narrowed down my search to fort greene and prospect heights. i'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts on how the two neighborhoods compare? i'm very drawn to fort greene but my sense is that prospect heights might be a better investment because it has more room for growth than fg. am i off the mark?

Posted by: brooklyncurious at March 9, 2009 10:48 PM in response to The Times Wraps Its Arms Around Fort Greene

I stopped by the first open house several weeks ago. By then the cheapest one bedrooms ($450k) had already been scooped up. I thought the interiors were sleek and elegant and the exterior doesn't stick out like a sore thumb on the block. Perfect location in lovely Fort Greene.

Posted by: brooklyncurious at March 5, 2009 7:51 PM in response to Checking In On The Classic Modern

you have too many appliances on one circuit! is your a/c a window mount or through wall sleeve mount. normally a/c require a dedicated circuit.

Posted by: zberlin at September 13, 2009 1:08 PM in response to Help! AC Blew 7 outlets!

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

BedStuyTownhouse,

I hope you've finally bought a home. Your posts are becoming pathetic.

Unfortunately, you have an incredible misunderstanding of what the law requires of licensed real brokers who represent sellers and what the law expects to be provided to buyers.

Perhaps you should make sure you know what you're talking about when stating that a real estate broker is a scam artist.

Maybe you should share with the Brownstoner.com audience when you were scammed.

Or perhaps leaving out the details of your failed offer that didn't meet the seller's expectation isn't a good enough reason.

One day, you'll have your home on the market and maybe hire a real estate broker to arrange a sale.

But even if you didn't and attempted to sell on your own, let's if you'll confer on the buying public the expectations you had when you were in their position.

Think about it.

Posted by: bkemcee at September 25, 2009 5:41 AM in response to List of local brokerage shops

Call Kenny The Painter. He's done all of our properties..good, fast, cost-effective. 917-348-6758 let him know I sent you!

Posted by: Liani at October 20, 2009 8:17 AM in response to Desperately seeking painter

Try Gus - we and some friends have used him and he's great. 646 491 3226. Tell him Jesse from 391 referred him.

Posted by: jessenyc at October 20, 2009 9:27 AM in response to Desperately seeking painter

mopar- check you email. i sent you some pictures.

Posted by: bxgrl at October 20, 2009 12:10 PM in response to Desperately seeking painter

I have been using Emilio for years. $20-25 per hour. Fast and does a good job. Tell him Jeff recommended him.

Posted by: starfish1948 at October 20, 2009 12:13 PM in response to Desperately seeking painter

Pablo Tejeda came highly recommended and did a great, well-priced job for me. 917.335.7138 or 917.618.5881.

Posted by: BKRed at October 20, 2009 1:04 PM in response to Desperately seeking painter

All: thanks again for all your recommendations - much appreciated.

Posted by: slightREobsession at October 20, 2009 10:27 PM in response to Good Mortgage Broker Needed

Thank you so much for all the suggestions, everybody. Really appreciate it!!

Posted by: mopar at October 21, 2009 1:18 PM in response to Desperately seeking painter