I will have to agree with guest 1:40. Clinton Hill will continue to appreciate over the long term. Such things such as school improvement will improve with time.

However, with sounding overly pretentious, does the typical buyer of a multi-million dollar property usually send her children to public school?

Posted by: clintonhillhoya at August 16, 2007 2:02 PM in response to House of the Day: 224 Washington Avenue

Guest 3:08 - you mention only 2 public schools, do you have other examples? With all do respect, I echo guest 3:26 "what are you talking about?"

Are you representing that the majority of brownstone buyers buy because of the school district. If that is the case, why do well priced beautiful properties in Crown Heights and Bed-stuy sell so quickly?

Perhaps people buy because of school in New Jersey and Westchester. But as a whole, the new york public school system leave a lot to be desired.

I am not saying that all the schools are crap, but the vast majority test below state averages.

If and when I am (un)lucky enough to have children, I think that plan will be to send them to private school until high school age and hope they test well enough to get into BK Tech, Stuyvesant or BX Science...that is if my fiancée lets us stay in NYC that long...

Posted by: clintonhillhoya at August 16, 2007 3:43 PM in response to House of the Day: 224 Washington Avenue

OP here again...just realized i didn't sign in. gowanusaurus it would be nice to exchange photos once we get the process started.

Posted by: clintonhillhoya at August 21, 2007 5:58 PM in response to Narrow Space Living

Does anyone know when 360 in Red Hook will re-open?

Posted by: clintonhillhoya at October 10, 2007 11:30 AM in response to Wednesday Food & Drink Round Up

Try Shea movers. My fiancée used them when she moved in. The guys were extremely professional and personable. Most of all they were HONEST...a rarity with NYC moving companies.

Shea Moving
2908 31st Avenue
Astoria, NY 11106-2866

Posted by: clintonhillhoya at October 19, 2007 1:09 PM in response to Good Moving Companies

When I renovated my coop, I had a similar problem. I used Exclusive Doors on Flushing in W'burg for my door custom doors. I found them to be very professional and affordable.

Posted by: clintonhillhoya at October 22, 2007 11:41 AM in response to Beaten and chewed up doors and frames

what happened to the survey results from last week?

Posted by: clintonhillhoya at November 20, 2007 12:09 PM in response to Video: A Bed Stuy Renovation Blog Update

OP here: After posting this, I met with my attorney and talked to my mortgage person. with regards to the latter, the rates are the same so long as I am the sole member of the LLC at close.

My attorney seems to think that the llc will offer significant increase protection in the event that someone ever wants to sue me and/or the LLC. My accountant also mentioned that there are different levels of tax beneifits, the llc will more than likely incur significant losses (mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, etc.) with are then deductable. I need to speak with him further on this though...

Posted by: clintonhillhoya at January 15, 2008 9:28 PM in response to To create an LLC or not...

If you're willing to repaint your doors, you can salvage most of them through plastic surgery. We've had some really good carpenters over the years who shaved down doors, glued fattening edges onto doors, filled mortise holes and cylinder holes with wood or putty, etc., and then sanded that sucker flat; once it's primed and painted, one is none the wiser. This approach is even more appealing the first time you ask a Typical Lowe's Door Guy to give you a price quote on a 30-foot-high door (ok, I exaggerate only slightly) and he falls down laughing and explains that That'd be Custom, and then you get the quote from the Custom Door-Making Guy and it's the price of your down payment. Our house was a boarding house, so all our doors got butchered over the years, and we've been able to salvage most of them. And we never throw any out!

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at October 22, 2007 9:23 PM in response to Beaten and chewed up doors and frames

Hey HomeSweetstuy, in the name of all that is holy, please completely ignore 9:35- regardless of intent.
What you need is something called a carpenter. In this case, you need a real one. Once you've found one, they can easily patch and repair your doors with WOOD of the same species (and preferably old growth- again, real carpenters will know about this). It's certainly the greenest approach and it will give you much more satisfaction than any putty/resin/filler approach. It's not free and not everyone can do it properly, but it's definitely worth shooting for. Good luck.

Posted by: guest at October 23, 2007 1:19 AM in response to Beaten and chewed up doors and frames

Thank you all for your answers. 1:19 -do you happen to have any recs for a real carpenter. We have been working with one for a bit but he is young and maybe not as REAL as he pretends to be. And Brenda--Thank for the inspiration--always enjoy your posts.

Posted by: HomeSweetstuy at October 23, 2007 9:07 AM in response to Beaten and chewed up doors and frames

We're in the same boat with our front doors. Can anyone please recommend the name and number of a carpenter?

Posted by: guest at October 23, 2007 3:06 PM in response to Beaten and chewed up doors and frames

Moving Your Way gave me a fair estimate, showed up right on time, and when it came time to pay there were no surprises! I highly recommend them.

Posted by: Peggy__l at November 21, 2007 11:18 AM in response to Good Moving Companies

We had a great experience with Moving Your Way. I had no idea what to expect so I asked them to come to my apartment and they gave me very reasonable estimate. They brought me boxes, packing paper and whatever supplies I needed. We're renovating, so I'll be using them again soon for sure!

Posted by: K_Stein at November 23, 2007 6:31 AM in response to Good Moving Companies

I chose to buy my 3 family house as a LLC. I did this only because I am in a high risk profession (obstetrics) and want to keep my personal assests protected.
Unless you have a compelling reason I would avoid an LLC. Everything costs significantly more - homeowners insurance, cost to create and maintain LLC, and less tax benefit!

Posted by: guest at January 16, 2008 12:12 PM in response to To create an LLC or not...

The only thing I would worry about is losing the capital gains exemption when/if you sell. Unless you really think there are people out for your money, just get an umbrella policy.

Posted by: slick at January 16, 2008 12:24 PM in response to To create an LLC or not...

to 12:24pm and OP

If you can tie your homeowners and car insurance together with the same insurance company, they will gladly give it to you.

You will save a bundle in addition to the umbrella policy being inexpensive.

Posted by: Ysabelle at January 16, 2008 5:15 PM in response to To create an LLC or not...

Did anyone mention you can do a 1031 when you sell.

www.1031.org

Posted by: Ysabelle at January 16, 2008 5:32 PM in response to To create an LLC or not...