curiositykilledthecat's Profile
- Catherine
- 2001
- 2007
- Brooklyn
- Windsor Terrace
- Condo
- Charter School Administrator
- Female
- 34
Author's Posts
January 30, 2008
Accountant for Condo tax returns?
We are a small (6-unit), self-managed condo in search of a reasonable, experienced accountant or firm to prepare and file our taxes. Our annual revenues are only $15,000 and our current firm wants us to pay $1,000 for their work. Ack.
Anyone to recommend for this small, annual task?
January 28, 2008
Converting 2-family + store to a 3-family
We recently purchased a property that is, according to DOB, a 2-family plus store. The 'store' has been used for the past decade, at least, as a studio apartment, which is perfectly appropriate given that it lies within a block of residential row houses. This is to say that it doesn't look like a store, and would not make sense as a store (either to us or our neighbors).
We're interested in renovating the studio/store into a proper apartment, and also offically converting the property to a 3-family.
WE HAVE NO IDEA EVEN WHERE TO BEGIN. Advice for books, websites, attorneys, pitfalls, and/or architects would be most appreciated.
Author's Comments
Thanks for the feedback so far.
8:07, what did you spend the $50K on? Obviously you wouldn't recommend your architect, but if I could at least speak to her/him, that would be great.
10:47, who did you work with?
12:02, where did your list come from?
Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at January 28, 2008 1:15 PM in response to Converting 2-family + store to a 3-family
Hello again,
JP, how can I contact you? I don't want free advice, just informed advice.
Kingston, our house is in a VERY residential stretch, with just a corner pizza and a deli within sight, so it's difficult to imagine ever having a business in the building. I appreciate your thoughts, though--best of luck with your building!
Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at January 29, 2008 10:35 AM in response to Converting 2-family + store to a 3-family
for background checks, you can sign up with Topherinvestigations.com
Call us at: (888) 444-5144
Be aware that you have to demonstrate that you own the building, etc, before you can just start getting financial information about folks.
We've used this firm frequently, and are happy with their quick and thorough work.
As for brokers, we have tried with and without and have been about equally happy (obviously there are trade offs). The more expensive the rent, though, we try to go without a broker just to save the tenant the $ (esp. since we require a 2 month deposit in addition to first month's rent).
Good luck.
Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at January 30, 2008 3:07 PM in response to Suggestions for tenant background checks?
Ysabelle, 3:07 here
You are 1/2 right. Yes, the background check requires the prospective's signature, but a responsible background checking firm also requires some evidence that the landlord is legit and doing background checks for a legit reason. Hence, the firm we use required evidence that we own the property AND signed consent from the prospective tenant. I was trying to answer the OP's question, which is why I only mentioned the later.
Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at January 30, 2008 4:59 PM in response to Suggestions for tenant background checks?
9:11,
Another upside is that you're cutting your future tenant a break. We just rented an $2,400/month apartment to a nice, young couple. We require 2 months' security, and of course their first months' rent = $7200. If they found us through a broker, that would be another $3456, for a grand total of $10,656 just to get in the door. Pretty steep.
Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at February 1, 2008 9:43 PM in response to method for renting your apartment without a broker
The cost of the AO Smith is only about $650, so maybe you go with that and try to get a plumber who will do the labor for less?
Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at February 5, 2008 6:46 PM in response to Water Heater Replacement
Wow, it's so disheartening that people with less money (i.e., couldn't afford to buy that $3M brownstone on Lincoln Place) are demonized for buying a decent apartment in a decent neighborhood. Ya'll need to lighten up.
And, no, I didn't buy one of these--haven't even seen them until today.
Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at February 12, 2008 1:01 PM in response to Windsor Terrace Condos Sell in a Heartbeat
Let's get back to OP's original complaint: the apartment is 65 - 68 during the day, 63 at night.
NYC law stipulates 68 during the day, 55 at night.
Ysabelle, YOU are out of whack (charming that you blame your computer, though). OP should file what at housing court? That the apartment is sometimes 2 degrees cooler than it should be during the day (and 8 degrees warmer than required at night)? Seems like a lot of hassle for an occassional 2 degrees.
Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at February 14, 2008 8:28 PM in response to Cold apartment
We live in a 6-unit condo, new 5 years ago. We manage the building grassroots style, with MOST of us rotating offices. It's worked pretty well, and has definitely kept maintenance down (as others have mentioned), only $200 per month.
We use a maintenance company for trash/snow/common area clean up, but do everything else ourselves. The only problem is that one owner doesn't help in any way, never has, and when we do need even something simple (like access to her apartment for a maintenance issue), she's a real pain in the ass. In the beginning it wasn't so annoying, but 5 years later, as the rest of us contribute to the running of our building, it's really getting old.
Wow, that was theraputic! Back to your question, though, it basically works--and as long as you have mostly reasonable people, I prefer this structure to handing off everything to a managment company (which can be expensive, and they won't necessarily have the owners' interests at heart).
Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at February 17, 2008 10:24 AM in response to Small co-op duties?
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
10:45 - it all depends on whether Keyspan did an actual reading when you moved in/the other tenant moved out. Did you check with them? Did you even ask them if they did a reading? Can't you read your bills to see when the last actual reading was done? If not, call and ask Keyspan.
Posted by: guest at March 20, 2008 4:50 PM in response to Weird electricity bill question
I have to chime in and say that I am a renter (horrors!) and I did find my place through a broker. Although I did not enjoy writing his check, he did find me a place with a really decent landlord. I know he has found the rest of the tenants in the building as well. Don't forget that it does not cost YOU money and some brokers do actually do some work for the money.
Posted by: Carol Gardens at April 30, 2008 7:02 PM in response to method for renting your apartment without a broker
sure, it could sell for more, and more quickly, with nice renovations, but given that it is May, it isn't going to happen this spring with renovations - they don't happen that fast here.
Posted by: guest at May 1, 2008 12:18 AM in response to "Time of the Essence" Renovations
We knew that Ysabelle finally got laid, now we know who it was-poor Leonard.
Posted by: guest at May 3, 2008 3:54 AM in response to "Time of the Essence" Renovations
Bklyn Fire Alarm and Dave-- Why so hostile to OP? As another poster points out it's not clear if (s)he brought in the offending sofa or if another tenant did. That said, can we just tell OP that if (s)he brought the bedbugs in, it's his/her obligation to hire an exterminator to get rid of them? Or if another tenant brought in the bugs, that other tenant should be paying for the exterminator? How easy was that?
I agree that both of you post helpful comments on this board, but that doesn't mitigate baseless hostility.
Posted by: guest at May 9, 2008 12:58 PM in response to Bed bugs
Perhaps, daveinbedstuy, if you weren't so continually overexcited (oh boy!!!) you'd notice fire alarm guy's posts tend to be obvious and dull.
Posted by: guest at May 9, 2008 12:58 PM in response to Bed bugs
maybe Mina and Ysabelle are roomies. Or even more likely, the same person. Think about it, one is a laywer looking for legal advice and the other is an interior designer that dispenses dubious information while looking for european cabinet makers. Curious this is.
Posted by: guest at May 9, 2008 1:04 PM in response to Bed bugs
At this time last year when we were renting in Carroll Gardens we had a horrible bedbug experience. We have no idea how they were brought into the apartment (no used furniture). I notified the landlord and he gave me the name or the regular exterminator he used. We had to empty all closets and launder EVERYTHING and put it in garbage bags. The exterminator came for an initial visit and then one or two follow ups at an expense to me of close to $600 for a tiny 1BR plus den apt. We continued to live out of garbage bags and saw occasional bedbugs for another month until fortunately we were moving anyway. It was a nightmare! As for who is responsible for paying the exterminator, both the exterminator and the city of ny (311) advised me that the landlord should be responsible. I paid and then the landlord screwed us anyway on the security deposit and I would venture to say did not mention bedbugs to the next tenant.
Posted by: guest at May 9, 2008 1:07 PM in response to Bed bugs
12:58 thanks for the exciting post...brooklynfirealarm is informative...which is what people need here unless it becomes clear that they are bogus which Ms Mina Simon, Esq. certainly is...you take yourself way too seriously
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at May 9, 2008 1:39 PM in response to Bed bugs
In a borough as diverse as Brooklyn, the glaring whiteness of these candidates is disappointing. And only one woman in the bunch is pretty sad, too.
Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at January 25, 2008 9:54 AM in response to De Blasio, Yassky Replacements Start to Campaign