kingston's Profile
Author's Posts
June 2, 2009
Excellent Tile/Grout Guy
I just want to post some positive feedback about Rob Mara, a tile and grout guy I found on Brownstoner (via another Forum recommendation). I live upstate and it was a hassle for me to get down to Brooklyn to be present for this job, but he made it easy for me by working on a Saturday. He did a thorough shower re-grouting job in about 3 1/2 hours, and was completely pleasant, prompt, and reasonable in what he charged. He has a good website (www.tileandgroutguy.com). I would gladly use him again.
December 6, 2007
Does Mansion Tax Apply To Mixed-Use Bldg?
Does anyone know if the mansion tax applies to a 2-family plus store building?
August 16, 2007
Escalation Addendum to Purchase Offer?
Anyone have any experience with something called an "escalation addendum" to an offer to purchase property? It states that the prospective buyer will raise his/her offer above other offers by specified increments until a maximum price is reached -- just like an eBay auction. I'm working with a buyer who wants to use one of these in her purchase offer for a house ... But I've never seen this used in NY state. It's common in the DC area, apprarently. DOes anyone know anything about this? Any reason why this can't or shouldn't be used here?
Author's Comments
Sorry, got the web address wrong: www.thegroutandtileguy.com.
Posted by: kingston at June 2, 2009 6:25 PM in response to Excellent Tile/Grout Guy
More cheap happiness:
gardening
listening to (local) live music
better yet, making music
a walk thru town
a picnic
un-fancy travel
good movies
dancing
riding over the Manhattan Bridge at night
Posted by: kingston at March 6, 2009 1:15 PM in response to Unemployment Rate Hits 25-Year High
I live in Kingston in a 1904 Foursquare house that I paid $152,000 for four years ago. I chose it because the interior reminded me of a Brooklyn house. I have a double lot (0.18 acre) in which I have a very productive food garden and fruit orchard. I am not in either of the two districts bKrupt mentions, but in another midtown neighborhood that is more working class, less pretty but also quite convenient. I've always thought the house pictured, which is in the Rondout section, is interesting, but ultimately kind of ugly. There are a lot of really nice old houses in Kingston, though, and many pre-Revolutionary stone houses, though on the whole the housing stock is not as grand as what you see in places like Hudson. What I like about K'town & Ulster County: affordable lifestyle, access to beautiful natural places, easy access to NYC by bus or car, small community in which it's easy to find friends. I dislike: sprawliness (still need a car), lack of good jobs (even IBM is in the midst of layoffs), lack of good ethnic food. We do have a great new Afghan restaurant. We have many NYC/Brooklyn transplants here. I actually think of Kingston as a far-flung neighborhood of NYC.
Posted by: kingston at February 19, 2009 8:16 PM in response to Kingston Notebook
Hoboken, where are you? I'm waiting for your market analysis.
Posted by: kingston at January 20, 2009 8:09 PM in response to Open Thread
Hoboken, you are the reason I read these forum threads. I appreciate the glimmer of insight into what is going on out there.
Posted by: kingston at November 20, 2008 6:17 PM in response to Oh No...
Will these people be sharing common space (kitchen, bath)? What will you do when one resident (or his/her visitor) harms or steals from another? Way more liability than I'd want to take on.
Posted by: kingston at October 8, 2008 10:37 PM in response to Turning Home to Room Rentals
HOBOKEN & others: Safest place for cash right now?
Posted by: kingston at September 29, 2008 4:26 PM in response to The end of the America's Banking system.
I live in Ulster County (2 hours north of NYC). There is a 10-year-old cohousing community (16 households) in Saugerties, and one in the planning stages in Rosendale. I have been the listing real estate agent for resales of two of the Saugerties cohousing houses, so I can tell you how the system works.
Use of the common facilities is completely optional. There are meals (in this case, not vegetarian) offered a few times a week, which members can avail themselves of or not. The kitchen is cleaned very well after each meal by teams of neighbors who sign up for that duty. Otherwise, the common house has laundry facilities (for those who prefer not to have laundry in their own houses -- but again, not required), a fun rec area where the kids hang out on rainy days, or where adults have fitness classes or other meetings. It's also available for birthday parties and other gatherings. There's a "library" room with books and a piano available, as well.
Gardens on the property are available for members to use to grow flowers or food. Garden equipment is stored in a common shed. If you need a wheelbarrow or a shovel, for instance, you just take it and return it when you're done.
One drawback (in my opinion) is meetings -- there are a lot of them, as decisions about finances, maintenance, expansion, new members, etc., are made by consensus. However, I know at least a couple of members who get sick of the meetings and opt out for many of the less crucial ones. They aren't penalized, and they try to do their share of community work in other ways.
Interestingly, a few people in the Saugerties cohousing community came upstate from Brooklyn. I've observed that there also seems to be something of a Quaker orientation to the members of the community (though the community includes Jewish members and those of other religious persuasions as well).
Finally, both the transactions I was involved in, which took place late this spring, were multiple offer situations, which was surprising to me. The rest of the market was moribund, but cohousing was holding up very, very well. I guess the people who want this lifestyle really want it, even if they have to pay a premium for it.
Posted by: kingston at August 15, 2008 2:09 PM in response to Brooklyn Co-Housing Moving Closer to Reality?
Is there any advantage to the building's being a legal 3-family, if it's legal to use the store area as a living space anyway? My building in Greenpoint is a 2-family plus store, with store used for studio/living. Former owner (an architect) said he never changed it from commercial because once changed, it couldn't ever be changed back. I never thought we would want to use the space as commercial again, but to my surprise the street we're on is reviving nicely, with restaurants, stores, yoga studios, etc., and I'm starting to think the building actually may be more valuable with commercial space a possibility. Could that happen where you are?
Posted by: kingston at January 28, 2008 8:47 PM in response to Converting 2-family + store to a 3-family
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
How much did he charge for 3.5 hours of work?
Posted by: CookieCutterBrownstone at June 2, 2009 7:22 PM in response to Excellent Tile/Grout Guy
This is why I love Brownstoner. Thank you for sharing that information.
Posted by: donatella at June 2, 2009 9:10 PM in response to Excellent Tile/Grout Guy
Yay for Rob! We've had several good experiences with him and I've recommended him here in the forums many times. Always happy to hear when other people have good experiences with service providers that I like. He's a good guy and does good work at a very fair price. Those qualities aren't easy to find these days - in a single person, at least.
Posted by: laurie11201 at June 3, 2009 5:33 PM in response to Excellent Tile/Grout Guy
Monochromaticity?
Posted by: kingston at August 13, 2009 6:42 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 345 Montgomery Street, #3O