I love brick! ;)

Posted by: kissiffer4 at November 12, 2009 3:22 PM in response to Paint and Exposed brick

Thanks!

Posted by: kissiffer4 at November 12, 2009 1:52 PM in response to Hot water problem. Help!

Thanks all! Professional plumber it is then :) Any recommendations?

Posted by: kissiffer4 at November 12, 2009 12:39 PM in response to Hot water problem. Help!

I think there is an allowance of roughly 5% from the advertised sq. ft. The place we bought was appraised at 50 sq. ft less than what we initially thought.

Posted by: kissiffer4 at October 16, 2009 10:05 AM in response to Law on Square Footage?

hey stray, i may well have to do the same thing fairly soon. can you contact me to let me know who you are going with? thanks!

cfrankland@gmail.com

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 24, 2009 3:54 PM in response to Replacing a Brick Facade

Well, I think a lot depends on how the property is priced. If it has genuinely been priced to sell then don't expect to come in 20% below asking and get a deal. I have seen properties go for asking despite it being a 'buyers' market. I have also seen places go for 15-20% below asking...so there isn't really a definitive answer :)

Look at the comparables in the area. If it is listed at $350-400 sq. ft and comparable properties are in the $500s then you will have a better idea of where to bid.

FYI...we just bought a place in Central Harlem and it has worked out to be around $370 sq. Not an expert by any means and hopefully we haven't completely missed the target :)

GL!

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 24, 2009 1:22 PM in response to Buyer's or Seller's Market?

Hi helppls, I am currently going through a broker who was recommended to me. He has been excellent so far and as a first time buyer I have no complaints (so far!). We are hoping to close at the end of October. I thought about going through a bank, but at the end of the day, it is a 3 unit condo and he offered me the best opportunity to close.

Let me know if you would like his contact information.

My email address is: cfrankland@gmail.com

GL!

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 23, 2009 2:02 PM in response to Recent Mortgage Experiences?

Best of luck FixtheCanal. I have tried growing Bonsai trees, but it hasn't ever worked out all that well. Difficult climate. I reckon the southern magnolia would be ok though. GL!

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 22, 2009 3:39 PM in response to Southern Magnolia in Brooklyn?

Hi guys (and gals), just wanted to update you all. First, thanks for all of the helpful and constructive feedback. Second, we have decided to stick with our original broker and locked in a rate at 5.375. To second guess and nickel and dime every move and is not only tiring, but from what I have learned so far a little bit dangerous. They are underwriting the deal themselves and takes a little bit of risk out of the proceedings. Babs, I think you are spot on with your observation.

Looking forward to (hopefully) closing in the next 3-4 weeks. Fingers crossed and thanks again!

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 19, 2009 4:22 PM in response to Choosing Broker

Hi wyckoff, thanks for the comment. Currently, we are not locked in, but the figures I am going by are the ones provided on the GFE (which I got from each broker on the same day). It just seemed odd that my first broker was insistent on 5.375 whilst the second guy assured me he could do 5.125. Now, the difference between the two is I have gone through the credit application with the first broker who is funding this internally (and they are selling the loan to the bank later...or something along those lines). I think that is why he assured me this could get done.

Going with the second broker would certainly be introducing a bit of uncertainty into the mix in terms of going to a different bank.

Well, I don't like to nickel and dime people and you are right about the $80 or so. It isn't life or death so sticking with the original broker might be the best way to go.

Thanks again for your input.

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 18, 2009 12:51 PM in response to Choosing Broker

Dave, thanks for that info. I wasn't aware of that. To be fair to the first broker that I have been dealing with, who quoted 5.375, he did say that with rates where they are now the 5.125 rate was very unlikely. The second guy who quoted 5.125 keeps saying 5.125 can be 'locked in today!'.

Henry, thought about going to the bank directly, but it is a difficult unit (i.e self-managed, no cash reserves, 3 unit condo), so going through a single source is a little bit risky for me. Thanks though!

(Also, first time buyer and will probably look back in 5 years and wonder what the hell I was thinking :)

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 18, 2009 10:21 AM in response to Choosing Broker

Thanks all. Denton, I hear you. Nothing like being left hung out to dry at the last minute. The strange thing is rates seems to differ to such a large extent between brokers. Of course, locking in a lower rate appears up front to be a great thing, but there is no guarantee that they will find a bank to loan to that particular building.

GL Fb!

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 18, 2009 8:55 AM in response to Choosing Broker

Hmmm. Can you clarify what you are saying? ;)

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 17, 2009 10:20 PM in response to Choosing Broker

Thanks so much for your input :) I'll certainly look into the HSBC Community Works program. Would either of you mind emailing me to let me know how you went about getting that rate? cfrankland@gmail.com

Do you know if there is any sort of mortgage cap or income cap related to the plan?

Thanks!

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 15, 2009 8:56 AM in response to Conforming or Jumbo?

jumbo...not jumob...lovely start to the day.

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 14, 2009 12:06 PM in response to Conforming or Jumbo?

Well...what an interesting discussion. I wish I had found this web site earlier. We signed contracts a couple of days ago for a brownstone duplex on W. 122nd st. close to 7th ave. The price worked out to be around $360 sq. ft. I'm happy with it, but admittedly so nervous about where things will be 6 months from now :) I have spent the past 6 months watching prices drop on Natefind and at last we saved enough money to put a down payment on a home. It has taken a good 2 years to reach this point and I guess I am one of those people who just wants a place to call home. Anyways, starting to ramble...but I suppose my point is it is a dream come true to even come up with the down payment at last for a home with a decent amount of space. I think that is all people are looking for. Affordable and reasonable...not necessarily for the city to go broke.

Oh, the ironic thing is we paid pretty much close to asking. Hope I don't live to regret it ;)

Best of luck to all of you!

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 11, 2009 10:01 PM in response to Open House Picks: Six Months Later

Thanks all :) Must admit I have heard/read quotes ranging from 3k to 20k on here for a roof replacement.

se, I don't typically include contact info on here, but give me a shout at cfrankland@gmail.com. I would be interested to exchange notes with you :)

Thanks!

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 9, 2009 3:52 PM in response to Roof Inspection Results - help!

Blimey. Not sure I stand a chance at the banks if removing a window security guard puts a spanner in the works lol. Maybe I'll just have to take the 5.75 & 1/2 point :) Esp. if they are funding in house.

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 9, 2009 3:31 PM in response to Advice on Mortgage Rate

Thanks so much for the advice! It certainly looks like going to the bank directly could be problematic. They don't seem to want to touch 3 unit buildings.

Calling around to other brokers though to see if they can better the rate & terms.

Thanks!

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 9, 2009 2:30 PM in response to Advice on Mortgage Rate

Thanks bxgrl! Really looking forward to it :)

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 9, 2009 10:33 AM in response to Am I Paying Too Much?

Call me naive drbedstuy2, but I firmly believe that there will always be certain issues when buying an old brownstone. We are first time buyers going through the process right now and the inspection turned up problems with the facade and roof (both will need redoing/replacing in the next 5 years). We like the place and have decided to go through with the purchase. Maybe in 5 years we'll look back and scream (hope not!), but my point is there will always be problems that will need to be resolved. Maybe this is something you can address when you buy the apartment? It doesn't really sound like a deal breaker. Best of luck :)

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 9, 2009 9:52 AM in response to Urgent Buyer Advice Needed

Hey,

Just wondered how this went? Considering doing the same.

Thanks.

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 9, 2009 9:28 AM in response to Cost of Brownstone Roof Rights?

Thanks all...sorry, completely missed the 'brooklyn inside and out' tag! Some great general brownstone advice though :)

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 2, 2009 2:03 PM in response to Which one costs more?

Hi guys,

Thanks so much for the feedback. This is a wonderful web site and I appreciate the responses. It is certainly a condo and the maintenance is currently in the $300 range. Thinking about it (and doing a lot more reading) I can see what you are saying Slopefarm about some of these items being part of regular costs of owning a building. The windows I can live with, the hot water heater, fine 1.5k I can handle.

I guess the biggies are the roof and the facade. The roof, another 5k in five years is also not all that bad, however, the area that appears to have the most damage on the facade are the two columns on the stoop. As a newbie to brownstones, can this sort of thing result in structural damage to the building? I don't want anything to collapse! If it is merely cosmetic, we can probably live with it for a few years before getting fixed.

Thanks again :)

Posted by: kissiffer4 at September 2, 2009 12:13 PM in response to Post inspection...advice needed!

Hi denton,

Thanks for the feedback. All very much appreciated :) If you don't mind, I have a few other questions. I plan on having the place inspected. Trying to find one at the moment. The assessments thing has me a little bit concerned. Is there any definitive way to find out if anything is coming up? I guess having the unit/building inspected is the only way.

The unit recently (past year) had a new boiler installed, w/25 year warranty.

Reserve fund...as far as I know, there isn't one. The $500 is currently how much they are in the black from collecting maintenance this year. Tiny amount of maintenance and low expense building. Is this unusual for a 3 to 4 unit brownstone which is self-managed?

Re. tax rebate, yes, there is one, but it expires in five years. Again, somewhat of a gamble there, but hoping taxes don't kick in at too high a rate. I researched the non abatement rate and they are listed at around $200 a month.

So..not sure where that leaves me :) Hoping that my attorney will flag any major issues. Nothing so far, but I guess you just never quite know how much time they have vested in your particular case.

It is a truly lovely place, but if you think it sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, my ears are open, otherwise I guess it amounts to doing proper dd.

Thanks.

Posted by: kissiffer4 at August 30, 2009 1:34 PM in response to Condo/Self-Managed Bldng

OP here again. We have excellent credit and are putting 20% down and have only been looking at rates with 0 pts (to make comparison purposes easier.)

The 4.875% HSBC rate IS reduced by discounts they are offering. Their standard rate is actually 5-1/8%. So not too far off of Wells Fargo's 5.375% rate. The guy told me if we were HSBC premier member (and we are) it would be a 1/8th% discount. AND if we signed up for autopayment it would be another 1/8% discount.

I'm only a little concerned about the "convervative" point crimsonson brought up. On the last go around, we put in a whole application and got a mortgage commitment from Wells Fargo. So this guy knows all of our background already (hubby is has been self-employed for the last 6 yrs etc.) Maybe this might not fare well for HSBC and we should stick to a company that had promptly sent out an appraiser in our last go around and promptly gave us a commitment letter etc. OR are there other truer tests of competency still??? Basically yeah, we are weighing chasing a rate and wanting to be sure we CAN CLOSE on the house before the end of the year!

OMG, I won't even go into my awful experience with a mortage rep from Sovereign. This lady hardly ever returned my calls and if she did, she was driving or had kids screaming in the back. It was the most backwards, unprofessional mortgage person I have talked to...

Hey Brooklynn, how did you manage to keep a rate lock for 4-5 months with HSBC - don't they only hold for 60 days. Or did HSBC extend it because it was their fault?

Slick, you get that feeling too, eh? There is a part of me that thinks this too... Oh and rates given during preapproval doesn't really hold by the time you get to contracts, does it?

Posted by: helppls at September 23, 2009 3:53 PM in response to Recent Mortgage Experiences?

Examples of HSBC conservatism BEFORE the Bubble:

70% sold for condos (a lot of the banks at the time would do 50%)

Condo board must be owner controlled (difficult in the first year of operation)

They pre-qualify us at 5:1 income ratio while another most where willing to do 6:1. We end up using only 3.5:1

After the bubble they actually stopped for a while giving mortgages for NY condos.

If you are going with HSBC make sure ask all the necessary questions. Obviously if this a tradition house (not co-op or condo) with 20% down at 4:1 ratio I doubt they will give you a hard time.

Posted by: crimsonson at September 23, 2009 4:08 PM in response to Recent Mortgage Experiences?

crimsonson, remind me, what is this "income ratio" you are talking about? Are you talking about debt-to-income ratio?

Posted by: helppls at September 23, 2009 4:23 PM in response to Recent Mortgage Experiences?

We used HSBC. It was fine, they were a little particular about some things (they did insist on unit owners controlling the board as crimsonson said for instance) but the loan officer we worked with was pretty responsive and pretty helpful in working through the stuff. Some banks may be easier but seems like your lower rate should compensate.

Posted by: woodys at September 23, 2009 4:45 PM in response to Recent Mortgage Experiences?

Be carefull with HSBC. If yuo ever need/decide to refinance they will not allow the assignment of the mortgage (CEMA) to another bank and you are basically forced to use them or pay the mortgage tax again.

I worked for a direct lender for years and I recently left for another firm that banks and brokers loans. I'm brokering more loans now than banking as it's actually an easier process I've found and I have more options. It was really hard to leave working for a direct lender but I got tired of the bending over backwards that they make you do.

Are you getting a Jumbo loan? 5.375% sounds a little high for a true conforming loan. Condo? Coop? Multi-Fam? These are all things to consider when looking for a lender.

Posted by: Adam Dahill at September 23, 2009 7:46 PM in response to Recent Mortgage Experiences?

Minard is right, completely different trees with different tolerances. I haven't seen any Grandiflora in the area, only down south where they can become enormous 40 foot specimens.

Posted by: 1842 at September 24, 2009 1:49 PM in response to Southern Magnolia in Brooklyn?

check out mortgageefit.com or http://www.bankapedia.com/forum/
you can connect with lenders on the site and in a lot of cases not have to be bombarded with calls you can usually just ask a question and get an answer.

My guess is this is where mortgage sites are heading. The LendingTree model is dying.

Just my $.02

Posted by: dcdubbs at October 7, 2009 8:40 PM in response to Advice on Mortgage Rate

John Hlad and Gateway are the two most consistently recommended plumbers on this site. We use Hlad and are very pleased.

Posted by: tinarina at November 12, 2009 1:10 PM in response to Hot water problem. Help!

I agree with tinarina, John Hlad does really good plumbing work 718-768-0689.

Posted by: tanive at November 12, 2009 1:18 PM in response to Hot water problem. Help!

Thanks!

Posted by: kissiffer4 at November 12, 2009 1:52 PM in response to Hot water problem. Help!