Need attny recs for a short sale

The city has a composting project done in conjunction with the botanical gardens. I save my tea leaves, eggs shells and veggie scraps and just drop them at the farmers market. Between that and recycling, there's not a lot of garbage left over.

They also sell the compost at the farmers market. It's way over-priced, IMO, and there's not discount for us regular composters. Ah, well, someday I'll have a yard and compost myself.

Posted by: laurie at August 15, 2008 4:27 PM in response to New Yorkers Find It Ain't So Easy Being Green

For $550K, you're lucky if the house is clean for the showing, let alone the photo shoot.

Posted by: laurie at August 15, 2008 4:14 PM in response to Open House Picks

I saw the Union St. house last week. It's got a lot of original detail and some special features, like pressed paper (or tin?) on the walls in the entryway. But it also has the railroad-like layout typical of these houses, with lots of small rooms. Next door is an apartment building looking into the yard and behind is a row of garages. Still, it's priced about right for the neighborhood and condition.

Posted by: laurie at August 15, 2008 4:02 PM in response to Open House Picks

If you're looking at houses, PropertyShark has a nice interface for looking up comps -- just link from the property report and it will do a standard search within about a half mile and an average price per square foot that is applied to your house. You can adjust the search criteria by property type and other parameters. They let you eliminate outliers from the computation.

You have to be careful, though, since all properties are included. You have no idea if they were restored, "renovated" (i.e., stripped of details) or piles of rotten wood. Also, property sometimes changes hands within families for very low prices or was overinflated last year during the mortgage give-away.

I finally broke down and got a paid subscription for PS, which gives you extra details on the house so you can determine whether to include it in the average. I like viewing by map and eliminating houses on blocks that are not comparable.

Posted by: laurie at July 24, 2008 3:41 PM in response to How do I research comps?

if the links are expired, there are dozens of news ones posted today. these houses show up all over CL.

The surprising thing is that some of the new buildings are listed with Corcoran or other agents with a much higher price tag.

http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=1216312

Posted by: laurie at July 18, 2008 11:33 AM in response to Who's Gonna Buy This Stuff Now?

1370 Dean (adjoining) is beautiful, MM. PropertyShark does not show a sale date, but Trulia says it sold for $700K in Nov 2007; not sure how accurate that site is.
http://www.trulia.com/homes/New_York/Brooklyn/sold/20813709-1370-Dean-St-Brooklyn-NY

That block has some amazing houses and, unfortunately, a lot abandoned ones. I keep waiting for the right abandoned one to come on the market.

Posted by: laurie at July 16, 2008 2:51 PM in response to House of the Day: 1372 Dean Street

This house was just listed for $750 by Brooklyn Atlantic. Saw the listing on Property Shark today.

If Mark David can't sell it for $595, how will they sell it for $750?

Posted by: laurie at July 9, 2008 2:09 PM in response to House of the Day: 1171 Dean Street

A short sale is when the property is sold for less than the outstanding mortgage. The bank writes off the remaining mortgage, but does not get stuck holding the property. The seller gets out of the mortgage they won't pay with a mark on their credit report that is less severe than a full foreclosure. And the buyer usually gets a good deal on the property.

In most states, if a borrower misses three payments the house goes into foreclosure and up on the auction block. In NY state, after three months the house goes into "lis pendens," then it usually takes about 18 months before it goes to auction. That gives the owner sufficient time to try to sell the property, refinance, or find other options.

Posted by: laurie at July 8, 2008 7:42 PM in response to House of the Day: 1171 Dean Street

5:12, to find sales history I use PropertyShark.com. They list all the title changes that include the sales price.

You can also search the city database at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/jump/acris.shtml

Posted by: laurie at July 8, 2008 5:38 PM in response to House of the Day: 1171 Dean Street

Property Shark lists it as a three-family. There's no CofO on the NYC buildings site.

I agree with MM -- this is a great area and that's why I'm looking there. I've spent many weekends and evenings walking around the area and as safe as I do in Manhattan. As the boarded up houses come to life, it will only get better.

OK, I know, I opened up the "a bit sketchy" comment. What I was trying to point out is that the homes on the block are in transition, not that it was crime ridden.

Posted by: laurie at July 8, 2008 4:26 PM in response to House of the Day: 1171 Dean Street

The agent is showing another house on the same block. It was listed as an open house on this site a few weeks ago, but the agent didn't have access. She called over the holiday weekend to say it's now showing. But the pics on the site look like it's a lot more work than I want to take on.

http://www.markdavidny.com/sales/prospect.heights/0br/2/27063TH

Posted by: laurie at July 8, 2008 3:24 PM in response to House of the Day: 1171 Dean Street

Based on what I've seen in the neighborhood, I think $595K is the right asking price, although I'd probably offer less based on the work required. I'm guessing it needs new kitchens and baths, maybe a roof and a boiler.

Also, the block is a bit sketchy. While there are some fabulous building and it's in the historic district, there are at least a half dozen houses on the block that are boarded up. Not sure if they're undergoing renovation or housing pigeons.

I saw this posted yesterday and was going to try to see it. I'll let you know if I do.

Posted by: laurie at July 8, 2008 2:58 PM in response to House of the Day: 1171 Dean Street

I was interested in a house recently that was clearly part of a mortgage scam. The house is located in Crown Heights, vacant and in need of a lot of repair.

Owner A bought the house in 2004 for $350K, then sold it in 2005 to Owner B for $615K, taking out $557 in mortgages which went into lis pendens in 2007.

Owner A is now selling the house again, even though his name is not on the title. It was advertised as a short sale for "$500K, maybe less," but when I made an offer, Owner A said he would only agree if I paid him $60K cash under the table, defrauding the bank of the rest. As the agent said "he expects to get something out of this for his trouble."

No one knows where Owner B is, but the agent assures me "she's in the picture, but Owner A is handling this for her."

I didn't feel like sharing a jail cell with them, so I walked away.

Posted by: laurie at July 8, 2008 2:29 PM in response to House of the Day: 1171 Dean Street

katiem, I understand your frustration. The rates and rules seem to have changed several times over since I started looking in February. The Congressional bill also has a proposed $8K credit for first-time homebuyers, but there's no way of knowing whether that will be cut before it gets signed into law, so I'm not waiting for that.

The biggest hurdle for me is still finding the right house in my price range. Once I find that, I'll have to re-assess the mortgage situation for whatever it is then. Good luck with your search.

Posted by: laurie at June 27, 2008 5:32 PM in response to Open House Picks

I hadn't heard that Wamu stopped issuing mortgages. I just got a pre-approval letter from Wamu two weeks ago and they have their current rates up on the site.

As for the conforming loans, the limits are higher if you are buy a 2-family home (or "duplex"), so check with the bank. And one of the provisions in the mortgage bill currently before the Senate would increase the conforming amount to $625K in "expensive housing markets."

Posted by: laurie at June 27, 2008 4:08 PM in response to Open House Picks

oh, and there were about a half dozen houses on the block that were boarded up and/or abandoned.

Beautiful, varied housing stock, though.

Posted by: laurie at June 23, 2008 1:25 PM in response to Open House Picks

I walked by the house on Dean St. this weekend. There was no open house -- the broker won't have keys until later this week.

The front exterior is really rough. The garden floor windows are boarded up and the entrance below the stoop is non-existent. It will be interesting to see what the interior is like.

According to Property Shark, someone paid $1.2 million for this last year and there is an outstanding mortgage of $960K, currently in lis pendens. Hard to believe given the condition of the house and the proximity to the Armory on Atlantic Ave.

Posted by: laurie at June 23, 2008 1:21 PM in response to Open House Picks

back to the topic at hand...

10:45 you are right. The real comparison would be all mortgages 3 months past due, which would be foreclosure in some states, mortgage lis pendens here, and who knows what in other states. But comparing properties in foreclosure auctions is way off.

I think Lis Pendens, while it's not great for the bank, benefits both the mortgage holder and potential buyers. It's always better to keep someone in their home if possible and, barring that, give them a way to get out relatively unscathed.

Posted by: laurie at June 6, 2008 1:12 PM in response to U.S. Foreclosures Continue to Soar; NYC Still Not Bleeding

In most states missing three mortgage payments means foreclosure and the auction block. In NY and a few others, missing 3 payments puts the property into Lis Pendens and the court system where it can languish for about 18 months before official foreclosure and auction. This gives the seller over a year to try to refinance, sell or simply get back on track. So NY will always have a lower foreclosure rate than the national average. The real comparison would be to look at the number of homes going into Lis Pendens.

Posted by: laurie at June 6, 2008 9:48 AM in response to U.S. Foreclosures Continue to Soar; NYC Still Not Bleeding

Thanks, everyone, for the recommendations. I just got off the phone with Michael Reinhardt, who immediately "got" the picture. He's very straight forward and I think he'll do me well.

Posted by: laurie at June 4, 2008 1:28 PM in response to Need attny recs for a short sale

Thanks, 12:04. This is fraught with peril, I know, but I like the house.

Posted by: laurie at June 4, 2008 12:48 PM in response to Need attny recs for a short sale

The house was listed on Craigslist and Property Shark. I also took a great class from PShark, where I learned all the ins and outs. There are a lot of short sale houses out there right now.

Posted by: laurie at June 4, 2008 11:33 AM in response to Need attny recs for a short sale

The price is actually lower than other houses listed in that neighborhood, but priced about right, IMO. The property is in lis pendens, which may explain the lower price. The foreclosure maps show a significant number of defaults in Bed-Stuy.

I've been looking at homes in Crown Heights and Bed Stuy for several months and the real estate agents seem to be guessing ($950? 750? 550?). While the house looks nice, it's pretty far east and the walk to the Ralph Ave. subway is not great. So $525 seems about right.

Posted by: laurie at June 3, 2008 3:17 PM in response to House of the Day: 456 Bainbridge Street

To 10:48 (guest @ 10:48, not kuroko@ 10:48), I am very comfortable with the internet; I've posting to communities/ BBS since the late 80s and have actually designed and managed community sites. I MUCH prefer to identify people by a handle -- not by their real names or professions or ages or locations, just a handle -- for all the reasons stated above.

More importantly, being able to identify a posters instills a sense of "knowing" him/her and feeling part of a community. If I begin to understand opinions and associate them with people, it's becomes easier for me to interpret future posts because I know where they are coming from. Similarly, I can easily ignore posters that are known argument baiters.

The usefulness of the Forum would be greatly improved as people make recommendations and offer things for sale or trade. How valid is a recommendation from "guest"?

If you want to remain an anonymous insider, register as anon_insider and don't put any info in your public profile.

I'd participate a lot more if people were registered.

~ laurie

Posted by: laurie at May 30, 2008 1:12 PM in response to Taking the Pulse on Anonymous Commenting

Thanks for the estimate and the detail on the lolly columns. It gives me a good place to start in deciding whether it will be worth it.

Posted by: laurie at May 20, 2008 1:51 PM in response to 3-family - how to use as 2-family?

I'm in a similar situation. Can anyone who has installed an interior stairway give a cost estimate? Thanks.

Posted by: laurie at May 19, 2008 2:50 PM in response to 3-family - how to use as 2-family?

The Nolo Press book is out of print, which is probably why the Amazon prices are so high. Their books are usually $25-30. Might be worth contacting them directly (www.nolo.com).

Posted by: laurie at May 13, 2008 12:53 PM in response to Landlords: How long did it take to rent your apt's

I'm also looking to buy and have looked at several "foreclosure" homes. I took a great one-night class from PropertyShark on what they call "distressed" properties. It was really geared towards investors who are going to resell the property, but I still learned a lot. I'm no expert, but here's my basic understanding of the whole process.

Basically, in NY, a lien can be filed after 3 months of non-payment ("lis pendens") and then it goes into the court system, which can take up to 18 months. So that gives the owner over a year to try to sell for at least what they owe on the mortgage before the property goes to auction. (This is much different from most of the country where the property goes to auction right away.)

I've been finding that most properties listed as "in foreclosure" are a bit cheaper because the seller needs to sell it fast. But in some cases, if they bought the house or took out a lot of equity during the bubble, they may owe more than what it's worth.

Posted by: laurie at April 29, 2008 6:32 PM in response to foreclosure home?

This is also a great site for finding past sales prices of co-ops. http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/property/property_val_sales.shtml

Posted by: Biff Champion at July 24, 2008 3:44 PM in response to How do I research comps?

Use a broker, to help you with the comps.

Posted by: Xander Crews at July 24, 2008 9:59 PM in response to How do I research comps?

StreetEasy is great too. Membership is about $10/month and gives you access to both listing and sale prices for properties. Still, the best way to identify comps is to go to lots of open houses. See what is out there at your price point and you'll pretty quickly be able to judge if a new listing is over/under priced. Also, what is your apprehension to working with a buyer's broker? My husband and I worked with a broker to find an apartment and she was invaluable. We probably could have done the initial listing searches and research on our own, however, once we found the right place she helped us present our offers strategically, coordinate with the sellers and their broker, and generally made sure everything was moving along smoothly. It took a lot of the stress and time consuming work off of our shoulders.

Posted by: fawn at July 25, 2008 9:50 AM in response to How do I research comps?

I find that many brokers aren't responsive to the the buyer's needs, they just want to make a sale. But if you had a good experience, maybe I'll use that person--what was his/her name and firm?

Posted by: Garp at July 25, 2008 4:07 PM in response to How do I research comps?