mixicon's Profile
Author's Posts
August 13, 2009
Eviction for Owner Occupancy
I know that related questions have been asked here before, but I'm looking for thoughts on a particular element of it. Though I'm also planning to talk to a lawyer, as well. Assuming I'm looking to buy a new house, and there is a non-senior tenant in a rent-stabilized garden apartment, and I as the new owner am looking to move into the Garden apartment, I know I have the right to evict that tenant, but I'm unsure as to the timeline of it.
Can I give notice to the tenant upon taking ownership of the building, or can it only be done within the window of the lease renewal?
I'm looking here:
http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/dhcr/dhcr10.html
"Under the Rent Stabilization Law, an owner may begin an eviction proceeding when the current lease expires, but only after the tenant is given written notice that the lease will not be renewed. This notice must be served at least 90 and not more than 150 days before the current lease term expires."
So if the tenant signs a 1-year lease with the previous owner immediately prior to selling, do I, as the new owner, have to wait until 150 days prior to the end of that lease to serve notice?
Now, my hope is that this can be done amicably and that I could look to support the tenant with moving fees and such, but I'm really looking to understand the letter of the law as well.
July 21, 2009
SRO -> 3 Family FHA Loan
We're looking at buying an SRO and we'd like to turn it into a 3-family. Right now it seems like most banks are staying away from those loans. Anyone know of a bank/broker willing to work on those?
Author's Comments
3 & 4 family homes are managed by the rental income, which is normally gauged at 85%, this may be adjusted lower to 75% if the market in that area is more unstable. I've heard both numbers used, I don't know how they really determine which of the two to use.
For a 1 or 2 family property it is based solely on the purchaser's income.
Posted by: mixicon at October 7, 2009 11:59 AM in response to FHA Loan Question
Somewhat related, when a Brownstone needs a new beam, how expensive does that tend to be? Both from a materials side, and I guess a labor side for installation? Does replacing a beam entail replacing the joists as well?
Posted by: mixicon at August 31, 2009 5:57 PM in response to Brownstone Basement Beam
Saw this place this weekend. Tenant has an attidtude, but whatever. Upper floor (currently empty) needs a significant amount of work (the floor has a significant dip in it). Cobble Hill (yes this is in Cobble Hill, if think otherwise, get over it) is a greta place and has been holding value well, but this is on a bit of a boring block. Close enough to the F line to not worry about the projects, but it is the F line...
Decent place, but who would buy it without having a unit you could move into for a year? $1.25 seems about $300k to high to me, but it'll go for over $1 million, if it goes.
Posted by: mixicon at August 27, 2009 3:20 PM in response to House of the Day: 86 Douglass Street
It's definitely possible, but takes a ton of work and knowledge on your part. You need to make sure you get an extended closing period (FHA takes longer), you need to understand the property taxes (I'm told 4 family is considered commercial for taxes) at the new building code, you need to understand how much insurance will be, you need to understand how much PMI will be, and you need to have a good idea what the prospective rent roll will be (for a 3 or 4 family).
And then you have to be able to sort through all of this to understand what you can afford. It's doable, but very complicated, and while you may think the numbers will work out, be very careful as your rent roll may screw everything up. Your mortgage must be 75% or 85% (depending on if the units are already rented and the appraiser).
Posted by: mixicon at August 21, 2009 11:48 AM in response to financing SRO conversion
Evictions for owner occupancy mean the unit must stay off the market for 3 years, or penalties could apply.
Posted by: mixicon at August 15, 2009 1:28 PM in response to After Owner Occupancy in RS...
>>bkhabitant<<
We were thinking of a garden/parlor duplex and converting the upper 2 floors each into an apartment. Right now the garden is the only real, livable space, we'd like to be able to live in the building while refurbishing it.
Out of curiosity, even if we waited for the lease to end, wouldn't we still really have to go through the eviction process (with a bad tenant) since a rent-stabilized unit essentially auto-renews the lease (I believe the only requirement is the tenant asking for renewal)?
On the flip-side, I'll be honest, were we to leave the person in the unit, we couldn't afford it, the rent is low enough that it does not contribute a significant enough amount to the mortgage based on the space it uses in the building. Were we to move in and keep the tenant, we could at best have 1 market-rate unit and realistically be unable to configure the building into a worthwhile apartment arrangement.
I'm sure there are renters on this board who hate landlords kicking people out of apartments, but there are also those of us struggling to go from renters to owners (and hopefully good landlords) and having to find more "complicated" purchases to make it happen.
Posted by: mixicon at August 13, 2009 6:17 PM in response to Eviction for Owner Occupancy
>>I didn't realize you could get a Certification of No Harrassment (which I think is the technical name on the document) with a tenant still living in an SRO.<<
If the tenant still in the building is NOT in one of the SRO rooms, you only have to get the CofNH from the SRO tenants. If I am guessing which building this is correctly, the tenant is in the single Rent Stabilized unit, and (unfortunately imo) just got a new 2 year lease.
Posted by: mixicon at August 13, 2009 11:06 AM in response to sro
Grrr, I posted, but it looks like it got lost. Quick summary, tenants rights tend to be greater than landlords rights in terms of SROs and it only requires a 21 day period to become an official tenant in an SRO, so it's just painful, I've even heard of instances of people trespassing in a boarded up building ended up being considered tenants and requiring buyouts for the CoNH.
Posted by: mixicon at July 30, 2009 4:38 PM in response to 5-Unit C of O?
Note that getting a mortgage for a building when you are planning to change the CofO can also be a hassle, I'm told many banks right now just will not deal with it. Assuming you can afford it, you can get the loan for the building as it is set up now and change it as the work is being done, but you won't get the increased FHA limits based on the later CofO.
I've seen so many SRO horror stories that I am damn scared of them.
Posted by: mixicon at July 30, 2009 11:05 AM in response to 5-Unit C of O?
Glancing on google maps I see what looks like a "First American" sign, does that ring a bell?
Posted by: mixicon at July 21, 2009 3:31 PM in response to SRO -> 3 Family FHA Loan
Will any Design/Build groups work on this process for you? If it were delivered vacant, is it really legal to move into the building as the owner? Seems like the CoNH makes it such that you have to basically have a vacant building for 3 years to really make any headway. Then again, I don't even know if the city would believe you if you told them it had been vacant for three years.
Posted by: mixicon at July 12, 2009 11:00 PM in response to SRO to 3 family?
So it is legally a 1 (accoring to NYC DOB) family, but configured as a 2 family against zoning and being sold in a 2 family price range? Hmmmm, something about that seems not quite right to me.
Posted by: mixicon at October 15, 2009 1:34 PM in response to House of the Day: 295 Pacific Street Revisited