Someone buying a residence for $1mm probably would probably have more 300-400K in cash, not $1mm. That hardly qualifies as "rich" in this city, just as $1mm will not buy you a "mansion." And--are you suggesting the OP should pay $1,000,001 to enjoy the privilege of refilling our city's coffers to the tune of $10,000?

Everyone loves to tax someone else.

Posted by: woodys at November 11, 2009 1:57 PM in response to Mansion Tax

Wait, this place is in New York?

Posted by: woodys at October 20, 2009 2:28 PM in response to StreetLevel: Store for Dudes Opens in the Slope

I hate this line of thinking that because you live in "New York" you have to tolerate any kind of quality of life destroying crap that's dished out to you. I think most reasonable people would agree that yelling at a few people chatting over a cigarette at a not-too-late hour on a Friday night is out of line, but I think the same reasonable people would also agree that blasting music past midnight on a Sunday night is obnoxious.

Posted by: woodys at September 28, 2009 12:59 PM in response to Noise Recourse?

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?

you should get more than 3% on your cash if inflation is running at 5%....

petebklyn raises an interesting point--if you're just going to keep the extra money in a money market it probably makes sense to instead put it towards the mortgage. If you're an Warren Buffet level investment genius then there's almost no question you should invest the cash and not prepay the mortgage.

Everyone must be really bored for this thread to get so many posts.

Posted by: woodys at September 16, 2009 3:56 PM in response to Pay Back Mortage or Not?

Also I think 20% down is pretty lenient relative to most countries--in some countries you need like 50% down--and just about everywhere else in the world you cant get a fixed rate mortgage.

Posted by: woodys at September 15, 2009 1:13 PM in response to New Rules for First-time Home Buyers

DH, the difference is the bank doesnt want to own the real estate and take the price risk in the apartment itself--which is why they want the 20% down, to give them a cushion to do exactly what you say--grab the apt, turn around and sell it. if the mkt isnt moving they should come out basically whole (transaction costs etc would eat up pretty much the whole 20%). A landlord/owner in theory wants to take on the price risk or upside...and is willing to deal with the hassle of housing court

Posted by: woodys at September 15, 2009 1:05 PM in response to New Rules for First-time Home Buyers

We used HSBC direct, they were pretty good. Definitely check with whoever you bank with, often they'll give you a discounted rate if you also have your checking/savings accounts with them.

Posted by: woodys at September 10, 2009 12:59 PM in response to Advice on Mortgage Rate

I read the excerpt you can read on Amazon. Looks horrible. Also have read her NY Mag columns--or as much as I could read w/o gagging, and some of the crap she'd write in the NY Press or whatever it was. Agree with Rob, she's way overrated, just a bad annoying writer who exaggerates everything for attention.

Also: Not everyone in Park Slope is forced to belong to the damn co-op! Just walk down the street to Union Market...

Posted by: woodys at September 10, 2009 12:51 PM in response to Sitting Down with Prospect Park West Penner

hey randi how many bikers obey traffic laws? That's what I thought. stfu.

I nominate for worst bike lane in the city: 9th street in vicinity of 3rd/2nd ave. Just retarded.

Posted by: woodys at September 9, 2009 1:05 PM in response to Possible Perils of the Sands Street Bike Path

you wouldnt necessarily need to make the information non-public but you could restrict access, maybe make it only accesible with a username for which you'd need to provide your real name address etc. SOMEthing to lower the profile a bit, maybe also make it possible to trace who's accessed the documents, but still allow access to those that legitimately need it.

Also, I can see why some information is helpful to have online--like sale price etc--but why do we need the full mortgage document, amount borrowed, rate, etc? Like the unfortunate fellow that began this thread I think most people are unaware all this is online for any jerk to see (as is an image of signature on all documents, lovely that that's in the public domain).

Speaking of people contacting you out of the woodwork, I know we started getting all kinds of insurance offers (disability, life) right after we bought our place that referenced the fact that we were new homeowners...

Posted by: woodys at September 3, 2009 3:44 PM in response to Blockshopper

Personally I think we need to revisit some of the documents that are made available with no restriction over the internet--in particular ACRIS. Not sure why the entire world needs to be able to see my mortgage online. But, agree with the other folks, seems like blockshopper.com is just compiling information that's in the public domain.

Posted by: woodys at September 3, 2009 1:30 PM in response to Blockshopper

Lot of attitude on this thread for a pretty vanilla question.

Posted by: woodys at September 1, 2009 12:39 PM in response to Average Rent for Carroll Gardens

We saw some places with a broker when we were looking, found it really annoying and unhelpful. She was pushing one property in particular on us and generally pushing us about what a great time it was to rush right out and buy. We even told her there was one place in particular we really liked--listed with her agency--but while she called us several times to continue to push the apartment we had shown no interest in, she didnt bother to get in touch with us when the place we liked did a big price cut (which we noticed on our own, ended up buying the place).

I'm sure some brokers are good but if you'd just be using some broker you dont know anything about, I'd say you're just as likely to get one of the worthless variety so why bother.

Posted by: woodys at August 31, 2009 1:10 PM in response to Brokers Useful when Buying?

tybur6, I work on wall street and while I certainly am familiar with the boneheaded frat boy type you're talking about, most of the people I know in finance are very well informed....they may be jerks but they're smart by pretty much every standard.

Posted by: woodys at August 25, 2009 2:44 PM in response to Gowanus Building No Longer Dissing Wall St.

the frat boys they got working on Wall Street are the smart kinds. they might be greedy and obnoxious but they aint dumb. Plus "Wall St" is mostly in Midtown nowadays.

Loved this sign, loads of character.

Posted by: woodys at August 25, 2009 1:07 PM in response to Gowanus Building No Longer Dissing Wall St.

I am anti-bike, but if you're going to have a bike lane on a busy street you really need physical separation like this. Most of the bike lanes in Brooklyn are a joke.

Posted by: woodys at August 11, 2009 1:18 PM in response to Closing Bell: Sands Street Bike Lane Opens

so the economic recession, if you're calling that two quarters of negative GDP growth, certainly looks like it's ending. Not exactly sure what a "real estate recession" is. Feels like prices are off the lows from March/April but I have the feeling it may be a little while before you see year over year increases.

Posted by: woodys at August 6, 2009 2:26 PM in response to An End to the Real Estate Recession in Brooklyn?

@CookieCutterBrownstone fair point, I should have said "luxury." but you know what I mean.

Posted by: woodys at July 31, 2009 2:57 PM in response to Belltel Joins the FHA Club

I sympathize with the original aim of FHA but this is bulls*hit, why should taxpayers be subsidizing purchase of luxury apartments?

At least with cash for clunkers we can decide how much it'll cost us up front...

Posted by: woodys at July 31, 2009 12:44 PM in response to Belltel Joins the FHA Club

j.a.b.b. you're right the terrace must face Hicks--I wasnt sure cuz you cant see them (the terraces in this building) from the street. The noise is tolerable up there but it isnt tranquil.

Posted by: woodys at July 30, 2009 2:12 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 44 Cheever Place, #505

We live right by here, if the balcony faces Cheever the BQE noise is not bad. It is a haul to the subway and Hicks St isnt lovely, but you'd pay 1.5X per square foot right around the corner from here.

Posted by: woodys at July 30, 2009 1:19 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 44 Cheever Place, #505

rob I laughed out loud when I read your post

Posted by: woodys at July 29, 2009 3:40 PM in response to StreetLevel: New Restaurant Opening on Court Street

There are a good number of mediocre restaurants on Smith St without any obvious appeal that I've been surprised have made it through all this. But happy in general the neighborhood's held up so well. I do my part to support it, rarely have gone to Manhattan on weekends since moving to bklyn--first out of laziness, then because I really just dont like going out in Manhattan any more.

Hadnt heard that about Union Market at the old Blockbuster, is that a fact?

Posted by: woodys at July 29, 2009 3:39 PM in response to StreetLevel: New Restaurant Opening on Court Street

not a new building, just relatively newly renovated.

Posted by: woodys at July 27, 2009 2:41 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 505 Court Street, #10C

cmu, thanks for your lecture on how we should all live our lives. I think we're all better off for being told what you think we should do.

Posted by: woodys at July 24, 2009 4:18 PM in response to DOT Greens a New Bike Lane on 9th Street

Literally every time I'm driving on Union Street through CG there's a biker biking the wrong way against traffic right across the street from the bike lane. What's the point.

Posted by: woodys at July 24, 2009 12:37 PM in response to DOT Greens a New Bike Lane on 9th Street

"The US invaded Canada twice, in the Revolutionary War and in the War of 1812, and got its ass handed to it both times. Canada can take care of itself just fine."

Awww, that's cute.

Posted by: woodys at July 16, 2009 1:17 PM in response to Closing Bell: Tim Hortons Takes Brooklyn

Strange layouts and interiors/fixtures that already look a little dated. Really a bizarre out of place building.

Posted by: woodys at July 15, 2009 12:50 PM in response to More Price Cuts at The Satori

Wait, was it was OK for Jennifer Connely and her husband to own this house, but not "some random google engineer", or were they also greedy?

traditionalmod, try the same thing with a double stroller! we have 1-year old twins and have been to manhattan oh about twice with them, on holiday weekends only.

and, couldnt agree more DitmasSnark....

Posted by: woodys at July 13, 2009 1:16 PM in response to SJP Slope Rumor Dead and Buried

We used State Farm through Alan Wheeler Agency--it was pretty cheap for basic coverage, decent service.

Posted by: woodys at July 10, 2009 2:53 PM in response to Condo Insurance

We used State Farm through Alan Wheeler Agency--it was pretty cheap for basic coverage, decent service.

Posted by: woodys at July 10, 2009 2:53 PM in response to Condo Insurance

Mmmm, gravy fries with bean curd, sounds delicious. Cant wait.

Posted by: woodys at July 10, 2009 2:38 PM in response to Streetlevel: A Taste of Montreal for Hoyt Street

The sellers look like the most sympathetic case here. The buyers--not so much, on the face of it they look like they were trying to make a quick buck and got caught with their pants down. On the bank side, nice to see the rogues' gallery of crappy subprime lenders eating the losses on this scheme.

Posted by: woodys at July 9, 2009 1:05 PM in response to Massive Mortgage Fraud Ring Busted

Wasnt there some other Park Slope show floating around by one of the other producers of SATC?

Posted by: woodys at July 7, 2009 12:51 PM in response to SJP Bringing Park Slope to the TV Masses

northsloperenter I guess we're basically saying the same thing, but I'd point out that excessive leverage on a large scale can also drive prices below fair value (whatever that is) in a bust. It's just structurally unsound.

Posted by: woodys at June 29, 2009 2:03 PM in response to F.H.A. Loans Skyrocket in Popularity

the problem with this program is not that it drives prices up but the low equity the buyer puts in -- 3.5% down is a joke with real estate markets as volatile as they are, a bad month could put you underwater. Not sure how verifying income and employment would turn that into a "solid" loan.

Posted by: woodys at June 29, 2009 12:44 PM in response to F.H.A. Loans Skyrocket in Popularity

I think the mortgage on the $850,000 place would be less than $4000/month if you put 20% down. Granted with maintenance you'd be well over that, so the original point still stands...

zuleika, your $2000 for a 2 bedroom in prime neighborhoods sounds low...not sure what you're calling prime

Posted by: woodys at June 23, 2009 12:42 PM in response to Apartment for Rent at Meier's OPP

infinitejester if you work in sales or trading you have to be in pretty early to read news and research and then call all your clients before the market opens at 9:30

Posted by: woodys at June 19, 2009 12:16 PM in response to Friday Links

Parking in Cobble Hill is about as bad as Brooklyn Heights--maybe worse because there are no garages anywhere really. Even if they charge you $1/day it's probably still worth it, there's no where to park anywhere around for less than $200/month (if anyone knows of anywhere let me know, I'm all over that) so you'd still be saving thousands a year.

Posted by: woodys at June 17, 2009 3:50 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 44 Cheever Place

"I guess kids just have to stay home these days. Life is too dangerous, better to play games on line."

Or... you could go to a park. That's something else you could do. There are several of them.

I just dont see biking as so glorious I'd want to risk my kid's neck riding around in NYC traffic. A small concession to the realities of living in the city.

Posted by: woodys at June 12, 2009 1:16 PM in response to Fifth Avenue Bike Lane Debate, Continued

brooklyncurious you might try HSBC if you didnt already, they're pretty competitive.

joe I think it depends on the contract--I'm in the process of closing on a place as well, I think our contract gives us an out if we can't secure financing but I dont think we could get out of it if we're approved and just dont like the rate. Here's hoping (praying) we close before our rate lock expires...

Posted by: woodys at June 11, 2009 12:33 PM in response to Interest Rate Jump

When did it become de rigeur for artists to have pretentious made up names?

Posted by: woodys at June 10, 2009 12:42 PM in response to No Love for Manhattan from Bushwick Artists

The $2700/month is what's paid to the nonprofit and includes social services and job placement etc, it's not just for rent. The article says it's unclear how much the developer's getting paid by the nonprofit.

Posted by: woodys at June 5, 2009 1:43 PM in response to Condo-Turned-Shelter Sparks Homeless Frenzy

What's funny is I was going to correct BrooklynRooster who was saying new yummy taco's flagship is bergen and flatbush, becuase I thought it was bergen and park place, but turns out it's new HAPPY taco there. Not new yummy. New happy taco's a different chinese mexican chain, find it surprisingly ok, especially for the price.

The worst mexican food i've had in NYC was at the California Tacqueria on Court St, i'm pretty sure the staff is Mexican...

Posted by: woodys at June 3, 2009 5:54 PM in response to Streetlevel: Yummy Taco Opens in South Slope

Petebklyn I think I said pretty clearly that was just anecdotal, but then you could read that in my post, if you had taken the time to do so.

Posted by: woodys at May 27, 2009 2:27 PM in response to Case-Shiller: Record Drops in NY and Nationwide

orestes, I'm not sure exactly what the hell you're talking about but I guess I agree with what you're getting at. Real estate prices inflated because of too much debt, and now private sector deleveraging has basically just been replaced with a massive ramp up in leverage in the public sector. That's just a stop-gap; the economy eventually needs to just delever altogether.

W/r/to NYC, what worries me even here is how many people put 10% down and how many people tapped out a lot of their equity they did have with a HELOC or something. Have been surprised how prevalent this looks (altho that's just an anecdotal observation, wd defer to anyone who had some hard data)

Posted by: woodys at May 27, 2009 1:34 PM in response to Case-Shiller: Record Drops in NY and Nationwide

Transfer taxes are the responsibility of the seller. If the parties agree that the buyer will reimburse the seller for the transfer tax, then this reimbursement is part of the "consideration" paid to the seller and on which the buyer's mansion tax is calculated. But in the ordinary case where the seller pays the transfer tax, the mansion tax is calculated on the purchase price alone.

Posted by: NorthHeights at November 11, 2009 2:32 PM in response to Mansion Tax

The Mansion tax figure is outdated. One million does not buy you anything close to a Mansion in NYC anymore There has always been talk of the threshold being raised but with those fools in Albany I wouldn't bet on it.

Posted by: Crownlfc at November 11, 2009 2:45 PM in response to Mansion Tax

t6, really. Why are you equating illegal behavior (PA car) with simply attempting to minimize one's tax burden, which behavior has been upheld by the courts as legal and expected for a hundred years.

Meanwhile the OP may be confused but that Corcoran link is useful. The tax is 1% of the ENTIRE sale when it is over $1 million. Closing costs are meaningless.

A million bucks isn't what it used to be, t6. Buy a house and shop sounding like a bitter renter.

(OP, don't forget to take the federal homebuyer's tax credit if your income allows, and let us know. Just so T6 can bitch about that too).

Posted by: denton at November 11, 2009 3:08 PM in response to Mansion Tax

A million bucks is a MILLION BUCKS!

I would argue that the transfer tax should be LOWER, not higher. You have enough money to pay a million dollars for a house (and the tax code has decided your property tax is going to be woefully inadequate for the purposes of supporting the city's services), there should be no problem paying a 1% transfer tax!

I'm not a bitter renter... If I were an owner, I would be equally as disgusted with the whining here. Oh, Woe Is Me! I might be liable for paying $10,000 on top of the ONE MILLION DOLLARS I just paid someone in cash. They already are bleeding me dry... I have to pay the tax man $3500 EVERY YEAR for this house! How dare they!

Cry me a river... jaysus.

Oh yeah, take the advice above. Make sure you involve your attorney and ask him lots and lots of questions. They have mansion taxes to pay too, ya know!

Posted by: tybur6 at November 11, 2009 3:33 PM in response to Mansion Tax

tax is obscene and doesn't exist most places (i don't know that exists anywhere else). if you are buying a new condo and are paying the transfer taxes yourself, then i was under the impression that the taxes are included. i looked hard to get under this thresh hold. i had to pay the transfer taxes 2x - as a seller of my house and as a buyer of my condo. it's gross.

i pay city income tax, corporate tax, state income tax, sales tax blah blah blah this city is taxing us to death

Posted by: wine lover at November 11, 2009 3:52 PM in response to Mansion Tax

Wine Lover -- Real Estate *transfer taxes* or *flip taxes* exist EVERYWHERE!!!!! The difference is, that NYC has decided to up the ante for folks that CAN AFFORD IT.

Guess what? I really don't have a problem if taxes are making people stop for a millisecond and evaluate the price tag on something. "Wait, there's a 'mansion tax' on this million-dollar property?! Oh -- maybe a MILLION DOLLARS is actually a lot of money!"

Who'd a thunk?

Also -- I have to agree with you. High sales taxes are a terrible thing. They are most harmful the poorer you are. The quality of life of someone making $500,000 is almost not affected by sales tax (be it 4% or 15%) -- but the guy making $25,000... guess how that figures into his income? The proportional effect is staggering.

Income taxes? Absolutely... let's get rid of them. AND RAISE PROPERTY TAXES TO AN EQUITABLE LEVEL!!!

But I am truly saddened that you had to pay transfer taxes on your multi-million dollar transactions. It's heart wrenching. Have you been able to recover? I hope so, sweetums.

Posted by: tybur6 at November 11, 2009 4:06 PM in response to Mansion Tax

tybur6, you sound like an utter moron.

Posted by: Splenda at November 11, 2009 4:50 PM in response to Mansion Tax

Do I Splenda? I'm glad you think so. I hope your taxes go up.

Posted by: tybur6 at November 11, 2009 4:56 PM in response to Mansion Tax

I love the logic of pay the tax because you feel he should and it is some kind of good thing because it prevents over spending.

LOL - pure genius.

Posted by: crimsonson at November 11, 2009 5:10 PM in response to Mansion Tax

Where's stevieB and the "screw the middle class" mantra on this one?????????

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at November 11, 2009 5:57 PM in response to Mansion Tax