1094 Park Place
Well here’s the update: (scroll down for link to photo gallery) We BOUGHT IT, or at least we thought we did…. Here’s a short version of a two+ month very long story: We first saw the property in February and were not totally sold on it, but we warmed up to it. We made an…
Well here’s the update: (scroll down for link to photo gallery)
We BOUGHT IT, or at least we thought we did….
Here’s a short version of a two+ month very long story:
We first saw the property in February and were not totally sold on it, but we warmed up to it.
We made an offer, $800k. The owners countered $950k, no contingencies; close in 30 days, all cash. The agent, Kathryn Lilly* at Prudential Douglas Ellerman, http://www.prudentialelliman.com/mainsite/agents/agents.aspx?BID=KAL told us they had another offer of $950k, so we had to meet that number, as the owners “really wanted to sell to us over the other buyersâ€.
Still not convinced the house was worth the price, we decided to get an inspection. Everything seemed ok, so with a few more rounds of inspections, we finally agreed to $950k.
Due to the owners request to have a no contingency contract we ended up getting a general inspection, a structural inspection, a historical conservator evaluation of the exterior, a formal site survey and a title report (basically everything normally done AFTER a contract is signed) to assure ourselves we could sign with NO contingencies.
We agreed that the building, while it had flaws was ok to buy and was right for us, yeah!
We reviewed their contract with our lawyer and her comment to us was that it was written as though this was a “foreclosed” property. After consulting with the seller’s attorney, he agreed to strike or change certain parts of the contract; this was the end of April.
All said and done, we agreed, signed their P&S, put a deposit in escrow, signed with an agent to sell our houses and started packing. Two days later we got a call from our lawyer saying that they NOW have a higher offer and would like to know RIGHT NOW how high we are willing to go. Well, given what we knew about the property and the sellers…we decided to stick to our $950k…and just like that we lost the house.
We called Kathryn and the first words out of her mouth over were, snidely, “sorry you lost the house – the sellers signed with somebody else…too bad †so much for HER representing BOTH parties in this real estate transaction.
We were/are devastated – we spent almost everyday since February 9th working out the details of moving into that house, only to have the rug pulled out from under us, without any opportunity to find out what happened – it is reported that “we were exceeding difficult to deal with”.
Our lawyer put it this way simply: The contract did not provide us with a clear and marketable title and she couldn’t let us close without that at any price and have a good conscience about it.
Here’s what we do know, and can only hope that the new buyers do as well:
>>There is no way that the house is 3900 sq ft…unless it includes the basement and that is even a stretch.
>>The rear wood deck is built to the property line, which is typically not legal in NY.
>>The deck support posts were not properly isolated from the ground/dirt.
>>The kitchen extension roof overhangs the neighbor’s property 16″, which is a potential liability down the road.
>>All of the eves NEED to be re-painted within a year (there is already rot showing)
>>Even though it was re-pointed “recentlyâ€, key spots were missed
>>Painting and Pointing this structure is going to cost a fortune…just for the scaffolding.
>>There is some concern of spalling and cracking of lintels and brownstone sections.
>>Gutters are not pitched properly and fill with water
Windows:
__“NEW†wood windows are missing paint on the EXTERIOR and were never properly prepared and painted on the inside.
__Original wood windows need IMMEDIATE attention as the exterior wood is exposed
__Many windows do not close properly (Actually almost all the non-original windows need replacement)
__Most of the “stained†glass windows have paint all over them and need restoration.
>>The Paint job inside and out is just AWFUL, with paint on most windows & tile work
__2nd floor transom windows were painted shut (WHY?)
__The entire exterior is covered in paint splatter
__Interior doors were painted without scraping/prepping
__Seems the house was painted quickly and not supervised after the owners moved out
>>The roof has broken tiles
>>There is/was water in the basement
>>The basement walls are fully enclosed trapping moisture/staying wet, watch for mold.
>>The basement heat pump does not work
>>The radiators are potentially undersized for the house
>>There is no visible sewer vent at the street connection
>>The roof top plumbing vents are less than 6 feet from windows (one is under an eve & 12″ from a bedroom window)
>>The back yard is a swamp after the rain as it does not drain properly
>>Moldings were not mitered properly, if at all
>>The front gate does not open in cold weather (the bricks rise up, probably due to bad drainage)
>>Building is not insulated or in any way energy efficient
>>EVERY SUNDAY the church services next door PERMIATE the building – there is NO escape! (We had already decided to have Gospel Bruch on Sundays)
AND
>>The title was not clear!
This list does not even cover the BAD design decisions of the palatial master bath suite, which looks great in the photos, but the reality is, if someone is on the toilet, you literally can’t get in/out of the shower, not to mention, that you’re basically “on display†(in a small house/bath, ok, but for a million?) And just putting nice appliances in the kitchen does not make it an enjoyable space.
All we can think is that perhaps a developer bought the property and doesn’t care about any of these issues because they will take it down…we certainly hope this is not the case.
What doesn’t make sense to us is that the Kathryn Lilly told us that they wanted to sell it to us, I assume because they thought we’d do right for the house, but the effort that we put into doing right for the house made us too difficult to deal with?!?!?!?
Anyway, we have decided that it’s probably best not to hear ALLELUIA! Every Sunday for the next 10 years!
You can see MANY detailed photos here from our five visits to the house:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38879481@N03/
(we have even more images, but flicker limits free accounts to 200…)
We hope that the new owners find love in the house….As from our perspective, it seems to be cursed….
S and B
*As far as we are concerned, Kathryn Lilly is the epitome of the slimy agent. She actually yelled at us one afternoon, saying that we were not trying hard enough to buy the house, despite the fact that we were waiting for information from the sellers at that point! Not to mention unprofessional emails and comments…AVOID HER!
PPS> The house is no longer going to be landmarked, so if the Crown Heights North Association is concerned, they might want to watch this property closely, it is in contract, and we’re not sure who is buying it…..
Guys, thanks for the story and the heads up. CHNA will keep an eye on the house. I’m sure the disappointment level is quite high, but in the long run, it sounds as if you missed a lot of headache and heartache, too. I know, if you choose to, you’ll find something else in the neighborhood, I applaud you for all your work in the neighborhood, as well. We’ll see you around.
BTW – wanna put your current place on the house tour this year? Email me at montrosemorris at yahoo, either way. Thanks.
We could go on for ages about this.
There are more layers of detail than we care to recall.
JIB:
I offered all of this information because I know that so many people were interested in the house. And prospective buyers should read posts like this so they know about all stuff involved.
As for our “not being right for brooklyn” we already own two brownstones, (only 1200 feet from 1094) and we understand completely what we were getting into. I have been in Brooklyn for 15+ years now.
As for the P&S. When they made the counter offer with no contingencies, our lawyer clarified with their lawyer that the title would be clear. But then they came back to us that they wanted us to raise our offer and they were not going to clear the title.
As for Katherine not representing the buyers, we know that.
BUT it seems odd that if she wants to get the highest sale price for her SELLERS, then we should have been told, make an offer higher than X. We were not given that opportunity.
JUST raise the offer – and no clear title?
We had also done EXTENSIVE research about the owners and it just seemed like there was no POSITIVE information out there about them, so when the title “wouldn’t be cleared”, we didn’t really want to take the risk. One indication was that one of the sellers was a real estate attorney who was “dis-barred” (left voluntarily) due to getting caught in something. (note- never met them, only gleaned from internet documents)
We also know that most of the issues were solve-able. BUT at what price?
It is a beautiful house and in hindsight – its been a good thing.
We also don’t understand who would have signed a no-contingency contract for a building at close to a million in that neighborhood.
dt: It might be a little bit of sour grapes. We worked for 12 weeks to feel confident in a no contingency sale. We worked hard to know how much work would need to be done to respect the property. We researched, studied and ultimately lost because the Agent was a *%&@!. We also demonstrated that we had the best intentions for the house. Isn’t that what you would want if you had a semi-historic property?
And wouldn’t you have asked us to meet/beat the price?
Which based on the fact that my mom had just sold her house and would have helped us.
Anyway – enough said – enjoy the photos!
totally agree with dt – sour grapes is right.
If it only closed for 10k more than you had agreed to and the seller jumped ship and went to all that trouble rather than just calling you back and telling you to match it, I’m inclined to think they didn’t think it would only be negotiated down to 960k, that they thought they’d end up with much more. I would think they’d want the bird in hand, since it’s been on the market for years and through several brokers. Starting the whole process over for that little?
They could very well have sensed that you were hedging, since there’s so much about the building you had issues with. Looks like it’s best for everyone. Good luck with the farm or whatever your next step is : ) Sounds like that’s what Lilly should be moving to!
I’m sorry that this happened to you. Not sure why you did but I’m glad that you did.
official records say 3900sq st….so can’t expect seller/realtor to claim different.
And records also show did close for $960k.
When trying to buy– did you find out what FAR of the lot is? Maybe lot was more valuable than the house.
No contract is binding until it is signed by both parties. The owner got a higher offer before they were locked in, so they went for it. Anyone else would do the same. Your need to draw everyone’s attention to all the negatives of the house appears to be sour grapes.
This type of treatment by the sellers’ broker is exactly why the Brooklyn model of real estate (almost all sellers’ brokers, almost no buyers’ brokers) is messed up.
What were the title issues exactly? And why were you willing to sign the P&S with those title issues outstanding (or were they resolved by the final draft of the contract)?
Seems Kathryn Lilly is no longer with the firm.