No C of O

I am bidding on a Crown Heights multifamily, and have noticed that quite a few of those offered have no C of O. What kind of warning signs should I be looking out for, in this process? And what can I do to help things along? What usually happens in these cases? Thanks for any advice. (My username should really be real estate newbie).

ejhorsley

in About Brooklyn 10 years and 5 months ago

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aninspector | 10 years and 4 months ago

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It may be an old building, but if it receives new electrical, plumbing and heating systems, that stuff is not exempt from city inspections — it must be inspected and pass modern-day codes.

hancockone | 10 years and 4 months ago

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As stated above, buildings built before 1930 often never had a CofO. The house I bought didn’t and all I needed was a Letter of No Objection from the Builldings Dept. My broker applied for this letter and the bank/mortgage closing accepted in lieu of a Cof).

aninspector | 10 years and 4 months ago

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If the building was gut renovated without building department oversight (i.e., a C/O) there could be a lot of concealed problems. Flippers will often hire drywallers who “know electrical and plumbing” to run wiring and pipes, but they’re not qualified to do so. Even if you hire an electrician to go over the whole electrical system, there could still be stuff hidden inside walls that you’ll never (if you’re lucky) find out about.

mt_molehill | 10 years and 4 months ago

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On the other hand, if you do plan extensive renovations for which you will pull permits and require inspections, you will certainly need to get a C of O. And then your building, if it’s a multfamily, will effectively lose its grandfathered status and be subject to modern building code provisions.

mt_molehill | 10 years and 4 months ago

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If you happen to be planning renovations for which you’d like to permit strategically (or not at all), not having a C of O can be quite helpful. Not that I would ever do that or recommend doing so, just saying. City has no idea about the specifics of the interior floor plan or mechanical systems in the house, or its current use. This can be advantageous in certain situations.

rh | 10 years and 4 months ago

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The C of O really isn’t that much of an issue. Once your bid is accepted, an inspector can fill you in on any work that was done incorrectly or what needs to be done. Your offer is contingent upon inspection, so you can either choose to accept, negotiate or walk away at that point if it doesn’t seem worth it to you.

resident2 | 10 years and 5 months ago

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You need to get a Broker that knows building codes etc to help you. They will generaly be Brokers that have been in the business full time for at least 10-15 years, not the new type that just know how their Facebook/twitter/ipad etc work. There are many buildings that do not have a C of O, it just means that their use has not been changed since C of O’s were introduced in the 1930’s and the City started keeping records. Look the address up on the HPD site, all multi unit buildings are registered and their use noted on the HPD site.