Bushwick 2 family - rear decks width shortened before closing date.

We are in contract on a 2-family in Bushwick. It’s a gut-reno job. The closing has been pushed so many times, we’re now heading into our 4th rate lock extension. It’s been an arduous journey to get to where we are and still no closing date in sight. Upon a recent visit to the home, we noticed the brand new deck that ran the width of the property off the kitchen on the main floor, has had 3ft. taken off either side. That’s cllose to 90st ft. removed from the deck and we were never told about it. Not to mention the fix is shotty construction. Not only does it change the look of the exterior, lessen the square footage, but it also brings the staircase directly into the garden now. Not off to one side. The developer/seller has been dishonest most of the way through the purchasing process. We are being told the change had to happen to pass inspection due to its wooden construction. You can’t have wooden decks run to either side of your property line. We’ve l ooked at so many of these 2 family gut reno’s in Bushwick/Bed-Stuy. They all have this type of deck of the main floor. My question is, does anyone have any experience with this?

Many thanks,
Whalien

whalien

in General Discussion 6 years and 10 months ago

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whalien | 6 years and 10 months ago

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I haven’t. I don’t know who the seller is. Only their lawyer.

Guest User | 6 years and 10 months ago

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Have you looked up the seller on ACRIS or the address on DOB’s site? A warning: some of these houses that were bought and “renovated” by LLCs can be beyond shoddy, some really bad problems that show up later. Especially if it’s a Queen-based LLC–there have been lawsuits for fraud on properties flipped this way by a particular group (which I don’t want to mention for what should be obvious reasons). Again, if it’s a Queens-based LLC look at who the principal officers are and google these individuals. Some are covered in a Queens blog called “Queens Crap”.

whalien | 6 years and 10 months ago

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It’s been an long and arduous journey. We found the place in Feb after months and months of searching out flips. By the end of it, we became highly attuned to the flip market in Bed-Stuy/Bushwick area. Some flips are utter garbage, while others not that bad. This one stood out as quality, but as stated above, you never know what’s behind the walls.

Our offer was accepted in Feb, but we were on the hook for 3% of the home value if our financing didn’t come through, part of the deal we accepted because of the all-cash offer we were up against. We raced to get financing by April 1st and succeeded. It was a huge relief.

Let’s close, right?! STOP, hold your horses. Seller/developer dragged their feet for months, lying and misleading our lawyer and ourselves about the work that was and wasn’t done. Then there were the gas meters. The home didn’t have any. Finally, last week they got installed. Then there were the numerous permitting and building violations, nothing too serious, that needed cleared as well. As of this week, all violations have been cleared.

Nearly five months into this deal, 4 rate lock extensions, and numerous headaches, we got access to the home last weekend and discover the nice new deck was diminished by over 80 sq.ft and the front door was stained a HORRIBLE cherry color. No one asked us, no one mentioned anything. You’d think if you were going to stain the front door, you’d consult with the home buyer first right?

I’m ready to walk, but an identical home redone by the same developer across the street, sold for $170k more in those 5 months. The developer would LOVE for us to walk because they’ll get their money and then some. We just want a house to raise our kids in and call home.

It’s a very confusing situation to be in.

slopefarm | 6 years and 10 months ago

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Start with your contract — what does it say about the work being done before you close?
Specs? Code? Plans? Your say or not in any changes?

I agree with everyone above that there’s good reason to be suspicious. Flipper may not have known code, or may have known but chose to try to sneak by, etc. If your purchase price reflects the value of a renovated home and you end up having to fix or redo lots of it, you are doubly screwed over both in terms of money and hassle.

If you are going to walk away, you need either to be willing to forfeit your deposit or, since that sucks, to find a basis for saying that the seller has failed in some way that is material to your agreement. that is, to walk away with your deposit this has to be his default, not yours. Go over the contract with your lawyer and look for a basis to assert that.

Alternatively, if you are willing to live with some reno mishegas, but you ahve grounds to walk away, use it to seek a price concession.

randolph | 6 years and 10 months ago

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> @no-permitz
> If the flipper didn’t know the code before they built the deck, I’d worry what they did behind walls etc.
this is my exact thought. if they didn’t know deck coding they very well did not follow code elsewhere and probably places you cannot even inspect without tearing down walls.

daveinbedstuy | 6 years and 10 months ago

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No permits pulled for the work, right? Did you get it inspected? At least what was visible? Were there other code violations? And, what are the reasons for the delays in closing. Sounds like you may be buying into a nightmare. What the others above said.

greenworks | 6 years and 10 months ago

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Run — don’t walk — RUN. Besides your experience up til now:

I’m assuming the flipper knew the code (it’s a pretty basic thing to know) and figured it would slide somehow (don’t ask me how — I’m surprised he filed for anything at DOB period, let alone for anything that would warrant an inspection).

OR maybe he REALLY pissed a neighbor off, someone called DOB, and someone on the site for some reason let the inspector in. In many areas of Brooklyn you’d basically have to have an entire 5 story addition made of toothpicks, gum, and twine, lit by torches, in your back yard for someone to call DOB on someone unless they did something really crappy. I get the idea Bushwick is one of those places.

But I digress: this site is littered with people who bought flips tales of woe. Personally, in the last two years alone I have three friends who bought flips, paid a premium because the house was “done” already, then proceeded to spend 50-100k PLUS to fix crap that is wrong. Like seriously wrong — electrical, plumbing problems that cause the entire house to sustain water damage, I could go on and on and on.

They’re now seriously under water in an area with explosive growth.

It sounds like you have ample reason to walk legally. I know doing so feels like you’re giving up on the dream. You’re not. You’re walking away from what sounds like it could be a big problem

yudashasom | 6 years and 10 months ago

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If the flipper didn’t know the code before they built the deck, I’d worry what they did behind walls etc. It sounds like there will be issues that you might not realize or find out about until after you’ve moved in: plumbing, electric, waterproofing etc.

People need to stop buying these types of flip houses. They are full of shoddy work, terrible design, cheap materials etc.

slopefarm | 6 years and 10 months ago

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Oy — closing post-reno by a flipper is a misery.

jimhillra | 6 years and 10 months ago

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steel for structure, maybe steel decking, or concrete, stone, ceramic pavers. No Ipe. No Trex, etc.

whalien | 6 years and 10 months ago

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what’s considered “non-combustible”?

jimhillra | 6 years and 10 months ago

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non-combustible decks can be to the side lot line. Combustible must be 3′ away.

whalien | 6 years and 10 months ago

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  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(0) {
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(0) {
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

What if deck is not wood?

hiursula | 6 years and 10 months ago

string(1) "1"
object(WP_User)#5178 (8) {
  ["data"]=>
  object(stdClass)#5176 (12) {
    ["ID"]=>
    string(6) "185526"
    ["user_login"]=>
    string(8) "hiursula"
    ["user_pass"]=>
    string(34) "$P$BIE2zKP1No4fhaVuFGZ0r77BpW2Syh/"
    ["user_nicename"]=>
    string(8) "uschi701"
    ["user_email"]=>
    string(18) "hiursula@gmail.com"
    ["user_url"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_registered"]=>
    string(19) "2017-08-10 14:08:31"
    ["user_activation_key"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_status"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["display_name"]=>
    string(8) "uschi701"
    ["spam"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["deleted"]=>
    string(1) "0"
  }
  ["ID"]=>
  int(185526)
  ["caps"]=>
  array(1) {
    ["bbp_participant"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(15) "bbp_participant"
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(1) {
    ["bbp_participant"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

Sounds like they had to bring the deck up to code. The 3ft is the amount of space it must be from the other properties for fire regulation.