Foreclosures In New and Unusual Places
Glancing at the list of foreclosures on the docket tomorrow, we noticed, among the usual sea of properties in Bed Stuy, Crown Heights and East New York, a couple of houses in areas that have not felt the sting of the current mortgage crisis much-—Park Slope and Bay Ridge. The house at the left, 271…
Glancing at the list of foreclosures on the docket tomorrow, we noticed, among the usual sea of properties in Bed Stuy, Crown Heights and East New York, a couple of houses in areas that have not felt the sting of the current mortgage crisis much-—Park Slope and Bay Ridge. The house at the left, 271 11th Street, is a three-story (two plus English basement) place with a lien of $148,300, a surprisingly small amount to lead to a foreclosure in this part of town; the charmer on the right, 513 72nd Street, has a larger tab, $428,044 to be exact. Both are scheduled to be auctioned tomorrow at 360 Adams Street at 3 p.m.
Foreclosure: 271 11th Street [PropertyShark] GMAP
Foreclosure: 513 72nd Street [PropertyShark] GMAP
I don’t understand, why people don’t try to sell their homes, before it ends up at auction. You’re telling me, if these houses were listed for 500K, no one would be interested. You’d probably have a bidding war.
“If it was at least 50% above grade I could legally convert the floor to an apartment and rent it. Since it’s not, I use it as a rec room for the kids.”
You can STILL rent it, MAN! What, are you new to the city or something??
1:37 is cool.
Unless you’re a Hasidic Jew you have absolutely no chance in hell of getting one of these properties. I went to a few of these auctions and they were a sham for us mere outsiders. The first auction I went to was actually held outside before the official start time with an all Hasidic crowd-that memo never reached the rest of the participates.
Best bet is to make friends with a Hasidic Jew that has real estate connections.
I bought some land in carroll gardens a few years ago at auction. I forget all the details of how it works, but it’s all avaiable online. I also took a seminar. If I remember correctly, you need to have 10% of purchase price in a cashier’s check. Since you don’t know what that amount will be, you need one check for 10% of strike price and (this is what I did anyway), a bunch of 5K cashiers checks that I could use from there to my limit. Then you have 30 days to close, so probably not enough time for a regular bank mortgage (who will require all the regular searches — even if you’ve don them yourself). Luckily, I was able to pay cash so had time to get that together and pay them.
Land is also a different animal since I could see exactly what I was getting and what I wasn’t and it was empty and didn’t have tenants to clear out. But you do have to do homework — these properties may have other loans on them.
Also, the parcel was delayed for several auctions even tho I had to go there and see to learn that. Many — maybe 1/3 or more — get scratched at the last minute for various reasons.
Now I’m craving English Muffins! Who’s got some?
For those who can’t afford a house without a rental apartment in it, a garden level instead of English basement is the best thing.
English basements are good places to watch the telly, maybe nibble on a Cadbury Flake. Perhaps study for your A Levels or O Levels.
If you have space that is 2/3 below grade, it is not considered a basement at all, it is a cellar. And you cannot have legal bedrooms down there.
An English basement! What a complete crock!