How Much Time Is There Between Offer and Closing? BY BERNARD KLEIN MAY 5, 2017 So your broker has put in an offer on your behalf and you’re already thinking about setting a closing date? Not so fast! New York City real estate transactions are sophisticated and require both your broker and real estate [...]
Buying New Development? Consider a 'Right to Assign' Clause BY BERNARD KLEIN APRIL 5, 2017 In the world of New York City real estate, there’s no shortage of issues to consider when negotiating a contract. This is especially true if you’re considering new development or a building undergoing a condo conversion. That’s because there is [...]
Ask Real Estate By RONDA KAYSEN | JULY 30, 2016 DISPUTES OVER SIDEWALK GARDENS Tending a Pit Garden For decades, I have tended the pit garden — that little plot of soil surrounding the sidewalk tree — outside my townhouse, purchasing plants, mulch and soil. I even coordinated with the city to replace a tree. [...]
Real Estate Q & A BY JAY ROMANO MARCH 8, 2013 SHAREHOLDER WANTS A WASHER AND DRYER Q: We would like to install a washer and dryer in our co-op apartment. We’ve combined two units and have plumbing available where the second unit’s kitchen used to be. The board’s policy is that laundry machines [...]
Real Estate Q & A BY JAY ROMANO OCTOBER 26, 2012 Limiting Co-op Occupancy Q: I am on a co-op board in Queens. We have concerns about the number of people whom an applicant intends to live with in an apartment. Are there laws regarding occupancy and the square footage? Can the board reject [...]
Real Estate Q & A BY JAY ROMANO JUNE 21, 2012 A Day Care Business in the Co-op Above Q: I live in a co-op building in Washington Heights. There is a day care center operating in the apartment above me. According to our co-op papers, this is not permitted in the building. Sometimes [...]
Real Estate Q & A BY JAY ROMANO FEBRUARY 23, 2012 New Co-op Policy for Studios Q: With board approval, I bought a studio in a Manhattan co-op in 2002 as a pied-à-terre. Several years ago a new board imposed a rule that studio apartments can no longer be used as pieds-à-terre. A broker told [...]
Real Estate Q & A BY JAY ROMANO OCTOBER 13, 2011 Getting a Copy of Bylaws and Lease Q: Can a co-op refuse to provide a copy of the bylaws and proprietary lease to a potential buyer? A:Lior Aldad, a Manhattan co-op and condominium lawyer, says that a co-op corporation has no obligation to provide [...]
GROUNDED FOR LIFE Where Home is in a Land-Leased Building By Debra A. Estock September, 2011 Most cooperatives and condominiums in New York City traditionally own both the building and the land around it. There is, however, a real estate scenario where the cooperative (and in rare instances, the condominium) owns the building, but not [...]
BY S. JHOANNA ROBLEDO July 3, 2011 When You Rent *and* Own Is leased land under a building a reason to get cold feet? Or a bargain opportunity? The invitation for the cocktail party at the Azure, a new Upper East Side condop building, called for a celebration — “Una Gran Fiesta!” — but [...]
