All Forum Posts by: Jason Lee

At that price point you'll be limited to co-op or condo apartments and while you wouldn't have a landlord, there would be a co-op or condo board (HOA) that could be just as prohibitive. I'd check with an attorney (I'm not one) but what you're describing (boarder with you present in the home) doesn't sound like it violates NY's multiple dwelling law which is good, but it probably violates a co-op or condo's bylaws. Not necessarily the easiest thing for a board to catch depending on the setup but a potential risk to this strategy.

The roommate law has been around a long time. It’s not new. I’m not an attorney and I suggest you consult one. Having said that, my understanding is any lease that tries to be more stringent than NYS law would be void.

@Michelle Verdugo If you're looking for appreciation then now is not a bad time to buy but to see any kind of cash flow you're going to have to put a lot down. It's tough to time a bottom but we're clearly not at a peak, and buyers have a good amount of inventory to choose from with historically low interest rates. Prices might continue to soften but again, it's tough to see a bottom until it's passed and if you look at past cycles once things improve, appreciation happens pretty quickly. 

@Kushal Shah I don't know anyone that's purchased in NYC with a long time horizon and regretted it. If you purchased from '08-'13 the median stayed pretty flat, but if you sold just a couple years later you would've done very well.

We are in a downturn but this all depends on your goals and how much you have to work with.

Sounds like the sponsor hasn't divided the tax lots yet. What's the sponsor's track record? You should always expect closing delays for new dev, more so if the sponsor doesn't have a lot of experience. 

2.5M is considered luxury in Brooklyn and here's some YOY 2Q data for luxury in Brooklyn: average sale -1.5%, median sale -2.7%, number of sales -.4%, days on market 10.9%, inventory 7.4%, months of supply 6.7%. What do you think the market will look like in early 2020. If you haven't done a reno this big then I'd guess you don't know what you don't know and there will be tuition. Bird in hand...

NY is a buyer beware state and most contracts sell as-is. This places the responsibility on the buyer to verify and perform due diligence. If the seller referred to city records and weren’t actively concealing then there’s probably not much that can be done. If the appraisal came back much lower because the comped properties were all smaller that would have been one thing, but it came in at the contract price and now you think you should get a discount?

Co-investing is not for everyone. My clients actually introduced me to Unison and the deal couldn't have worked without the co-investment. If you can get more favorable terms from relatives then go for it. I would first speak with lenders to see how they take into account private money from relatives. I don't know how they view source of funds if it isn't a gift.

If you're ok with sharing equity then look into Unison. I did a write up on them here recently. There are no monthly payments, just a small up front fee and then equity. My client's used them to purchase a 2-family in Brooklyn. Like you, they had good income but not enough liquid for the down payment. 

A good agent can accurately estimate the market value of your apt using recently sold comps, in contracts, and currently available inventory. They will then make any adjustments for time on market, condition, floor, size, exposure, light, views, etc. I live in Midtown East and do a lot of work there and happy to give you an estimate.

Look at an agent's current and past exclusive listings. Do the photographs look like they show the apartments in the best possible light? Were they staged? Were they at least decluttered? Are the listing descriptions thoughtfully written? If they're not doing a great job up front presenting an apartment then they're probably not going to go above and beyond later on. Ask a prospective agent for examples of how they were able to net their sellers the absolute highest sales prices. A good agent should have examples of how they set a building's price record or ppsf record, or a record in a particular line, or how they took over a listing that wasn't selling and got it sold quickly, etc. Ask for references from prior seller clients.