All Forum Posts by: Elise Chen

@Andrew Li @OnYango Williams @Jason Edwards @Mark Gallagher @Shmuel Harris @Rob Singles @Matthew Kreitzer 

Sorry I just realized my previous post didn't post properly - thank you all of your advice. It turns out you were all right and we ended up removing the clause for personal liability. 

However, the sponsor was being evasive on other wording too (about the renovations having the requisite permits and approvals from the DOB). After investigating further, we discovered he had done a complete gut renovation without filing for any permits - with the uncertainty whether it was done to code, we ended up pulling out of the deal. On to the next! 

@Christine Wong Thanks so much for the recommendation, really appreciate it. Good luck in your search too!  We're mostly looking in Bed-stuy / Crown Heights area. 

@AndrewLi @OnyangoWilliams @JasonEdwards @MarkGallagher 

Thank you all so much for your feedback. To answer some of your follow up questions: 

There's no particular areas of the property that we're concerned about - the inspection with the engineer was excellent and it seems the quality of work on the property was to a high standard (no red flags). We already provided the developer a punch list of items as part of the contract and they have called our broker to assure us that they have been taken care of. 

We agree that it seems unlikely for an LLC to agree to be personally liable. I think our lawyer is just overly cautious - says that if the LLC want's to be shady they can shut down the operation and instruct for our deposit not to be released from escrow.

In any case, appreciate all the advice - we agree with all your comments and that was our gut feel but always nice to hear some affirmation. Thanks again!

Jason - we purchased in Bed-Stuy! But the still "developing" part of it around Ocean Hill. We're hoping it does well for us. Where about do you mostly focus on? If you have time, we'd love to link up with you over coffee!  

Hi BP community! My partner and I are total newbies, buying our first home in Brooklyn NY (which also happens to be a duplex multifamily). Hoping to ask your advice! Our offer has been accepted, we've had an engineer inspect the place who gave the OK on the place and we're ready to close the deal. However it seems our lawyer has been going back and forth with the sponsor's lawyer for over a week now...they won't budge on the following addition that our lawyer is pushing for: "The principal/owner of the selling corporate entity (an LLC) will be personally liable for all the contractual terms of the executed contract of sale." Ie. Our lawyer is concerned the developer may turn out to be a shell corporation that they will close once the house is sold so we have no recourse against them if anything goes wrong. Is it common to require this clause in the contract? Does anyone have any experience with this? Any advice or tips? Thanks so much, really appreciate any insight here. We have no idea whether this is something that should break the deal... Best, Elise & Tim