All Forum Posts by: Marilin Matos

@Joe Diminic Hey Joe! Wondering if there are any updates for your career in appraising ? I just got my first house back (2 family home) in Westchester and now I’m studying to be an appraiser as well. Any tips for finding a mentor ?

@Erica Prosper

Hey Erica! My name is Marilin. I was born and raised in Harlem/Bronx and now live in Westchester as well. Reading your post reminded me a lot of myself. I started my real estate journey last year and am proud to say that I purchased my first property in April 2020. I decided to start with the house hacking strategy and now I am looking into wholesaling (which is why i was alerted of your post). Anyways, just wanted to introduce myself.

Best of luck!

I made an offer on a house in January 2020 and we were about to close in March 2020 when the delays due to COVID-19 began. 

The seller was not able to provide the CO for the house. It used to be a single family home with a 1 car garage that was converted to a 2 family home with no garage (it was old and torn down). According to the sellers, it was undetermined by the department of buildings if a garage was needed in order to obtain the final CO because the driveway was large. In April 2020 we closed on the house with an escrow agreement for $30,000 allowing the seller time to obtain the decision from the DOB on whether a garage was going to be needed to obtain the final CO or not. They were allowed until the DOB re-opens in consideration of COVID-19 and 120 days after they open because "it is impossible to know with what speed the DOB will be able to operate once they re-open."

Fast forward to July 2020 when the DOB finally reopened and I reach out to the DOB as the new home owner. I was informed that the sellers were notified on February 4th 2020 that a 2 car garage was legally required to obtain the final CO. They were then sent another letter on March 9th reassuring them of this decision and informing them that they would need to file an application with the Zoning Board of Appeals to change this decision. 

I spoke to the commissioner of the DOB and she told me that an application for an appeal was filed in June 2020 but that it was going to be revoked since the sellers were no longer the homeowners as of April 15th 2020. I followed up with the sellers attorney who is the escrow agent and he offered me $5,000 in exchange for his client removing his application for an appeal (which I was already told was going to be denied). Obviously I did not accept this "exchange" and he told me that the sellers have "as much time as they need" to get a decision on their appeal and I would just have to wait and that he would no longer be responding to me, only my attorney. 

My attorney said that he would see me through this but told me to follow up with the escrow agent directly when I reached out to him about this. The escrow agent appears to be trying to buy his client time and refuses to speak to me anymore so I am searching for another real estate attorney if you have any reccomendations in Westchester, New York. I want to know if I am out of line because the attorney I am talking to is making it seem like I agreed to wait for the decision of the appeal (which wasnt even filed until after we closed) when the escrow agreement clearly states that we are waiting on a decision from the DOB. 

Thank you in advance for your time and thoughts :) 

@Mike Cumbie Thanks for the input Mike! Yes I agree, I am just trying to keep calm right now. It's my first deal so I am hella excited but also trying to stay level headed. I always post forums because hearing from others who are more experienced and/or have dealt with the same issues helps calm me. I also wanted to make sure there wasn't something I could possibly be doing to stay proactive. 

@Mike McCarthy Hey Mike! Thanks for the input! 9 weeks was referring to the time the sellers told us it would take for them to build the garage. I am hoping we can get an answer from the city by next week since it seems this is an active case and not sitting in a pile somewhere waiting for attention. I wasnt able to find anything online regarding parking requirements so we are just waiting on their decision now. 

@Jonathan Greene thanks for the input! Yes i agree, moving in with a temp CO is certainly something we won’t do. We should have an answer from the city by next week. If they say that the garage is required then at that point we will have to decide if we will a)hold off on closing for 2 months while they build the garage and get the CO or b)if we are able to, pull out of the contract for this issue.

I just find it odd that the garage could be mandatory to begin with because I see it as more of a luxury. The driveway fits 5 cars easily.

@Clint Votruba Thank you Clint. My attorney and I agree that it would be a bad idea to purchase without CO. If the city does demand that the garage be built, the sellers are willing to build in and suggested I move in with a temp CO but we also think this is a bad idea because as you mentioned this holds me liable as the new owner if there are any issues getting the CO in the future.

So right now we are waiting on the city. If they decide to give them the CO without the garage then we should be clear to close. If they don’t, then I guess we would have to wait for the sellers to build the garage and then move in. They estimated it would take 9 weeks.

I personally just thought it was kind of crazy that a garage would be required. I personally see it as a luxury. I was thinking maybe they didn’t get a permit to demolish it and perhaps that was the issue.

Thanks for the input!!

@Abel Curiel thanks Abel! I’m surprised they didn’t ask for it sooner as well. I’ll make sure to stay on top of everyone. 

Hey BP!

I am in the middle of closing on my first deal. It was formerly a large single family that was changed into a 2 family. We are pretty much at the end of the process. Inspection done. Mortgage is approved. Title Search came back clean. There were open permits for the work done but the title company was unable to find the CO. Turns out the sellers are working on getting it right now. They bought the house late 2018, renovated and put on the market late 2019 and we started closing mid January 2020. The issue is that the house originally had a garage but it was torn down and it wasn't rebuilt. The garage was never part of the deal. Apparently, the Building department is weighing the question if the house needs a garage to obtain a C.O. or is the driveway sufficient to provide the parking the Municipality requires. The driveway fits 6 cars so I am thinking this is enough. 

Should I be worried? Is there anything I can do to help speed this along? 

@Jacob Cunningham Hey Jacob, curious how this worked out for you. I am currently in the same situation.