All Forum Posts by: Mark K.

Following up as I was told by my attorney that the title is “free and clear of any liens.”

Do you think that changes anything?

Can anyone help out here?

Hello, I am about to close on a newly built condo unit in a new building in Brooklyn, NY. No one has ever lived there so I am womdering do I need to purchase “title owner’s coverage”?

Since this is for when someone sues and says they have a claim against the home from before the homeowner purchased it, would I need this if no one has ever lived there?

Note that this would be my primary residence and not a rental property. 

It will set me back $2,400 which quite frankly I’d rather not pay unless I absolutely need to. Can you give me your thoughts on this? Thanks im advance!

thanks @Jason Lee the sponsor seems to have done quite a few new developments around brooklyn, i never expected closings to be up to 9+ months, i feel a bit helpless and don't know where to get real updates, the sponsors attorney doesnt seem to be cooperative with updates

Hello, I have a question about a personal property that I will be living in. It’s a condo in Brooklyn in a new development, it’s a small “boutique” building with under 10 units. I have been in contract since March and it’s been a bit of a nightmare waiting to close. ~60% of the units in the building are sold and the sponsor has TCO and CO.

Last I heard, this was the latest update. Can someone explain in plain English what this actually means? I thought I could close with the TCO/CO in place? My RE attorney is a bit of a doofus and I simply can’t rely on him so I’m trying to crowd source info.  My attorney said he may not have an update on closings until late Oct./early Nov.

August 29, 2019

“Our client told us that that he is waiting on the subdivision and probably in 45 days they will have it and can close. He also wrote to us that “The DOF is currently only Processing Subdivision Requests as of 5/14/19. They are backed up and moving at a snails pace unfortunately. We submitted in July and our expediter is working on Getting the process on ours moving but this is the item we are waiting on to close .”

I wanted to get your thoughts on the scenario below. Would you rather choose option 1 (lower home price) or option 2 (lower interest rate). Ultimately the mortgage ends up being the same. Let’s assume you want to sell the house in 5-7 years, this is a primary residence. To me option 2 sounds better but wanted your feedback.

• With Option 2, you spend $100 more a month in interest.
• With Option 2, if you were to pay off the loan in 30 years, you’d be spending $26K more in interest.
• With Option 2, you saved $33K on the sales price.
• With Option 1, you have a higher bar to increase your home value at ($595K vs. $562K)

Anyone?

Hello, 

FYI, I am coming from the perspective of a home (condo) buyer and not an investor.  The sponsor is providing a $750 credit to use their preferred title company.  What I found with some research is that the sponsor, this title company and the sponsor's law firm all have the same guy in common.  I believe this guy is a developer, lawyer and president of title company all in one.  Does that matter?  I don't know.

I can't find much info on this title company online but they do have a legit website it seems.  Note that this is a brand new development in Brooklyn, NY so I'm not sure if that lessens the risk involved or not.  I am all new to this.  $750 is a lot to save but if it's not worth it and there's too much risk involved, I would go another route.  Would love to hear your thoughts on this!

Jason and Hannah, thank you so much for your input and insight.  It is very helpful. 

As far TCO, I am not that concerned, the building has only been up on StreetEasy for a few weeks.  I went there again today and they were cleaning all the condos in preparation for an open house tomorrow and they had a sign on my unit that said "In Contract".  So going today eased my fears a bit.

My main concern right now is the 421A.  I am not quite sure how that works once the sponsor receives TCO.  Can someone walk me through the process?  Say 2 units are sold, does closing take place shortly thereafter?  If so, then I would be paying property tax each month until the final 421A approval comes through right?  I am just trying to wrap my head around the logistics of it all.  

I am already having the sponsor pay all transfer taxes and their attorney fees.  Can I ask for more concessions?  Say like $10K closing credit or is that pushing it?  Since I am the first buyer, I should have some leverage right? 

Thank you William!

I do have a real estate attorney but he seems to only give me legal jargon type answers.  It doesn't seem like he is willing to provide me any anecdotal evidence or his personal opinion.  

For example, regarding 421A he basically says "final approval will be given 90 days after the issuance of the TCO IF the NYC department of finance decides to give final approval. The sponsor cannot guarantee a result from the NYC department of finance. The sponsor received preliminary 421-a abatement approval from NYC department of finance. This mitigates the risk slightly that NYC department of finance will deny the final approval, but it does not eliminate the risk completely."

That's a very stock answer.  I am trying to do my own due diligence and gather feedback from others that may have experience with this.