Brooklyn Real Estate Q&A and Info

There are over 3,500 properties for sale in Brooklyn on the local MLS alone, and that number doesn’t include FSBOs and properties for sale that never make it to the MLS.  Competition right now is fierce, so if you want to increase the odds of getting your property sold, make sure that your real estate professional, and any other realtor who wants to show your property, gets access quickly. 

Do you insist on 48 hours notice? – We all have very busy lives these days, but the last thing you want is for potential buyers to fall in love with another property before they ever get the chance to see yours.  Buyers won’t wait around to see your property, so do everything you can to make your property available for showings within a day or two of the request.

Do you have a multifamily home with tenants who make showing their apartment difficult? – Do everything in your power to get them to cooperate.  One landlord offered a $25 credit to be applied to her uncooperative tenant’s rent every time she made her apartment available for open houses. 

Remember, in a tough market like we’re experiencing right now, access is key.  Don’t let a potential buyer get away!  The easier it is for buyers to see your property, the sooner it will get sold.

“What exactly is a short sale?” you ask.  A short sale is when a lender willingly forgives part of a debt owed on a house.  Or in other words, the bank is shorted some of the money they are owed.

For example, a home owner is over 90 days late on their mortgage payments with no hope of catching up.  Eventually they will be foreclosed on.  Their total mortgage amount and arrears is $500,000.  The bank agrees to let a buyer purchase the property for $475,000 causing the bank to lose $25,000.

There are many banks and other lending institutions out there, and each has its own short sale procedure and requirements. The one thing they all have in common is that the short sale processes takes a very long time.

Why would a bank agree to this?  If the bank concludes that foreclosing on the property, maintaining it while they try to sell it, and dealing with the cost of selling it (transfer taxes, Realtor fees and so on) is going to cost more money then the amount they are being asked to forgive, the bank may choose to cut its loses and agree to a short sale.

Buying a short sale property is not an easy task.  Here is a great article from the New York Daily News Website that explains the process in detail.

Are short sales available in Brooklyn?  Yes they are.  To find out more click here or give me a call at 917-544-2662.

One thing that’s important to understand when you’re buying a Co-op apartment is that you are not purchasing Real Estate, you are purchasing shares in the Co-op Corporation.   The allotted shares represent the unit you are going to move into.

In a typical home purchase, the house itself is put up as collateral for the mortgage loan, but in a loan to acquire a co-op apartment, the shares are put up as collateral.  One of the things your lender will do to insure that their interests are protected (in other words, that they’ll get their money back) is require that they receive a Recognition Agreement from the Co-op.

The Recognition Agreement states that the Co-op Corporation must inform the lender in the event the shareholder seeks additional financing or fails to make monthly maintenance payments.  The Recognition Agreement is signed by the borrower, a representative of the co-op corporation and a representative of the lender.