Townhouse or Condo/Coop?

Posted on February 8, 2011 by BeatingUpwind

The other day someone contacted me and said they were thinking of getting either a townhouse (in Harlem) or a coop or condo. Of course my suggestion was to get a townhouse. Here’s a bit of what of I said to him…

The differences between townhouses and coops/condos is night and day. We were in a pretty easy going coop and over time things just got worse and worse. After 12 years we got incredibly tired of all the politics and silly decisions by the super, the president, and the board in general. For example we had a major fight with our super over why we hadn’t filed an alteration agreement when we had a workman in to fix a broken hinge on our kitchen cabinets. It was more complicated to fix than you might imagine, but it was a hinge – and the super thought we needed a $500 deposit and proof of $2 million in insurance. That’s what it means to live in a condo or coop. We never have to worry that sort of thing ever again.

On the other hand, if something breaks, in the townhouse it’ll be our responsibility to fix it. We’re basically going to have new construction, so it’s not a big deal, but if we had a townhouse that was “livable” things would be older and there would be a fair amount of maintenance required. We also have to keep the sidewalk clean, shovel the snow, etc. or get a constant barrage of $100 ECB tickets. In fact, on our first day of ownership we already had a ticket from earlier that morning. But 3 different people approached us willing to be the super/porter for our building and keep things clean – so those particular tasks are easy to offload with a little money.

The other big advantage of townhouses is the rental income. Currently, every $1,000/month of rental income covers roughly $200,000 in mortgage. If you time things so your mortgage is paid off when you hit retirement you’ll live rent free and have thousands in rental income that will more than cover any building maintenance and taxes. It’s the affordable way to stay in Manhattan when you retire. Now compare that to a coop/condo where you never stop paying maintenance fees – and the maintenance fees just keep going up and up…

Clearly, I’d go for a townhouse, but I’m biased. The trick is finding one with the right location and price. There are many more choices when it comes to condos and coops.

Doing Renovations? Your Homeowner’s Insurance May Be Void

Posted on February 7, 2011 by BeatingUpwind

We’ve formally applied for our rehab loan and gearing up to start construction (finally!!) One of the items we knew we’d have to deal with is insurance. The bank requires it, and we want it…

When we spoke with the insurance agent our real estate lawyer recommended, he told us we needed what’s called a “builder’s risk policy” and it would cost $6,000 per year. But in talking to our loan officer he was recommending we get a homeowner’s policy that would cost a fraction of that amount.

We resisted buying the builder’s risk until we were actually doing construction. Our agent found a renter’s policy (with Chubb) that gives us liability coverage at the building (not something renter’s policies usually do). But now we need to get a proper policy and we’re conflicted. The new quote came in for the builder’s risk policy and it’s $6,916/year – almost $7,000!

We’d like to get a homeowner’s policy to save money, but in reading up on it, most homeowner’s policies won’t pay out if the building is under renovation – which is why our agent was recommending builder’s risk. You’d think the loan officer would know that – he deals in a lot of rehab mortgages. Hopefully he’ll know which insurance companies issue renovation-friendly homeowner’s policies. But the issue is that our building isn’t even habitable – somehow I think we’ll be stuck with a builder’s risk policy.

So if you’re doing renovation – check your homeowner’s policy very carefully and make sure it will payout while you’re doing work. You don’t want to pay for insurance and then find out you’re actually uninsured when you put in a claim… As much as I don’t like paying $7,000 – I’ll sleep better knowing I’m properly insured.

NYC Cars Buried In Snowbanks

Posted on February 3, 2011 by BeatingUpwind

After weeks of snow storm after snow storm, these days when you walk around New York you see a lot of cars that look like they’re swallowed up by the snow. The piles of snow just flow up and over them. On wider roads (like Broadway) the snow even goes up and over them on the street side – so they’re completely encapsulated in snow – they just look like a little hill…

Here are some pics of a few of the cars in my neighborhood (Hudson Heights)…

A Stop Work Order When Violation Is Resolved?

Posted on February 1, 2011 by BeatingUpwind

Geez… It just never ends with the NYC DOB… We STILL have a stop work order despite the fact that all the violations have been resolved. Here’s our building page on the DOB website clearly showing that we have a stop work order…

When you click on the stop work order link to see which violations are behind the stop work order you see this…

Notice there’s only one violation and the status column is “RES” (resolved). But just to reiterate the point here’s the detail page about the violation. Notice “RESOLVED” in big block letters…

I’m really sorta sick of all these sorts of things. It’s one thing to be strict, it’s another to have computer systems that are incapable of removing a stop work order when the underlying violation gets resolved. Or issuing violations for not closing an approved job that can’t be renewed.

This is 2011… They need to get a computer programmer and put some common sense into their systems…

Interesting Comp – 944 St. Nick Sold For $935K

Posted on January 31, 2011 by BeatingUpwind

I haven’t actually delved into it too much, but I get the sense that townhouse prices are going down a bit again. It’s not really what we want to hear, but it is what it is…

Case and point is 944 St. Nicolas Ave (between 157 and 158). It’s technically in Southern Washington Heights – but just barely outside the northern boundary of Harlem (which ends at 155), and historically it’s in Carmansville – most of which is now called Sugar Hill, which is part of Harlem. Anyway, it just sold for $935K (291/sq. ft. including basement). I’d say the buyers got a great deal – a perfectly livable townhouse for under $1M. If you look at the pictures below you’ll see it was in pretty good shape and appears to mostly just need a little cosmetic work to suit the tastes of the new buyers. (That said, 100 year old townhouses always need some sort of work – sometimes it’s substantial despite pretty pictures).

There are some negatives though… Subway access is OK, but not great – just the A & C trains. It’s in a pretty sleepy neighborhood, and not in a historic district. Aspects of the layout are slightly awkward. It’s “renovated”, but it looks like each of the bathrooms was renovated in a different style. And it’s on a short, 50′ lot with just 10′ of back yard.

Still, it proves good deals are out there for any of you who have budget issues…