off topic Real Estate

hey all,

I'm beginning to look for my first place to buy in NY.

Not to sound like a dumb ass, but is there any advice you'd give someone

with no real estate buying experience. I know for the most part how things

work. I was hoping to get some real life tips Thanks!

ugh, i hate to think about my failed experience. but the biggest thing i learned was to pay rent with a check and keep all cancelled checks. my paying in cash ruined it for me. also, if you feel you really like it, make a jump and make an offer. places get taken up quickly! you can keep looking, and have the right to back out as long as you have not signed anything binding

Co-op, Condo or House?

well, I would like a condo so I can put less down, they also less strict, I would not want to go before a board and have them look at my finances

I'm also looking for something along the lines of a dump. I plan on gutting it myself and acting as the GC, I can do the majority of work and bring in subs as I need them.

jenniebutterfly said:

ugh, i hate to think about my failed experience. but the biggest thing i learned was to pay rent with a check and keep all cancelled checks. my paying in cash ruined it for me. also, if you feel you really like it, make a jump and make an offer. places get taken up quickly! you can keep looking, and have the right to back out as long as you have not signed anything binding

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I've got all my rent checks saved for the past seven years.

I have a condo in midtown i am renting out... i suggest yoU do it because no matter whaT, it WILL go up in price! it's a paiN in the butt to paY off, but if it's in the city, it should double wiThin a few years, especiaLLy nowadays... wiLLiamsburgh is aLso a great area, and am gueSSing it will be the neXt brookLyn heights within 10 yrs :yo:

I was thinking of BK, but this is going to double as a "office" so I need to stay in the city to be near the majority of my clients.

do you think getting something at the high end of what I could afford is smart, and hope it appreciates even more? or is sticking within my budget a better plan, I'll still need some cash left over to pay the electric bill, lol.

actually greenpoint is a great area too. places here are really expensive now. i one bedroom a few streets down from me rents for 2400. crazy crazy crazy. and there are lots of places that need tlc here as well. maybe go for a whole building and rent out some of the floors to pay it off

High end in what location? ...[cliche] location, location.... my place here in brooKlyn/williamsburgh has tripled in the past 10 years... :sigh1:

well my high end is not very high, I'm looking at 400K, but that's for a dump.
I'd like to do it for even less. Now I'm the Bargin hunter
a large one bedroom, something like 800 sq ft if possible, in the down town area, more west than east, that's where I'm starting from.

Jenn, I don't think I could swing a whole building anywhere, renting out floors would be cool, I'd have to think about that. but that's way more than I could handle off the bat.

Hmmm...400 is touGh :bigeyes2: dunno wat to say... that'S majoR bargain hunting in a good area... 1-bedroom, MAYBE :sigh1:

they are out there, remember I'm not going to be picky about condition, I want something that needs a lot of work.

I'll see what's really out there this week, up till now I've just been looking at ads online.

i went on word-of-mouth. mY only regret was i didn't get a bigger pLace :sigh1: BUT, it's better thaN no pLace :yo: you pLanning on flipping it?

good luck!

I'm not sure, that's one option, but I might want to live in it as well, and wait for it to appreciate. It depends on what I find and what the monthly cost ends up being.

zahner said:

good luck!

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thanks for the advice :joke:


or do you mean that as advice?

hehehe, being a renter I have no tried and true advice, tho I think there is a lot of luck involved in finding the right place and I hope the process goes well for you. since this is an advice thread, make sure you hire a reputable independent engineer so you don't have any surprises when renovating. I think buying a place that needs work is a smart idea; that way you can customize the place to your needs (in-wall tank, fish room, etc ) rather than pay top dollar for someone else's idea of luxury and end up ripping half of it out. keep us posted!

My advice would be to get a good lawyer

House

zahner said:

hehehe, being a renter I have no tried and true advice, tho I think there is a lot of luck involved in finding the right place and I hope the process goes well for you. since this is an advice thread, make sure you hire a reputable independent engineer so you don't have any surprises when renovating. I think buying a place that needs work is a smart idea; that way you can customize the place to your needs (in-wall tank, fish room, etc ) rather than pay top dollar for someone else's idea of luxury and end up ripping half of it out. keep us posted!

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those are my thoughts, I make other peoples homes look nice for a living, so i'd like to do mine as well. no matter what I bought I'd be ripping out the kitchen and bathrooms for sure, well actually I'd probably gut just about anything I bought. i could not afford to buy what I'd really want my place to look like. so basically I'm paying for the materials, then it's up to me to make it work.

now if I cam find a place for a nice in wall tank l ,like a room divider I think I know a few people that could help build it. can that be worked into the mortgage as home improvement?

Jonathan, there was (is?) a 4 floor brownstone around the corner from my place for $790K that needs a gut reno. Dump another half mil in the place and you have a place worth about $2mil. In the ghetto of course.

Anyone call dibbs on the place you're in now?

B