When you enter into a mortgage to purchase your home, you enter into a contract that can last for decades. This does not necessarily mean that you have to stick with the same home loan until your home is paid off, however; if you are unhappy with certain aspects of your mortgage, refinancing your...
While purchasing a home is an exciting time in one's life, the process can also be extremely stressful. Contracts must be executed, the title must be checked, loan documents must be signed, and proceeds have to be delivered to the right people. Although a lawyer's assistance in a real estate clos...
A real estate agent can be an invaluable asset in the real estate process, whether you are buying a home or selling one. You and your agent will likely spend a lot of time with each other during this process, and your sale or purchase can hinge on your agent's ability to perform well. It can make...
Being approved for a home loan can often be the deciding factor on whether you are able to purchase a home. If you are in the market for a home, there are several actions which are critical in the mortgage application process, as well as several things which you should refrain from doing to give ...
If you are a joint owner of a parcel of property in New York, you may find yourself at odds with the other owner or owners of the property. One owner may wish to live in or on the property, while other owners may wish to sell the property and split the proceeds of the sale. What does one do when ...
The New York City council recently implemented new Local Law #196, a requirement that all construction workers and supervisors complete a minimum of 40 hours of occupational safety training. The program, created in response to a wave of recent worksite injuries and fatalities, will be executed in...
A landlord's dream is to find a tenant who will keep the rental property in good condition, pay rent on time, and not create any disturbances for other neighbors. Good renters can be hard to find, though, so it is important to conduct a thorough screening process for any potential tenant to whom ...
Rent control is a program that places limits on the amount of rent that the owner may charge and imposes restrictions on the process of eviction. The program is only applicable to units built prior to 1947 in certain New York localities and is not to be confused with rent-stabilized apartments—a ...
Oftentimes, people imagine the real estate closing process as an hour-long meeting filled with seemingly endless paperwork to be signed. The signing process is only a step in the real estate closing process. Equally as important to a real estate closing is the title examination, which is meant to...
Leases are contracts between landlords and tenants for the rental of property. Provisions within these agreements explain the rights and responsibilities of the parties. Laws established by local, state, and federal governments apply to tenant-landlord relationships. Tenants are expected to fulfi...
New York has a unique way of conducting tenant screening for housing. New Yorks Office of Court Administration releases housing court information to tenant screening businesses. Landlords utilize this data to decide whether to rent to applicants who have consented to a background check. Those wi...
In April 2018, the collective bargaining agreement between the owners of New York apartment buildings and roughly 31,000 building service workers will expire. These contracts are negotiated every four years between the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations (which represents the real estate own...
Roughly 35% of the U.S. population resides in rental housing while in New York this figure is approximately 24%. New York City is among the most costly cities to purchase or lease residential property with the median rent price of $1,830 for unregulated units in 2016. The city has managed laws re...
Reasonably priced apartments are not easy to find in New York City, a factor contributing to the citys ranking as 2nd in terms of the cost of living. Since 1991, New York City has added 488,478 units of housing and 1.1 million jobs. New units for ownership have grown much more rapidly than renta...
Under current law in New York City, it is illegal to rent apartments for less than periods of 30 days in multi-unit buildings. Airbnb, the increasingly popular vacation rental platform, is accused of causing a surge in rental prices and limiting unit availability. The Hotel Trades Council and Mc...
The title insurance industry is a small segment in the real estate realm that is accused of spending excessively to obtain referral business. The NY Times explained how clients are routinely taken to sporting events, country clubs, lavish steakhouses and even clubs offering adult entertainment. W...
In 2017, a group of homeowners, renters, landlords and organizations associated with social justice and civil rights has formed a consumer coalition: Tax Equity Now New York (TENNY). This coalition was created to address inequities in the states property tax system through a lawsuit. The group h...
Perhaps you have a roommate that is intolerable, are ending a relationship, or have a great job offer in another town? To break a lease, first you should determine what your remaining obligation is. The best initial course of action is typically to reach out to the landlord. This should be done i...
Leonard Steinbergs real-estate brokerage named Compass has spent years involved in the sales of homes in New York City, often those purchased by very wealthy residents. He claims that buyers are much more open to considering different neighborhoods than they were five years ago. He finds his buy...
A new law will take effect in August 2018 involving Local Law 147, which outlines policies about smoking in a residential building in New York City. The law applies regardless of the ownership structure and requires that all multi-unit buildings implement a formal policy regarding smoking. This l...
As real estate markets in Manhattan and surrounding regions have been flat, the market in Brooklyn continued to rise in 2017. The borough had their third-highest pricing report ever, as the median sales price was $770,000, a 2.7% increase over last year. The appraisal firm of Miller Samuel explai...
According to Orkin, a national extermination company, New York City ranks 8th in the country for most cases of bedbugs. This is an improvement over 2015 and 2016 where the city ranked 4th. The leaders included Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, and Columbus, OH. Lawmakers made a change in Nov...
Residential housing in New York City (NYC) is somewhat unique. We will take a look at the primary housing options for buyers in Manhattan. Apartments generally are either cooperative housing “co-ops” or condominiums “condos”. There are also some private housing options including townhouses and br...
Justa Lopez, a 100-year-old woman, has resided in her E. 78th Street apartment on the Upper East Side for over 50 years. Last year she fell and broke her pelvic bone and has transitioned from a hospital, to a nursing home, and to her daughters home over the course of her lengthy recovery from th...
New York recently implemented changes to their civil processes, one of which is Rule 3408. This provision requires that in actions of residential foreclosure, a settlement conference be held within sixty days of when the summons and complaint are filed. At this conference, parties must demonstrat...
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