A condop is a co-op building with both commercial units (usually on the ground floor) and residential units, each governed by separate boards, unlike a typical co-op building that only has one board looking over the whole building. A condop basically consists of two condos – One consisting of all the commercial space, while the […]
What Should You Look For In A Townhouse Or Single Family In NYC? One of the first things you should look for in a single-family townhouse is whether it has been legally converted for a single-family (with the right certificate of occupancy). You can also look for townhouses with multiple residential units if you want […]
A tax abatement is a financial benefit that may reduce the amount of property tax you have to pay in NYC. Abatements reduce the taxes after they have been calculated, and the condo owners may qualify for these tax abatements directly and get a smaller property tax bill. Since co-op buildings are taxed as a […]
What Is A Studio Apartment? In a studio apartment, there is no physical separation (in the form of walls) between a bedroom, living room, and kitchen. There is just one open space that serves all three purposes. Only the bathroom has walls separating it from the rest of the space. What Is A (Legal) One […]
Mortgage (Financing) Contingency A mortgage contingency or financing contingency saves a buyer from losing their deposit money if they are unable to get a mortgage within the time stated in the purchase contract, through no fault of their own. The mortgage contingency clause is an important part of NYC real estate purchase contracts, and it […]
What Are Post-War Buildings In NYC? Any commercial or residential building constructed after the Second World War is essentially post-war. However, most sources put the exact timeline between the 1950s and 1990s, though some start the post-war architecture period in 1945. Buildings built before that time are pre-war and buildings constructed after the 90s are […]
Mortgage Recording Tax (MRT) is collected by NYC and New York State whenever a mortgage is taken out on a “real property.” For residential property buyers, real property includes condos and townhouses, not co-ops, because co-ops are classified as legal corporations and are not considered real property. The tax is paid by property buyers since […]
An inspection or a home inspection is a detailed examination of a property by a licensed professional that checks a property’s structure, condition, appliances, and heating, cooling, plumbing, and electrical systems to see if there are any problems. These inspections are quite common before buying a property. They are more common in single-family homes than […]
Homeowner’s Association (HOA) A homeowner’s association is made up of members elected by the residents of a community, which can be an apartment building, a gated community, or simply a group of homes sharing the same developer. The main responsibility of this association is to ensure the general well-being of the community it’s serving. This […]
Any renovation or remodeling of an apartment or another structure that requires stripping away the walls and flooring to expose the “guts” of the structure is called a gut renovation. A full building or apartment gut renovation sometimes also includes tearing down walls, which leaves you with just the outer structure (shell) and load bearing […]