Port Imperial Condo - construction litigation - Grandview i & II - (West New York: for rent, HOA fees)

[pje192]

I am looking to purchase a condo (to live in, not to rent out) in either Grandview I or II in the Port Imperial area of West New York. I understand that they have filed what is being called transitional litigation for construction defects. The RE agents are downplaying this as standard up and down the river in order to extend the warranty period. I know that during the litigation, the options for financing are limited as most large banks will not touch it. Does anyone know more about this. I am in the process of getting all of the condo docs and having a attorney do due diligence but at first mention, she was very wary of this. Is she too cautious or is this something to stay away from? Does anyone know of these buildings and have a opinion about living there? Thanks!

[newdude05]

i dont know about the ongoing litigation, you need to have the attorney call the management office to find out if it's structural issues or other non-items.

But i looked at this building when i was buying in the waterfront area and it was a immediate no, for the following reasons:

1) This development is located in WNY, which comes with WNY's high property tax but horrible schools. It basically has all the negatives of the immediate areas with no positives.

2) The building itself has high monthly HOA fees, on top of high property tax as mentioned above, and the price is also on the high side (for a pretty small 2br/2ba, it's in the 600-700k range which is ridiculous).

There are far better values in the area:

1) Look in the many areas of fort lee - it has similar taxes as WNY but the schools are outstanding, which will help keep the value of the property significantly during a downturn, especially as the area has a very large asian population.

2) Look in edgewater - it is half the property tax as WNY while has far better schools than WNY (not as good as fort lee, but still much higher than WNY). The area is similar waterfront location, but is surrounded by better shops in the immediate area.

Bottomline WNY is priced as the other areas, has high tax, but without the good or even average schools. It's good area for rent, but i will never buy there.

There's a reason why there are so many units from grandview and bulls ferry sitting on the market, while properties in fort lee and edgewater are getting sold quickly(excluding the coops) with little inventory