Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 03-20-2014, 09:20 AM
 
Location: Long Island
1 posts, read 944 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

My husband and I are in our early 40s and are looking to buy in Manhattan. We are DINKS and live on Long Island and have realized that it makes no sense to continue to live in the suburbs. We have both bought houses before so we have some experience with real estate transactions but we both find the Manhattan market daunting. I would be very grateful if anyone could volunteer some of their insight and/or experiences they’ve had. Specifically, it would be great to understand the following:

-Advice on finding a reputable broker
-Should we be pre-qualified for a mortgage before we talk to a broker?
-Attending an open house. What is the process? What is the best way to find out about upcoming open houses? I’m assuming it’s by appointment but would we need to have a broker before attending?
-What is the best way to find out the history of a building? Specifically, pest control history, maintenance history, any defaults by co-op, etc. What is the seller/HOA/co-op board legally obligated to disclose?

Thanks in advance for any advice/feedback.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-20-2014, 09:25 AM
 
Location: Florida
943 posts, read 1,196,230 times
Reputation: 368
Yes. I've had good experience with Bapple in Soho.
Yes, you should prequalify.
Most open houses are appointment only and arranged by your broker.
You can find information on the NYC.gov site for building violations and mortgages attached with the building. Be careful with HOA (condo) boards, they just want to sell the properties. Not too sure about coops though.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-20-2014, 10:41 AM
 
2,770 posts, read 3,527,676 times
Reputation: 4938
I'm the opposite, bought a condo in nyc, now in the process of buying a house in LI.

Overall the buying process is not that much different.

Don't know about coops, but i'm sure its a more painful process.

Always get mortgage pre-approval before you even start looking.

I personally find buyer's brokers to be useless, and I like dealing with selling agent directly... they seem more amenable to offers when they don't have to split a commission. but its your choice.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-20-2014, 11:37 AM
DAS
 
2,532 posts, read 6,848,938 times
Reputation: 1116
Some open houses are not by appointment. Some are listed on the realtors website. Find an agent that specializes in the specific area you want to live in.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-20-2014, 11:39 AM
 
2,770 posts, read 3,527,676 times
Reputation: 4938
One more thing, a knowledgable RE lawyer is far more important than a buyers broker.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top