Category Archives: Historic district

BuyingtipsforManhattanproperty, Co-ops, Historic district, Upperwestside

What is it like to buy a co-op on the Upper Westside in NYC?

Co-op Board Process

In this post, we will discuss the Co-op Board process for a typical upper west side building on Manhattan’s upper west side. When you have already found an apartment and are in contract, you will begin two processes- your loan application and your co-op application. We will give an overview of the 2nd process.

You will prepare documents to submit to the Building’s management. This will include reference letters-both personal and professional as well as a financial statement with supporting documents, many disclosures, and even a landlord or management reference letter. Once you have prepared these documents, they will be uploaded to a portal or if the management is still in love with paper, you will be dealing with paper.

When you have everything prepared you can submit it to your real estate broker who will review it and help to present it in the best possible light. The seller’s broker as per protocol will review as well and make suggestions to your real estate broker.

In NYC co-ops, management will review the submitted package and then will request clarifications or missing documents. This process of management review for a co-op will likely take about 2 weeks depending on the building. Then it goest to the Board of Directors.

On the Upper West Side, it depends on the building as to what will be evaluated by the Board. Is the building a small, non-doorman building or a historic, architecturally significant residence on Central Park West? Some buildings will be flexible with the usual guidelines and some will be more rigid. Speak to your Broker prior to submitting an offer to understand the guidelines. In general, Boards in cooperatives would like to see 20-25% down payment, 28% Debt to income ratio, and 2 years of post-closing reserves. Long term debt like cars or student loans will be factored in. If your monthly mortgage and maintenance is projected to be $5000 then showing $120,000 in your Chase account after allocating your down payment will be ideal.

Advanced tips
Pay off your credit card debt
If you are short on Post-closing reserves, ask Mom or Dad for a gift to cover those reserves. You can return the money after closing.
Reference letters should be from people that know you very well and should speak about how they know you and why you would be an ideal addition to your prospective co-op
Get your Board application in as soon as possible especially if you are trying to move by a certain time as in when your NYC lease expires.

Hopefully, the Board will then ask you to come in for an interview. In most cases, you are probably on your way to becoming a shareholder. But still treat it like a professional interview and do not offer more information than you are asked.
In the case where you are turned down, unfortunately, there is not too much you can do but little known fact, you can re-submit your application especially if you can get some intel as to why the rejection.

Buying an Upper West Side cooperatives can be a challenge especially when inventory is low, but putting together a good Co-op Board application can really help you to increase your odds of approval. Be patient with the process and you will make it through.

About the Author
Brian Silvestry is a licensed real estate broker on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He has been licensed since 1999 and lives on the Upper West side since 2004.

HamiltonHeights, Harlem, Historic district, SugarHill

730 Saint Nicholas ave back in the market after community stops drug treatment center conversion

730 St Nicholas ave, located in the Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill historic district was previously in the news as it was going to be converted to a drug treatment center. The Community mobilized and was able to stop the conversion of the historic home and as a result, the owner has put the property back in the market for roughly $1 million more than the 2017 purchase price.

If sold at their asking price, it would break the record for most expensive Harlem townhouse. However, sales are very slow at this price point in Harlem so a sale may be hard to come by.

The Author-  Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.

 

HamiltonHeights, Harlem, Historic district, Listings, Rentals

423 West 147th street apt 2 rented

A 1 bedroom with a den in a brownstone between St Nicholas avenue and Convent avenue was rented for $2,350. The apartment was in the market for less than 20 days and was rented without any concessions. The 900 sqft +/- space featured high ceilings, fireplace mantels, plenty of woodwork and pocket doors.

The Author-  Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every Manhattan market from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.

 

 

 

HamiltonHeights, Harlem, Historic district, SugarHill

Harlem neighbors trying to prevent Methadone clinic from opening

Neighbors in the Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill historic district gathered to protest the potential opening of yet another drug treatment facility in Harlem. According to officials 13 of the 29 methadone clinics in Manhattan are located in Harlem. The operator, Argus Community Inc. needs to get a license from the State to operate a methadone clinic and neighbors are trying to prevent that from happening. The building in question 730 Saint Nicholas avenue was purchased for $ 4.3 million in August of 2017.

Why does an operator buy such an expensive property in a landmark, residential district to convert to a methadone clinic?

Full coverage from Patch.com

Previous coverage

Harlem, Historic district

Landmarks Commission designates new historic district in Central Harlem

The LPC has approved the designation of a new historic district for Central Harlem. The stretch between West 130th street to West 132nd street between Lenox and Adam Clayton Powell encompasses 164 buildings which are mostly row houses. LPC rules take effect immediately. But with the LPC currently without a leader and reform potentially coming to the commission, the precise effect of new historic districts are unknown at this point.

Full coverage

The Author-  Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.

 

Airrights, Buying tips for your NYC apartment, Historic district

What use are air rights in a Manhattan townhouse in a historic district?

If your plan is to expand a Manhattan townhouse in a landmark district you will need to get approval from the Landmark Preservation Commission(LPC) before getting a Department of Buildings Permit. You  should hire an architect who is familiar and has worked before with the LPC so that they can best advise you. Generally, you might be able to build an extension on the back of the house that will match what the LPC has approved for neighboring properties but they may or may not let you go as high as they did. Also, materials used in the renovation will influence their decision to approve or deny including down to the types of windows and colors of the window frames.

Putting a penthouse on the roof might also be acceptable but it can not be visible from the street. So you might have 3000 square foot of air rights left on an Upper West townhouse on park block but the likelihood that you will be able to use  them all will be small.

The Author-  Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.

Community Board 10, Harlem, Historic district, Mount Morris

Community Board turns down 128 West 119th street windows proposal

At the Landmarks committee meeting of Community Board 10 last night, the Community Board turned down the owners of 128 West 119th street who were looking to gain support for installing flat windows on the 2nd floor of the townhouse in the Mount Morris Historic district. At the meeting, the architect for the new owners cited cost as one of the obstacles to installation of the curved windows. The new owners received a bid that would add an additional $30,000 to the cost of the renovation just for the 3 windows. The Community Board and the Block association recommended that they request additional bids to install curved windows in the 2nd floor window. The 20 foot wide house was purchased one year ago for $2,795,000 according to public records. According to the architect, there are 12 townhouses on the block with a similar curved facade, and 9 of them have flat windows and 3 have curved ones.

The Author-  Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.

HamiltonHeights, Harlem, Historic district

401 West 147th street being cleaned up

401 West 147th street, a 16′ wide townhouse that has been abandoned for the last several years, in the Historic district of Sugar Hill, is being cleaned up. A crew of 2-3 people were in the house yesterday loading up a full dumpster’s worth of materials.  No permits are filed to give an indication of what work will be done. But at least, this may be the beginning of the end of this being an eyesore of one of Manhattan’s most beautiful blocks.

The Author-  Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.

 

CentralParkWest, Historic district, Listings, Sales

Recent closed Upper West side townhouse sales

15-17 West 94th street– Two interconnected townhouses on a Park block which offering a mixture of free market and rent stabilized tenants were sold for a total of $9.6 million. The buildings were 18′ wide each and about 70 feet deep. This properties will be ideal for a conversion to condos or maybe a large mansion. The purchaser was Dikran Properties LLC. The sale closed 1/30/18.

42 West 94th street- Also located in the Upper west side/Central Park west historic district, this legal 8 unit townhouse had a mixture of free market and rent stabilized tenants. The 17 by 52 built townhouse sold for $4.35 million and closed 1/17/18. The purchaser was listed as 42 West 94th, Inc.

Both of these properties appeared to have changed hands in off market transactions though they were previously listed by real estate brokers.

The Author-  Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.