FAQ

Does the furniture come with NYC condos?

Many of the website photos of the condos will have furnitures and fully furnished units.

Does NYC Condo have a Garage in it?

We are Manhattan New York condo specialists, we sell many Manhattan Condos to international and out of town buyers, a common Manhattan NY Condo question that always comes up is, “Does this Condo have a Garage in it?”

The answer is that not all Condominium buildings will have a garage, most will not. If  the Manhattan New York condo has a garage often the garage will be owned and operated by a separate company or vendor independent of the condo association. So if you own or rent an Manhattan New York apartment in the building, it DOES NOT automatically come with a parking spot.

In some Manhattan New York New construction buildings that have built in garages where you have had the opportunity to purchase your own parking spot.  When you buy a parking spot it will often be like purchasing any other “real property.” You will have monthly or yearly operating expenses to own it.  You could rent it out to other people just like an apartment depending on the rules of the garage.

Often what we find extremely useful is if you can gain access to the garage from within the building.  This is where we see some real utility of having a garage in the building.  Those days when you are dropping off groceries, luggage and you can go directly from the car to the condominium elevators and up to your apartment is a terrific convenience amenity to have at your disposal.

If there is a garage in your building but it is operated independently of the condominium association people ask if they get a discount for parking there. That answer depends on the arrangement the building has with the garage.  We would lean towards saying that probably not.  You will rent the space like anybody else, but the benefit is that being able to use a garage that is right next to or within your building will be very valuable especially on those cold rainy winter days when you are coming back from the airport or when your car is loaded with groceries.

How much will a parking spot cost? That is a very typical question and it really depends on the location and demand for a garage in the particular area you are looking in.  The price typically has a strong correlation to the pricing of apartments in the area.  Typically areas with a high demand for apartments will have an equally high demand for parking and therefore the price will reflect that high demand.  I have seen parking spaces be as high as $1000/month and sometimes as low as $200/month in certain parts of Manhattan.  The best way to find out is to just ask and you will quickly see what the pricing for your neighborhood will be.

Other Frequent Asked Questions:

Can I get more discount as an ALL CASH buyer?

What is a condo common charge?

What is an sale application?

Who can fix my condo if something breaks?

Are the Manhattan New York condo Pet Friendly?

Are the Manhattan New York condo Pet Friendly?

One of the most common questions we receive is regarding the pet policy in a condominium building.

The answer is that every building has a different pet policy. Most buildings will allow pets, but will have specific guidelines that outline if they allow both cats and dogs and the size and quantity of each.  Aggressive breeds of dogs are usually prohibited.

In Manhattan New York; if you have larger dogs (50 lbs+) there are only several buildings that will  be available to you. Some buildings do not allow any pets at all, but when you visit the building you will see some unit owners coming in and out of the building with their dogs.

This is typically because those pets had a “grandfather clause” and were already in the building prior to the most recent decision to change the pet policy in the building.

In looking to buy Manhattan New York condos, it’s very important to ask about a building’s pet policy before you start looking at apartments because a pet policy is not something that will be amended to your specific situation.  Unless the pet is a service pet that is required, no matter how much you like an apartment if the building has a strict no pet policy there is not much you can do to change it.

In Manhattan New York, most buildings will require you to use separate elevators and you must notify the building of the type of animal that you are have.  This is typically because of insurance reasons, but depends on building to building.

If you are looking at purchasing a Manhattan condominium and will be bringing your pet to the apartment even if its for just a few days a week, month or year let us know what type of pet and how many you have so that we can make sure the condominiums we will be looking at allow them.

What is a sales application for Manhattan NY condos?

What is a sales application for Manhattan NY condos?

We are Manhattan New York condo specialists, often we are asked by our buyers of series of questions that are regards to the unique Manhattan New York condo markets. We will be answering these frequent asked questions and hope to help other buyers who are interested in buying or investing in Manhattan New York condominiums.

In Manhattan New York, over 15% of the housing inventory are condominiums, when a buyer purchase a unit within the condominium community, there are application to be completed. (with the exception of purchasing new development condos from the sponsor prior to condo board formed and in place.) Each building and condo management has different applications and processing fees. Every buyer whether they are buying as primary residence, second home, investment, will need to complete the ‘sales or purchase application’ when purchase Manhattan New York condos. There are processing and application fees along with the applications as well.

Here is example of a Manhattan New York condo purchase application from a condominium unit that we sold recently.

There will be reference letters required from the buyer, two years of W-2 forms & tax returns, and bank verification letters along with other documents. The sales application must be completed according to instruction or the sales can not move forward. In case of oversea buyers, there may not be tax returns or W2 forms, we can then discuss in details with condo management to find other items or documents to suffice that request.

Other than providing all the paperwork documents, please take note that there are a list of checks that must be submitted in order to process the application.  Each condo building has different list of fees but this serves as a sample for your record.

Each Manhattan New York condos has different sales or purchase application. We are familiar with the sales application process.

If you would like to get your home search started, or sell your condo today, drop us a note!

Who can help me rent out and manage the condo once I own it?

Who can help me rent out and manage the condo once I own it?

We are Manhattan New York condo specialists, we work with many out of town and oversea investors often asked about Manhattan New York condos. Often we are asked by our buyers of series of questions that are regards to the unique Manhattan New York condo markets. We will be answering these frequent asked questions and hope to help other buyers who are interested in buying or investing in Manhattan New York condominiums.

One of the common asked question by our out of town investor buyers: Who can help me rent out and manage the condo once I own it? This is a good question, we work with many out of town and oversea investor buyers that also asked the similar question because they are not Manhattan New York based and would like a full range of service. We as Manhattan New York condo specialists, we not only assist our clients sell, buy, invest their Manhattan New York condos, we also facilitate in securing a qualified tenant for their investment property. Once the condo is closed and owned by our buyers, we begin to market the condo as a rental property, answer to rental requests and appointment, qualifying the perspective tenant to ensure they are financially qualified and suitable for the condo. The fee for this service will be case on case basis. Manhattan New York rental brokerage marketing fee is 15% of the first year rent, though depending on the location of the condo, rental price and other key factors, we can discuss in details.

Managing the Manhattan New York condo, depending on clients needs, there are different options. Option one would be the owners manage the tenant and the condo by themselves, this is easy to do especially with Manhattan New York condo, there is a building staff and maintenance department a phone call or email away. Option two, we will be able to handle the property management in terms of being client’s contact person here in Manhattan New York, we will be collecting rent from the tenants, handling questions and inquiries and etc. There will be a fee in involved in this, as based on each clients’ need, we can discuss different packages we offer.

DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION IN REGARD TO MANHATTAN NEW YORK CONDOS?
Let us know and we would love to answer for you.

Who can fix my condo if something breaks in my Manhattan NY condo?

Who can fix my condo if something breaks in my Manhattan NY condo?

We are Manhattan New York condo specialists, often we are asked by our buyers of series of questions that are regards to the unique Manhattan New York condo markets. We will be answering these frequent asked questions and hope to help other buyers who are interested in buying or investing in Manhattan New York condominiums.

Working with many Manhattan New York condo buyers who are from out of town who are more familiar with single family house, we are often asked “Who can fix my condo if something breaks in my Manhattan NY condo?”. Many of our buyers purchase their Manhattan New York condo as second home, investment or for their son/daughter who goes to school or works in Manhattan New York. Maintaining the condo in good shape is on top of their list.

Owning a Manhattan New York condominium is different than owning your own single family house. When you own a Manhattan New York condo, you are an owner of a special community. This community often consist of other condo owner residents, building staff (doorman, porters, handyman and superintendent) and building management. When and if something breaks in the property, you can contact either the building management or superintendent to have a look to see if they can help you fix it. Depending on what the repair will be, if it is minor, the building handyman should be able to help you resolve the issue.

Issues such as de-clog the drain, toilet, faucet, to proper running of hot/cold water, heat and cold air. These are items that the building maintenance staff can help you with, if the building staff can not fix the issue, they usually can and will recommend another specialist (plumber, electrician and etc) that will repair or look after the issue.

The condominium community with a maintenance team and support system is most ideal for buyers who has a busy lifestyle or out of town buyers/investors. With a phone call, or email to the management or the condo maintenance department, your toilet or heat can be fix before you get home from work. This is one of the huge benefit in buying in Condominium community.

Read about other frequent asked questions:

How to make an offer in New York city?

What is condo common charge?

Can I get more discount as an All Cash buyer?

If you or someone you know would like to buy or sell Manhattan New York condominiums, please call us directly today at (917) 837- 8869.

We specialize in Manhattan New York condominium market and have experiences selling Manhattan New York condos in different neighborhoods, we offer confidential consultation customize to your specific investment needs.

How to Make Offers in to buy NYC Condo?

How to Make Offers in to buy NYC Condo?

Manhattan New York Real Estate market is an unique market place, we work with many out of town and international buyers who brings their own ideas and previous experiences of Real Estate transaction into this market place and realize that there is a different way to complete a Real Estate transaction in Manhattan New York. Working with us, we will educate you not only the market, we will also educate you through out the entire Manhattan New York condo buying process.

Unlike other parts of the country or world, when a buyer makes an offer on a property here in New York, the offer is made through us, the Real Estate agents and the buyers do not sign any contracts or purchase agreement when making an offer.

Real Estate professionals DO NOT WRITE the contracts here in Manhattan New York.

Title companies DO-NOT schedule the closings here either. Manhattan New York is an Real Estate attorney state, therefore all closing arrangements are done through Manhattan New York certified Real Estate attorneys. Both buyer and seller will each need an attorney to represent each party. We work with experienced Real Estate attorneys that we will able to recommend you one that best suited for your purchase.

To make an offer here in Manhattan New York in the case of Manhattan New York condominiums, as a buyer you will need:

Proof of funds: if it is all cash, a bank or stock statement demonstrate that there is enough cash to make the purchase (ideally a United States bank or stock statement). If it is financing contingent, pre-approval from a United State bank is a must.

Any contingencies: in Manhattan New York, the common contingencies includes financing contingency to ensure bank will lend, funding contingency to ensure bank will fund(wire money) the transaction, and other sale contingency; if there any prior sale need to happen in order to make the new purchase.

Manhattan New York Real Estate market usually do not have ‘INSPECTION’ period especially in Manhattan New York market place, most are condominiums or cooperative structure, inspection is often for Townhouses or single houses only, therefore, there is usually NO INSPECTION contingent as other parts of the country. Manhattan New York condominiums are purchased AS IS.

Closing date: This will depend on if you are buying a new condo or a resale condo. If it is a new condominium buying from sponsor, and the condo is ready, the closing date can be as soon as one to two weeks. If it is a new condominium and the construction is still on the way, then this time frame varies. If it is a resale condominium, if the owner is ready to move, and the transaction is all cash, then the time frame can be 45 days as soon as condo board approves the condo application. If financing for a resale condo, this time frame can be 60-90 days or more.

Personal Financial statement: This is sometimes required depending on the property (or if cooperative) and if there are other multiple bidding scenario. The personal financial statement includes all assets disclosure such as bank statements, 401K, retirement funds, other owned real estate, other mortgage or liabilities and etc. Full disclosure is a must if it is a Manhattan New York cooperative disclosure.

Once the offer is verbally accepted by the owner (seller), then we will have to provide a Real Estate attorney information immediately to start the contract. We work with a team of experienced Real Estate attorneys that we will able to recommend you one that best suited for your purchase.

Read about other frequent asked questions:

What is condo common charge?

Can I get more discount as an All Cash buyer?

If you or someone you know would like to buy or sell Manhattan New York condominiums, please call us directly today at (917) 837- 8869.

We specialize in Manhattan New York condominium market and have experiences selling Manhattan New York condos in different neighborhoods, we offer confidential consultation customize to your specific investment needs.

What is Common Charge in Manhattan New York Condominium Market?

Manhattan NY Condos FAQ: What is Common Charge in Manhattan New York Condominium Market?

Common Charge often is abbreviated as “CC” in many of Manhattan New York property listings. Common charge is also known as Home Owner Association Dues in other parts of the country in United States.

In Manhattan New York condominium market, each owner of the condo unit are responsible for the monthly Common Charge. Depending on each condo buildings policies and rules, these common charges usually includes the salary of the building staff, operational expenses of the condo common space such as hallway, elevator, lobby, amenities(if any), each units water, gas usage, cool and hot air (although this may vary depending on the building).

In the scenario of a Manhattan cooperative(Co-Op), there will be a “Maintenance charge” instead of “common charge”. Please note that there is a difference between Maintenance charge and common charge due to the differences of cooperative and condominiums. “maintenance charge” usually is a total sum of the monthly cost of that particular cooperative unit, which includes the allocated shared building carrying cost, real estate taxes of the cooperative unit, underlying mortgage of the cooperative and etc. Manhattan New York condominiums common charge does not include any Real Estate taxes or underlying building mortgage.

Common Charge usually is billed by the condo management on the monthly basis. If the owners preferred, they can make an arrangement with the condo management to pre-paid the common charge if the owner is not Manhattan local based or will be traveling for a period of time.

If the owner of condominiums uses this Manhattan NY condo as an investment or rental property, then the owner of the condo is responsible to pay for the monthly common charge not the tenant. It is also advisable that the owner stay in charge paying the common charge instead of the perspective tenants, otherwise in case of the default of common charge by the perspective tenant, the owner may be liable for additional penalty cost or other serious consequences enforced by the condo management.

If you or someone you know would like to buy or sell Manhattan New York condominiums, please call us directly today at (917) 837- 8869 or contact us.

We specialize in Manhattan New York condominium market and have experiences selling Manhattan New York condos in different neighborhoods, we offer confidential consultation customize to your specific investment needs.