Tag Archives: jerry feeney

The Casual Landlord: Dealing with the Non Paying Tenant

Residential Real Estate Lawyer Guide Landlord Tenant

The non-paying tenant can be devastating to your financial plans for the property. In addition to the obvious issues of cash flow, a non-paying tenant in possession continues to have access rights, and can interfere with a landlord’s plans to market and sell a property. And eviction is also expensive and time-consuming. And typically the …

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Refinancing Options for Underwater Homeowners

Residential Real Estate Lawyer Mortgage Homeowners Selling Real Estate

There is new relief in sight for homeowners “underwater” on their mortgage, where the market value of the property is less than the outstanding payoff of their mortgage. Previously, only those whose mortgage was no more than 125% of the market value of their home were eligible, and then only in certain circumstances. That permitted …

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The Casual Landlord: Some Advice for First Timers

Residential Real Estate Lawyer Buying Real Estate Landlord

Being a landlord is not an easy line of work. And in this market where some homeowners opt to become landlords “temporarily” and rent their empty home until market conditions improve, it’s easy to end up in a far worse financial situation than you were in before taking on the landlord role. Here are a …

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Buying Real Estate and the Internet: A User’s Guide

Separating the useful information from the “not so useful”

Residential Real Estate Lawyer Buying Real Estate Guide

Buyers in today’s market have no lack of information when it comes to real estate. And much of that information flows in through the internet, with new real estate blogs and Q&A from “experts” popping up as quickly as the google engines can find them. The trick for customers in today’s market then is separating …

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New York State Tax Department and the Second Home

Residential Real Estate Lawyer New York State Income Tax

So unless you have been on a desert island for the last week with no internet access, you have likely heard about the case involving the Connecticut couple that just lost a tax appeal to the tune of about $1 million in back taxes, interest and penalties.  The case hinged around a second home they …

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Welcome to the Building! Please Get Rid of Your Dog!

Residential Real Estate Lawyer Legal Tips Pet House

I had a client call me in tears a few years ago relating the following story. She and her husband decided to adopt a dog from a shelter. Her building had a policy that permitted dogs, but restricted them to a 30 lb. weight limit. Not entirely uncommon in our region to have such a …

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Can I Borrow Your Sculptor?

A phenomenon unique to our New York real estate market

Apartment Renovation

In the land of the bizarre (New York real estate), some phenomena unique to our market raise eyebrows for even the most jaded of real estate experts. Explaining these to potential buyers can be a challenge, so we begin here a series on these unusual issues with a brief primer on each. Can I Borrow …

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Is My Building Really Worth Less Than my Apartment?

Understanding Building Financials

Building financial statements have taken on a new found prominence in the age of tough bank underwriting, as institutional lenders are now scrutinizing these reports to determine whether the collateral – the apartment being financed – as opposed to the borrower, are worthy of extending a loan.  But to the non-CPAs in the crowd, these …

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Ten Rules for Successful Real Estate Deals in 2011

What separates those deals that are successful, from those that fail?

Having successfully closed well over a thousand real estate deals, trends develop that separate those deals that are successful, from those that fail.  And in the new reality of post-Lehman markets, the rules of the game are different – sometimes markedly so.  Looking forward to a successful 2011, I offer the following insights that might …

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The Emotional Component of Real Estate

Change is a part of all industries. And real estate is no different.

Emotional Cost Real Estate

In 1978 Sony invented a device that enabled people to carry their music with them, and play cassettes (that’s what we called them then) without being tied to their home. The Walkman revolutionized the music industry, and paved the way to mobile music. They were first, and the innovator. Why then do I have an …

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