CO-OP/CONDO BUYERS

Chances are that, if you live in a co-op or condo, you've heard far more about the 421a tax exemption in recent news than you have about the J-51 program. The latter tax abatement program can potentially help buildings save thousands of dollars, and expires this month. It's not received the same amount of press coverage as 421a, but State Senator Anthony Avella is working to change that. On June 3, Senator Avella introduced a J-51 extender bill, and is working on a companion bill in the New York State Assembly.

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We're not all amateur entomologists, so if you catch a creepy crawly scuttling around in your apartment in the corner of your eye, it's understandable if you panic. After all, bedbugs really are the stuff of nightmares. If you think that's an exaggeration, then you've never lived through an infestation. But if you see something that looks like one of these ghastly little beasts, it might not actually be a bedbug. Brickunderground has compiled a list of bugs that look like these dastardly devils. That's right: as if they weren't horrific enough on their own, they've got doppelgängers. The most alarming one on the list? Bat bugs. "These tricky insects resemble bed bugs so closely that it takes an expert to identify them," says Brickunderground. Great. Itching yet? In the meantime, let's hope these guys finalize their system to eradicate them for good! 

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A READER ASKS: I would like to install several ductless air-conditioning units in my apartment to replace the window A/C units. I’m on the 10th floor of a 12-story condominium. Installing the unit on the roof seems like the most practical option, but my board has raised some concerns regarding running the lines outside the building. What are some of the issues I need to contend with to install a ductless air-conditioner?

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It was only a matter of time, really. The gritty Lower East Side was already changing by the nineties. But revitalization tends to mean gentrification and, today, condo prices are starting to soar as high as those in historically pricier neighborhoods, such as SoHo, NoLIta, and NoHo. The New York Times reports that "one of the newest condo developments to be marketed on the Lower East Side — stretching from Houston Street to the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Bowery to the East River — is 50 Clinton. Demolition to make way for the seven-story masonry building, which replaces a row of one-story shops that included the restaurant WD-50, began in May, with occupancy set for the fourth quarter of 2016." Average ticket price? Approximately $2,100 per square foot. For those keeping track, that figure is nearly double "the $1,167 average price per square foot for Lower East Side condos over the last year, and well over the $705 per square foot average price of co-ops, according to data provided by CityRealty, a real estate listings and research service."

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A husband and wife found the perfect apartment — no small feat in the complex world of New York City real estate — located in a "white-glove" co-op, complete with private entrance. Very, very posh. The couple's bid was accepted, but then the pair read the building's governing documents and got a glimpse of living large that made them very uncomfortable. "They said that 'household help' was restricted to using service elevators and entrances, while residents could use the main ones. Two sets of laundry facilities separated such workers from residents. My husband noted that since we would have our own entrance and don’t have any household help, the bylaws wouldn’t affect us. But we would still do our laundry in the separate laundry rooms and would still be a part of what we consider reprehensible policies," they write to Ronda Kaysen in this week's Ask Real Estate column in The New York Times. The couple withdrew its bid and wants to know whether the building's policies are ethical or even legal. Kaysen explains that by definition, a white-glove building "connotes Old World (and old money) sensibilities — a modern-day 'Downton Abbey' on the Upper East Side." After all, Kaysen points out, the term "white-glove building" refers to the gloves its staff either still wears or tended to wear in the past. So it's no surprise that, first, they include language about "household help" and that, second, they have policies in place that keep domestic staff out of sight. Kaysen adds, however, that governing documents don't necessarily offer an accurate picture of a building's culture. For example, the language and policies with which the couple took umbrage may have been drafted decades ago and may be no longer enforced. For better insight, the couple might have asked to read meeting minutes, asked brokers for details about the building's cultural atmosphere or jumped on the old Google machine for an inside scoop. 

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Is your building in a state historical district or a designated state landmark? If so, you might be able to take advantage of the New York State Homeowners Credit, a law that became effective in 2009 that earns eligible tenant-shareholders and unit-owners of co-op and condo apartments tax credits for doing repairs to the exterior and interior of the building.

To qualify, the building must be an owner-occupied residential structure — sublet units are not eligible — listed with either the State Historic Preservation Office or the National Register of Historic Places, or located in a state or nationally registered historic district and certified as being of historic significance to the district. Designation by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) doesn't determine eligibility for the credit, but the LPC does has oversight over the scope of the work.

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Won't somebody please think of the children? That's what one outraged parent wants the city to do after the co-op board at a posh building in Tudor City instructed her to bring her kid along to her interview. In the dog-eat-dog world that is New York City real estate you have potential buyers jumping through the hoops of the admissions process, which, for pet owners, may include taking your pet to the admissions interview so the board can give Fido or Fluffy a once-over. So if you have to let the board scrutinize your dog, is it okay for it to want to screen your kid, too? Joyce Kacin thinks that's just going too far. DNAinfo reports that, according to Kacin, "co-op board members at Woodstock Tower have instructed buyers to bring along their kids to interviews that determine whether they get apartments" — calling it a first for the city. According to the report, Kacin sent a complaint about it last year to state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Mayor Bill de Blasio, "claiming the co-op board made the unusual request to her — and that it was discriminatory." Kacin argued that asking parents to bring their children along to an admissions interview violates the city's Human Rights Law, "which makes it illegal to reject a purchaser for having a kid." It looks like things ended well for Kacin, who apparently buried the hatchet with the board president once it dropped its request to meet the kid after receiving a letter from Kacin explaining why she did not want to bring him along. While Kacin raises some valid issues, is it really that unusual for a board to want to meet a prospective buyer's child or children in person? DNAinfo says that most of the real estate experts it spoke to about Kacin's situation called the Woodstock board’s request to meet her child unique. One of them, however, said otherwise. Real estate law expert Adam Leitman Bailey told the publication that "the board was legally allowed to interview children, so long as the parents accompany the child and it doesn’t reject the potential buyer solely on the basis of having a kid" under New York law. Bailey points out that this is, after all, the city where five year olds "are interviewed to get into kindergarten."

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Installing air-conditioners is, or should be, serious business. For example, there are safety guidelines that must be followed to ensure nobody gets hurt. But is a building manager in a co-op on the Upper East Side taking things a little to the extreme? A shareholder who lives in the building writes to Ronda Kaysen in this week's Ask Real Estate column in The New York Times: "I have an air-conditioner in my living room window, which is one of two windows that look out onto the fire escape. The air-conditioner does not block access to the fire escape. However, my building manager says city rules prohibit an air-conditioner in a fire escape window. But the Bureau of Fire Prevention told me that I could have one in that window as long as it does not extend out onto the fire escape. Who is correct?" Who is correct indeed… Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer, and we've already had a few steamy days with plenty more in store for us. That means people will be dusting off those air-conditioners. Kaysen begins by reminding everyone that a fire escape "is not an unofficial balcony to be adorned with potted plants or blocked by an air-conditioner. A fire escape is what its name suggests: an escape route for people fleeing or fighting a fire. And it should be free of obstructions." That said, she adds that the arrangement the shareholder describes "might be permitted by city rules. In general, residents are prohibited from installing air-conditioners in fire escape windows. But they can install one in a fire escape window if the apartment has a second window onto the fire escape that is large enough to be used as an emergency exit." A small window will obviously not do, and, adds Kaysen, the air-conditioner should not extend more than five inches onto the fire escape balcony or obstruct the flow of foot traffic, according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Safety first, even if it means sweating a little.

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Earlier this year, Curbed put together a map of 18 rental-to-condo conversions that were in progress, just completed, or in the pipeline. A lot of those were on the Upper East Side, including the building formerly known as The Wellington. According to Curbed the condo will now be called 200 East 62nd Street — which is just as well since now it won't "be confused with Wellington Tower, 20 blocks north." There are no new renderings for us to feast our eyes on yet, but the developer, O'Connor Capital Partners, did release some juicy details. The building will consist of 115 condos, and units will include everything from one to five bedrooms. The ticket price? Units start at a cool $2.12 million. That may sound like a lot, but it's probably cheaper than Brooklyn.

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Right now, seven new mega towers are rising along Billionaires' Row, with five more in the works. Community Board 5's Sunshine Task Force says that's quite enough, thanks. The group, reports DNAinfo, is calling for a moratorium on new towers taller than 600 feet along the 57th Street corridor. According to Layla Law-Gisiko, the task force chair, "current zoning rules have not caught up with the supertall towers, which are newly possible because of technological advances." Law-Gisiko told DNAinfo that the task force is not interested in waging a war against development, but rather ensure "good, comprehensive zoning and planning." There are also other concerning issues that need to be addressed, the task force says, including access to air and sunlight, the manner in which these towers affect infrastructure, construction dangers, and tax loopholes that allow "owners to pay lower property taxes." The board also "wants condos registered under the names of actual people, rather than limited liability corporations [as well as] a pied-a-tierre tax to avoid the apartments becoming investment properties for owners who don't live there." Is this it for the shiny, glass mega towers? 

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