From the NYTimes: Vetting an Apartment
An article was published recently in the New York Times which may be helpful to new purchasers. It outlines the process of “Due Diligence,” or research into a prospective property. This is meant to uncover any potential red flags and confirm that the property is in good physical and financial condition before the contract is finalized.
We often field questions about this subject, and with good reason: once a purchaser has selected a Real Estate attorney, they will begin collecting due diligence, and will be an important resource for any questions about the property. Remember to keep in contact with your attorney throughout this process, and let them know as early as possible if you have any concerns about the property.
NYC Real Estate Attorney’s Closing Report: July 2017
Just a few of our recent closings. If you are also looking to buy or sell at these property addresses, you might want to give us a call.
| Property | Value | Transaction |
| 360 Cabrini Boulevard, NY, NY | $392,000 | Coop Purchase |
| 370 East 76th Street, NY, NY | $870,000 | Coop Purchase |
| 55 Engert Avenue, BK, NY | $1,570,000 | Condo Sale |
| 300 East 54th Street, NY, NY | $1,610,000 | Coop Purchase |
| 456 West 19th Street, NY, NY | $2,150,000 | Condo Purchase |
| 80 East End Avenue, NY, NY | $1,305,000 | Coop Purchase |
| 450 Pelham Road, New Rochelle, NY | $88,000 | Coop Purchase |
| 98 Suffolk Street, NY, NY | $438,000 | Coop Sale |
| 142 Bank Street, NY, NY | $1,335,000 | Coop Purchase |
| 504 West 110th Street, NY, NY | $772,000 | Condo Purchase |
A Night on the Town
Weidenbaum and Harari treated its employees to a night out at Rare Bar & Grill’s rooftop bar, where they enjoyed drinks, conversation, and a prime view of a certain NYC landmark (you know, THAT one).
A huge shout out to all our staff, who have worked so hard this year to keep Weidenbaum and Harari one of NYC’s top-rated Real Estate law firms!
The group, together
Not pictured: unusually large gorilla
How fancy are we? We got a personalized sign
WHFirm Welcomes New Associate
We are proud to introduce our newest attorney to the WHFirm team! Stephanie King brings extensive experience in the purchase and sale of residential property, having previously worked at a bilingual english-mandarin law firm specializing in new constriction condominiums. She also brings her buoyant good cheer and can-do attitude, and looks forward to helping our clients with their future sales and purchases.
NYC Real Estate Attorney’s Closing Report: June 2017
Just a few of our recent closings. If you are also looking to buy or sell at these property addresses, you might want to give us a call.
| Property | Value | Transaction |
| 21 Ludlow Street, NY, NY | $1,000,000 | Condo Purchase |
| 389 East 89th Street, NY, NY | $1,200,000 | Condo Purchase |
| 383 Grand Street, NY, NY | $1,025,000 | Coop Purchase |
| 201 East 28th Street, NY, NY | $292,500 | Coop Purchase |
| 350 Bleecker Street, NY, NY | $2,075,000 | Coop Sale |
| 3512 Oxford Avenue, Riverdale, NY | $229,000 | Coop Purchase |
| 323 East 8th Street, NY, NY | $347,400 | Coop Purchase |
| 45 Grace Court, BK, NY | $490,000 | Coop Purchase |
| 279 East 79th Street, NY, NY | $1,213,000 | Coop Purchase |
| 350 West 53rd Street, NY, NY | $655,000 | Condo Sale |
Welcome to our New Interns and Externs
With the beginning of another school term, we would like to welcome our new fall interns and externs to the firm! Christina Vroulis and Peter Figman (of New York Law School and Brooklyn Law School respectively) are old hands at the office, having served previously as our summer interns. However, we are also happy to welcome a new extern, Charles Ainbinder, who joins us for the first time from Brooklyn Law School.
We appreciate all of the hard work that our interns bring to the office, and look forward to working with them in the months to come.
Helpful Resources for Purchasers
Though we navigate it every day, the Due Diligence process can often appear opaque or overwhelming to new buyers. The City, State, and Federal governments host a number of helpful resources, but these can be difficult to find for those who do not know where to look.
To that end, we have compiled a list of online resources where relevant information can be freely accessed, such as property records, tax information, and payment portals for municipal services, among others. We hope that they can be of use not only to prospective purchasers, but to current homeowners as well.
Please note that web addresses can change over time. If a link is broken, we recommend working backward through the URL to the last intact page.
WHFirm on Wall Street
Attorneys Jack Harari and Michael Zadjelovich were proud to be part of an event hosted by TitleVest for Real Estate professionals on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Pics below!
NYC Real Estate Attorney’s Closing Report: May 2017
Just a few of our recent closings. If you are also looking to buy or sell at these property addresses, you might want to give us a call.
| Property | Value | Transaction |
| 120 Riverside Boulevard, NY, NY | $1,020,000 | Condo Purchase |
| 246 Cornelia Street, BK, NY | $300,000 | Coop Purchase |
| 28 Perry Street, NY, NY | $905,000 | Condo Purchase |
| 1235 Park Avenue, NY, NY | $1,420,000 | Condo Purchase |
| 224 Richardson Street, BK, NY | $588,000 | Condo Purchase |
| 250 South End Avenue, NY, NY | $1,930,000 | Condo Purchase |
| 18 Vanderbilt Avenue, BK, NY | $1,740,000 | House Purchase |
| 382 Bergen Street, BK, NY | $1,300,000 | Condo Purchase |
| 67 East 11th Street, NY, NY | $995,000 | Coop Purchase |
| 929 Park Avenue, NY, NY | $849,000 | Coop Purchase |
NYC Housing Mysteries: What is an I-Card?
The I-Card is a paper record that the City of New York adopted in 1902 to document the required building improvements of tenements and multiple dwelling buildings, and for regulating their use. It was a product of the Progressive Era, a period around the turn of the last century when building codes, sanitary conditions, and safety issues in tenement housing all came under greater scrutiny.
Thus, the city came up with a way to track the required alterations that certain buildings made over time—the “I” in “I-Card” refers to these improvements. Such regulations demanded that a tenement had proper and adequate fire-escapes and means of egress through the roof, as well as proper ventilation and lighting in interior areas.
Following the new legislation, the Tenement Housing Department had to locate and review all 83,000 tenements within the city. The department thus developed a standard means of inspection that could be learned quickly by their employees and filed so that these cards could be accessed readily for future inspections. These cards also contained drawings or diagrams to show the exterior and interior arrangement of each tenement house.
For buildings without a Certificate of Occupancy, which was not required until circa 1938, the I-Card can be accepted as the legal record of existing occupancy as of the last date indicated on the card. However, buildings with I-Cards may have or need more recent legal occupancy records if any lawful alteration or conversion work was performed in the building beyond that date. Not all houses built before 1938 have I-Cards—this is likely because they were misfiled, lost, or inadvertently destroyed—but if a building was never considered multiple-dwelling (i.e. housing three families or more) or inspected as such, then it would never have acquired an I-Card in the first place.
Sources:
https://hpdonline.hpdnyc.org