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Meet Gabriele Sewtz and her team at Compass

As we continue our spotlights on New York real estate brokers, we turn to Gabriele Sewtz and her team at Compass.

Compass is a new kind of real estate company that says it’s an “innovative residential real estate firm” combining talent with technology. The Gabriele Sewtz team is part of that talent with expertise in . . . → Read More: Meet Gabriele Sewtz and her team at Compass

Meet Real Estate Brokers and Sisters Kelly and Kristin Neinast

For our second spotlight on real estate brokers in New York, we reached out to Kelly and Kristin Neinast at Corcoran.

The Neinast sisters were born into the real estate business, as their mother, Patricia Neinast, was also a top real estate broker at Corcoran for over 20 years. “Instead of playing house, Kelly and . . . → Read More: Meet Real Estate Brokers and Sisters Kelly and Kristin Neinast

Effective Communication Between You and Your Real Estate Lawyer

I’ve already talked about effective communication between lawyers and brokers, and the same holds true between communicating with my clients. It’s a stressful time for clients, and I understand that. My goal is to make things less stressful for the clients, and it helps to have open communication in both directions.

My first tip: don’t . . . → Read More: Effective Communication Between You and Your Real Estate Lawyer

Meet Real Estate Broker Debra Bondy

Dickler and Roth is going to spotlight a few New York City brokers whom we have worked with in order to give readers an idea of the different personalities and qualities that make different brokers successful. If you are buying or selling your home, you should meet with several brokers to get a feel of . . . → Read More: Meet Real Estate Broker Debra Bondy

Effective Communication Between Lawyers and Brokers

I work with a lot of real estate brokers. Some of them are great and some of them could use some advice on how to work with real estate lawyers. It’s not that they are bad brokers, but learning effective communication can help them become great brokers.

Here are my 4 tips:

No assumptions Don’t . . . → Read More: Effective Communication Between Lawyers and Brokers

What is a CEMA?

A CEMA (Consolidation Extension and Modification Agreement) is used when a borrower refinances their mortgage to save on the mortgage recording tax.

If the purchaser intends to obtain a mortgage to buy a home (but not a coop), it is possible for the seller’s mortgage to be assigned to the purchaser, thereby saving the mortgage . . . → Read More: What is a CEMA?

Mansion Tax

(Image credit Beyond My Ken/Wikipedia)

Way back in the last century (1989 to be exact), Governor Cuomo (the first) enacted a tax on residential properties of over $1 million. This 1% tax is imposed on the buyers and known as the “Mansion Tax” or by veterans of the real estate world, the “Cuomo . . . → Read More: Mansion Tax

Closing Date: It’s All in the Closing Details

(Image courtesy of Mark Moz/Flickr)

35 years ago, a wise law school professor taught me that there were only three simple items that need to be stated in a real estate contract for the contract to be enforceable:

The what: the property description or simply an address. How much: the price. When: the . . . → Read More: Closing Date: It’s All in the Closing Details

Escrow Accounts with Coops

(Image courtesy of Nick Youngson)

A common, but infuriating, occurrence in buying into a coop is putting money in escrow. After being subjected to the invasive, coop application and interview process, after their financial information has been exposed and reviews by strangers, buyers are told essentially “welcome to the building but we don’t . . . → Read More: Escrow Accounts with Coops

New Construction in Brooklyn

It seems like everywhere you look in Brooklyn – from the Atlantic Yards to Fort Greene to Williamsburg – residential towers are going up. Some of these are rentals and some are sales, and some experts are predicting a glut in the market. Does this mean that you should wait to buy? Unfortunately there is . . . → Read More: New Construction in Brooklyn