NYC Real Estate News by Fernando Branco, Real Estate Broker, GRI, ABR, CNE - Fernando Branco Realty

Legal Line Question of the Week Switching Electricity  & Gas Accounts in NYC I have been asked by my purchaser of a condominium unit in  New York City  how to switch the electricity from the seller’s  account to their own account?  How is this done and is  the purchaser responsible for the seller’s unpaid bills? Once the closing date is established, the purchaser should contact  Con Edison to inform them that the account should be switched to  the purchaser’s name on the scheduled closing date.  Con Edison  may ask for documentation which will indicate that there will be  a new owner of the unit.  The purchaser will establish a new account  with Con Edison and a final electric bill will be sent to the seller.   The purchaser will not be responsible for the seller’s balance.   It is also prudent for the seller to contact Con Edison so as to verify  that the account was s...

Legal Line Question of the Week Can an Exclusive REBNY Broker insist  that a Co-Broker not accompany  a Purchaser to visit a listing? I represent a purchaser who is interested in seeing an apartment that is  listed with a REBNY Exclusive Broker.  Apparently, the Exclusive Broker  is not allowing me to accompany my purchaser to view the apartment.   Can the Exclusive Broker do this? No.  The Department of State (“DOS”) has consistently stated that  (i) “a seller's broker must always honor the buyer's right to be represented  by his or her own broker,” (ii) “refusal to work with a buyer's agent denies  the buyer the right to the professional services of the broker of his or her  choice,” and (iii) “any such denial will be construed as a violation of the  selling broker's duty to deal honestly, fairly and in good faith with the  buyer.”  Furthermore, the DOS has specifically stated in an...

A: Manhattan active inventory stands at 4,826 units, down 30% from this time last year. At the same time Manhattan's Pending Sales, the measure of real-time demand, stands at 3,154 contracts awaiting closing; this is up 24% from this time last year. On a monthly basis, we continue to see 'less new stuff' coming onto the market and 'more listings' than usual going to contract. It seems Manhattan is a tale of two markets; one kind of market for lower quality/higher priced listings that aren't experiencing the activity being discussed here and the other is a fierce market where buyers are competing each other over quality product that is reasonably priced. Either you are priced right or you aren't. This combination is leaving buyers frustrated as they pass over the over-priced stuff and deal with 'best & final situations' for the quality, well priced listings. I'll repeat what I said earlier this year, "I can't think of a better time fo...

Legal Line Question of the Week Broker Price Opinions What is a BPO? “BPO” stands for Broker Price Opinion.  A Broker Price Opinion is  prepared by a real estate broker to provide an estimated value  of the probable selling price of a subject property where the  requesting party does not want to incur the expense of an appraisal  of the subject property.  The real estate broker determines the  probable selling price of the property by analyzing various factors,  including but not limited to comparable properties in the area.   Broker Price Opinions are generally prepared for a fee.  Recently,  the Department of State clarified that only a real estate broker  can collect a fee for preparing a BPO.  Accordingly, real estate  salespersons and associate real estate brokers cannot receive  compensation directly for preparing a BPO.  The fee for preparing  the BPO would be paid...