First Home Style

I know I haven't posted in a while but really there just haven't been much progress to report. We still haven't signed the contract as yet. My attorney continues to be concerned about the cooperative. He's actually reviewing the minutes from the cooperative board meetings tomorrow ( we want to ensure that the cooperative has a plan to increase the money in their reserves). As I've stated sometime ago, I'm disheartened that we haven't closed on a property as yet. I feel that now would be a great time to buy a home in Brooklyn, but I feel that I'm being priced out of the market. Gentrification is a term that's floated around quiet a lot, and it is nice too see a new restaurant, wine bar, yoga studio or gourmet supermarket moving into a neighborhood. However, it's maddening when the original neighborhood occupants can't afford to continue to reside in the area.

I think that in my last post, I prematurely wrote about taking a break from the property search. Yes, this has been a stressful time. While the feeling was genuine, it isn't a true reflection of where I am in the process.  I have been in this property search for sometime now and at this stage, I'm almost desperate to get to closing. I'm tired of attending open houses. I'm tired of  putting my search criteria in Streeteasy and Trulia and somehow hoping that the results will be different.  Though I was reluctant to search for yet another mortgage lender, I had to do just that.  It had all happened out of my curiosity and frustration that I walked into a  bank and asked to speak to a loan officer. It was free and didn't require a commitment. I told the loan officer about my concerns and the trials of the last several months. Then I asked about the cooperative that I made the offer on. And to my surprise he knew it well. He had just close on an apartment in that buildin

Yesterday was Election Day here in New York, so I got the day off work. The day off give me the opportunity to reflect on the last several months and after serious consideration, I have come to the conclusion that perhaps I need to take a break from my property search.  I’m disappointed to have to end the search but I feel like I’m not able to find what I want, in the neighbor that I want, at a price I can afford. It is the first time in this long drawn out process that I have ever considered taking an “hiatus”.  Yesterday, I spoke to my loan officer, about the most recent property that I made on offer on. The bank continues to have concerns regarding the financials of this cooperative and is in doubt that the mortgage will get approved. Despite us requesting documents from the coop, we have yet to receive them. I plan to meet with my attorney today to discuss all of this.

I wanted to quickly update about the status of my housing search. If you’re a frequent reader to this blog, you shouldn’t be too surprise that there are still more obstacles to overcome.   Barriers are a constant presence in this home buying process. My current mortgage company has concerns about the cooperative and may not approve the mortgage. Why me? I first thought. But after I spoke to my loan officer and received a copy of the building’s financials, I too became alarmed. My loan officer was concerned that the last two mortgage applications for the building were denied. The loan officer contacted the underwriter on both properties and found that there were concerns about how the cooperative was spending the monthly maintenance. Let’s just say 2011 was a dire year for this cooperative. 2012 was a lot better; however 2013 was not yet available for us to view. We all want to be reassured that this apartment purchase would be a wise investment. The loan officer has requested that th