Reena Gulati Blog

When purchasing real estate in a community with a homeowner’s association (“HOA”), the buyer must assess these fees in estimating the cost of maintaining their property. Such a fee does not exist for single-family homes outside such communities. The HOA fee is mandatory. Once you acquire the property in the homeowner’s association, you are automatically a member of the association and subject to the HOA fee and/or assessments.

Buying a co-op in New York City can be a daunting experience. However, if you are prepared and understand the process, it can alleviate some of the anxiety often associated with purchasing a co-op. There are a few things to keep in mind, depending on whether you are a buyer or a seller of a co-op.

For most people, their house is their biggest financial asset, so avoiding costly mistakes is critical. The same is true of buying other real estate since it usually involves a substantial amount of money. No matter if it is your first time or the sixth in buying real estate, problems can arise. However, you can minimize the risks by having the right team of professionals, including your real estate broker, inspector/engineer, attorney, and/or lender to help guide you through the process and ensure a smooth closing.

A party wall usually is on the dividing line between two adjacent properties and used for the common advantage of both property owners. In the most common scenario, part of the wall on each property is owned by the owner of each property respectively, with an easement granted to the other adjoining owner for support. The question is what rights, you as the owner of the property have to the party wall, and what you can do to it.

1. Don't wait. Often during the course of the tenancy, the tenant falls behind in rent or is a habitual offender and fails to pay rent in a timely manner. You as the landlord hope that it will come any day or the next week, as promised. If the tenant is behind in rental payments, the landlord should start a legal proceeding to evict immediately. In most circumstances waiting any longer is almost always detrimental to the landlord. This is because the law requires that adequate notice must be provided to the tenant prior to evicting them, which causes further delays in evicting the nonpaying tenant. The landlord continues to lose time and additional rent.