Closing cost

Contact Steven Matz,at Katz and Matz....steven@katzmatz.net 212-244-4630. I am sure he can do better and they are great and extremely responsive.

Just curious, who gave u that $6000 quote?

on single transactions, $3K is on the high side. because the attorney is doing both sides, $6K is excessive.

I thought so, Thank You!

is that quote just for closing or does it include other work the attorney is doing (contract review/revision, due diligence, etc)?

What do you mean by "each transaction"? $3000 seems a little high but not over the top. Are you buying one apartment and selling another? I paid $2500 when I last tried to buy a place (but the building never got finished, so I only had to pay $1250 which I understand was a very good deal based on what others in the building had to pay their lawywers). This time, I used the same lawyer and he gave me a discount - $1900 plus disbursement. $1900 sounded a bit low but I wan't about to argue.

use LI or NJ attorney that is licensed in NY...$1,250 max

I liked Andrew Grabiner and he was much cheaper.

If one buys an apartment and is getting a loan. It's very possible to save a lot of money on the city mortgage recording tax. The seller would have to have a mortgage. If he does a purchase CEMA can be done.

Example: if you are taking out a $500,000 loan to buy an apartment, city mortgage recording tax comes to about $10,000.00. That's added to closing costs. However if the seller haa a mortgage let's say for $475,000; then with a purchase CEMA, the buyer would only pay city mortgage recording tax on $25,000 which comes to about $500.00, a huge savings.

Ellen Silverman
mortgage broker
212-786-9682
www.esfunding.instantlender.com

Yep--CEMA is a great thing. Unfortunately we purchased an apartment from a seller who had no mortgage. Boo.

77 you should get an engagement letter to find out what exactly is included (so no surprises later)... also ask your attorney to put in writing how much you will pay if either transaction falls through at various stages eg pay $X if you don't sign the contract, pay $Y if sign the contract but don't close, can either of the above be credited towards another transaction within a certain period, etc...

I am just finding out about CEMA and I close on Friday (too late for me) Is this something that is typically negotiated as part of the offer? I assume the Seller has to agree to it.

while we're on this topic, i just got closing costs from lender. One item was 421-a Abatement fee. Anyone heard of it? they are stipulating it's 1.5% of purchase price. It's for a new development condo. According to someone i spoke to, this is something that smaller developers (especially outside of Manhattan) try to pass on to purchasers. Sounds steep to me.
I have represented buyers before on new developments, and never have i heard of this being passed on to purchasers.

Wburg, Unfortunately most brokers/lenders are not aware of the purchase CEMA or they don't want to bother doing the extra paper work for it. The seller would have no problem agreeing to it, because they too get some money back at closing, certainly not as much as what the buyer saves, but it's something. But again sellers are not aware of purchase CEMAs.

UESaptowner: sounds like a BS charge. We closed in a new 421-a bulding and there was nothing like that at our closing.

i smell cheese--i closed in 05 on an apt in an abated building and there was no such charge

i'd refuse to pay whatever entity claims to be due that charge, and keep antennae up when dealing with one so sleazy as that

a quick call to a mtge broker or another bank would clarify whether this is common these days

1.5% of face is big and ugly