Closed

Yaay! Congrats! Please keep us posted on how things progress with the reno.

Thanks, bramstar--expect gut-wrenching, mind-numbing reviews.

Congrats!!! What a great way to start the summer!

rlm, we're in the middle of it right now ourselves so feel free to commiserate :-)

Congratulations, rlmnyc. Good luck with the next steps.

Happy day!
Enjoy your new abode.

Congratulations. Enjoy your new home.

Thanks, folks. Bramstar, can I hear a little about your reno? Still sane?

rlmnyc, I got through a complete reno by forcing myself to remember that THIS WILL END. Lost 17lb, too.

The renovation process is not the fun part of home ownership?

Enjoy your new home rlmnyc!

Rim,

If you have any questions during your renovation feel free to email or call me. I will help you.

Primerenovations@Mac.com

646-436-3942

congrats..... recommend your contractor if he's legit.

MAZEL TOV!!!!! Much happiness and good fortune in your new home.....

Congratulations, rlmnyc. I hope you will be very happy!

I'm feeling the love, y'all. Commoner, thanks for the tip. I would love to lose some weight. Primer, thanks for your offer. I've been asked for the contact info for my GC by several people, but let me hold off with that until we're done in a few of months. There's been some skepticism about his ability to provide a good reno at his price, so I don't want to make a recommendation until I'm sure it works out.

What an unusual streeteasy thread! Not a nasty/crazy remark to be seen.

Congrats and best wishes!

And thanks for the perspective on your broker and lawyer.

Congrats rlmnyc. We're in a similar situation, but way less reno required. Are you living there during the reno, or are you waiting to move in till after it's done?

Congrats!

Topper, I'm always put off by the nasty threads and remove myself immediately. The real estate process is hard enough without snark-tacular feedback.

Isle of L, happily we're living out the end of our lease for a few months while the reno happens. If all goes well, we'll move in once it's over. What are you doing to your place?

>>Bramstar, can I hear a little about your reno? Still sane?<<

rml--we're really just at the very start of the actual work so still feel sane as of now. We're doing things in two phases--the first part is stripping and restoring some very intricate molding, wood beams, and other prewar detailing. It's time-consuming and no other work can happen during the stripping process so we've timed that to take place while the architect is drawing up plans for the rest of the reno.

So far (knock on wood) there have been no major surprises, but it's early days yet. We were told by several floor guys that the wood parquet floors in the living areas need to be replaced, but we're going to try to not do that unless something comes up that absolutely requires it (like major damage from demo of existing built-ins). We love the look of the original floors and their greek-key marquetry borders so will try to make do with patching.

What type of work do you expect to undertake in your new place? Sounds like you're very much on the ball if you're ready to get started immediately after closing. It took us longer than we'd hoped to start because we'd had limited access prior to closing and we needed to get a flurry of vendors in to offer estimates.

Bramstar, it sounds like you're doing some beautiful and intricate work, and that you're in a Zen-like place right now. Our contractor actually won't be starting the demolition until the beginning of August, but he wants to order all the appliances, cabinetry, and bathroom fixtures asap so there won't be a delay between demolition and installation.

One fun new task our GC will have is filling in the cement holes left by the seller's--I kid you not--bolted-down ammunition box and floor safe. In a too-good-to-be-true coincidence, the locksmith who we hired to change the locks yesterday (another shout-out to Lockbusters--inexpensive, professional, and, yes, creative) brought an apprentice whose specialty is safe-cracking. He opened the safe (for which the nutty seller had no key) and unbolted it from the floor. He told us he's going to use it to train another new apprentice. No additional charge, though we did give them both a generous tip. I swear, you can't make this stuff up.

Best. Reno story. Ever.

Were there any jewels in the safe? ;-)

rlm, recently completed total kitchen gut & reno, lived in it for awhile, and then decided to do some basic cosmetic work. Kitchen reno was at least "isolated".....basic cosmetic is all over the place, so in that sense much more invasive.

Looking forward to it being all done.

You also must consider that living in the apartment that is to be renovated can also take more time which could cost more money. We usually have to charge more as the project will be more difficult. Just a matter of protecting all the furniture and moving items around for example. It might cost Kessler for a person to rent a place for a couple of months

rlmnyc: Congrats!

The previous owner of my condo had always rented it out. The renters who were living there at the time I was shown the apartment were the proud parents of a beauty-pagent winner.

They had one of her pagent gowns displayed on the wall. The entire gown. Not framed and under glass.
It was nailed to the wall.

Sadly, there was nothing in the safe (though we would've felt entitled to the contents after the peculiar challenges this seller presented). We're still hoping for a secret compartment somewhere in the apartment.

And Truth, thanks. A nailed ball gown. That's pretty good.

Be careful what you wish for. You never know what you might find in there.

rlm: They nailed it dirctly to the wall with so many little nails. It was too hard to remove the nails so they must have torn it off the wall.
I found the little nail holes fiiled with bits of fabric, and spangles.

That is just so bizarre.

Truth, what you found is ART. I hope you didn't carelessly pull out the fabric and spangles.

rlm: It looked like they got frustrated and pulled the gown off the wall, nails and all.

bramstar: That's what I said when I saw it.

congrats on your new home

WINNER!
Congrats.

Enjoy your new home.