New York City Real Estate Law Blog

Real estate such as apartment buildings or homes must be regularly maintained to remain habitable. If small plumbing, electrical, or heating and air problems are left unaddressed, then they have a way of becoming much larger issues. If you're a renter, then you may assume that any and all problems are the sole responsibility of your landlord. That's not always the case, though.

The first thing that you should do when something goes wrong in your home is to dig out the lease and read over it. You'll want to scan through the terms and conditions listed to see what they say about who's responsible for the particular concern that you're having. If it doesn't clearly address it, then you'll want to search through New York state and city laws to see what it says about it.

If you're looking to buy a home or any other type of real estate in 2019, you need to know what the market looks like first. This may not dictate your decision -- if you need to buy, you need to buy, no matter what the market does -- but it can help you make an informed decision. The more you know about the process in advance, the better off you'll be.

With that in mind, here are a few 2019 market trends to consider:

• Prices have been going up, and they're going to keep doing so. This is a far cry from the low prices back around 2011 and 2012. Prices have skyrocketed and the market has really rebounded in the wake of the recession.
• One major reason for those high prices is that there is a housing shortage. More people want to buy than are looking to sell. This makes it very competitive. It can mean that homes sell for over the asking price as buyers try to outbid one another.
• Mortgage rates have also been on the rise, largely for the same reason. People are willing to take on higher rates and have the money to do so. However, some experts think that the rate of increase will slow down.
• If you're interested in a new build, many builders are focusing more on starter homes. These are smaller houses aimed at first-time buyers. With more potential buyers than sellers, though, it just makes sense to build the small, more affordable houses that these buyers want.

Zoning restrictions can lead to complicated real estate transactions and even disputes when the restrictions are not clear or are misrepresented in some fashion. The reason that these situations are so tricky is that the restrictions from the city can have a massive impact on both the way that you can use the land and the value of that land.

For instance, a piece of land with no zoning restrictions has the highest value, in many cases, because it has the widest pool of potential buyers. Anyone can buy it and use it as they see fit. As soon as zoning restrictions start to come into play -- saying that a property can only be used for manufacturing, for instance, or commercial enterprises -- the potential pool shrinks dramatically. Anyone who has other plans for the development either has to look elsewhere or consider asking the city for a variance. A variance isn't a given and many buys won't want to deal with it anyway, so the value plummets.

What is assumption financing in regard to a home mortgage?

Essentially, it means you obtain an ownership interest in a home from someone else by accepting the responsibility for the payments and terms of the existing mortgage. Often, the original buyer will also remain liable for the loan as well -- just in case you default. (On rare occasions, the bank may agree to release the original borrower from liability.)