Few Borrowing Options for Some Condo Buyers

One more nail in the coffin, no financing for new development. Now they will have to release all their units at once. = inventories soar. http://realestateqa.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/few-borrowing-options-for-some-condo-buyers/ Q: I am in contract to buy a condo in a recently converted prewar building. It%u2019s a noneviction conversion, so about two-thirds of the building remains rental, and... [more]

One more nail in the coffin, no financing for new development. Now they will have to release all their units at once. = inventories soar. http://realestateqa.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/few-borrowing-options-for-some-condo-buyers/ Q: I am in contract to buy a condo in a recently converted prewar building. It%u2019s a noneviction conversion, so about two-thirds of the building remains rental, and one-third has been converted to condos. All of the condo units have sold. I%u2019m running into trouble securing financing, because of the low owner-occupancy rate. I find this confusing, because all of the condos have already sold, and the remaining units are occupied and producing rental revenue. I would like to close the deal, but am stuck if no banks are willing to finance a purchase in such a building. What can I do? A: %u201CI have gone over this in detail here with our underwriters,%u201D said Michael Moskowitz, the president of Equity Now, a mortgage lender in Manhattan. %u201CAnd unfortunately, there is no one we deal with or even can think of who would lend on a noneviction condominium that is less than 70 percent owner-occupied.%u201D While most banks have tightened lending standards, Mr. Moskowitz noted that some of the smaller banks might be willing to lend money to those with whom they have had a business relationship, %u201Cbut that is only speculation on my part.%u201D [less]