SRO's in Harlem

[Eli Weiss]

I have a pending REO order on a SRO in Harlem.....

Can a certified appraiser do an appraisal on a 11 unit SRO (C5 rooming house) if there are less then four kitchens?

 

[Claude From NY]

What did you find out Eli? What is the c/o and HBU? I believe that its beyond the scope of practice of a certified.

 

[Eli Weiss]

Not sure if it has a c/o like many of the older buildings, HBU I assume is 1-4 family, as most of the C5 sales are being converted into 1-4 family.

 

[Kevin Mc]

What did you find out Eli? What is the c/o and HBU? I believe that its beyond the scope of practice of a certified.

depends on the end user of the report. HBU is most certainly 2-4 family (they are all being converted in Harlem). It has minimum value as an SRO and max value as a 2-4 family. For straight up lending you could not do it, but if you are doing it for in-house marketing and valuation purposes your client may have no problem with you doing it. I assume they just want to get it off their books and know what it should be sold for.

 

[Eli Weiss]

I suspect some fraud in the prior sale as well, it was listed for 975K as a fixer upper and sold for 1.735 Mil., DOB records show an application for a gut renovation filed on the day it closed for 1.735.

Not enough? well, the owners address shows as a Far Rockaway address......ummm....yeah, nuff said.....

 

[Eli Weiss]

Just got this email back from DOS.

Eli,

As per the written information provided and content of our telephone conversation, it is this department’s opinion that you may proceed with the appraisal.



William Nolan
Sr. License Investigator




From: Landmark Appraisal Associates
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 12:45 PM
To: Nolan, William (DOS)
Subject: SRO Appraisal

Hi Bill

I have a pending order on a SRO in the Harlem section of NYC, it's a typical townhouse brownstone dwelling, per public tax records it's classified as a C5 11 unit dwelling, most of these C5 dwellings in Harlem are utilized as a rooming house with just 1 kitchen on each floor, and they are typically 4 floors, my research on the HBU of the dwelling showed that most of these C5 dwelling are either converted into 1-4 family or into condominium units, active listing will typically state that these dwelling are easily converted into 1-4 family some have even obtained a Certificate of Non-Harassment (to convert) most of these dwelling are purchased by investors who will vacate the dwelling and convert them into 1-4 family or into condominium units.

Also in the past few years the NYC Department of HPD C/O Homeownership Program has also been active in converting back these dwelling into 2-3 family dwellings.

My question is, am I under my NYS certified residential license qualified to appraise these kind dwellings in general, "as-is" and prior to any conversions if the there are less then four kitchens?

Eli

 

[esturni]

I did a few, but were all done 'per plans and specs' as they were already being converted to 2-4 family.
I am shocked you got an answer back from the state so fast! I remember emailing the licensing board about an issue with my license, and they responded about 2 months later.

 

[Eli Weiss]

I contacted DOS, they transferred with to the investigations team who consulted with the legal team, and gave me the answer over the phone, I then asked for it to be in writing.....