Building types in Brooklyn
Sponsor resale condo units in Brooklyn
Brooklyn sponsor units frequently sit in small buildings where the sponsor still controls the board, the budget and the pace of the punch list.
What is different about buying a sponsor resale condo unit in Brooklyn?
Quick Answer
Brooklyn sponsor units frequently sit in buildings small enough that the sponsor still controls the board. That control decides the budget, the reserve funding and whether construction defects get fixed, and it matters more to a purchaser than the plan’s cost allocation does.
Which condominiums of this kind are actually in Brooklyn?
- Unsold units in small and mid-size buildings across Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Bushwick and Sunset Park
- Units in larger downtown and waterfront buildings held back during slower sales periods
- Buildings where the sponsor retains enough units to appoint a majority of the board
- Positions taken over by successor investors from the original developer
What changes about the waiver and the loan file in Brooklyn?
- A sponsor-controlled board is a governance fact a purchaser should confirm, because it decides how construction defects are handled
- Sponsor holding percentage is a warrantability input, and in a small building the percentage is high by arithmetic
- The right of first refusal waiver is still the approval step, and a sponsor-controlled board issues it to itself without difficulty
- The lender will want the plan, the amendments and the current budget, not only the contract
Which taxes and recording steps apply in Brooklyn?
- The plan commonly shifts the state and city transfer taxes to the purchaser, and that shift counts as consideration
- Mortgage recording tax applies to the recorded mortgage, and the deed and mortgage record with the City Register through ACRIS
- Where the building holds a construction tax benefit, the step-down schedule applies to the purchaser exactly as it would on a first sale
- The mansion tax is reached on part of this stock, mostly downtown and on the waterfront
What pattern does a purchaser meet in Brooklyn?
- Ask who sits on the board and how many units the sponsor still holds, because a sponsor-controlled board rarely sues itself over a defect
- Reserve funding under a sponsor-controlled board tends to be minimal, and the assessment arrives after control passes to the owners
- Common charge arrears owed by the sponsor show up in the financials and reduce what the building can spend
- Where the sponsor has rented units, the purchaser should establish delivery condition and tenancy status in the contract
What does sponsor control of a Brooklyn condo board mean in practice?
It means the party responsible for construction defects also controls the body that would pursue them. A sponsor-appointed board is unlikely to fund litigation or a reserve against the sponsor’s own work. The consequences usually surface after control passes to the owners, as a special assessment.
How do you find out how many units the sponsor still owns?
Ask the managing agent for the current unit ownership schedule and read the condominium’s financial statements and budget. ACRIS shows which units have been deeded out, which is another route. Lenders ask the same question as a warrantability test, so the number will surface either way.
What else should you read before closing on one of these?
In the glossary
- Offering planThe sponsor's filed disclosure document for a co-op or condominium, carrying its budget, share or common interest allocation, building rules and sp...
- Common chargesThe recurring charge a condominium levies on each unit for building operations and reserves. Real estate taxes are billed to the unit directly and ...
- Assessment (co-op or condo)A charge levied by a co-op or condominium board beyond ordinary maintenance or common charges, typically to pay for a capital project. It is disclo...
- ACRISNew York City's public index of recorded property documents for Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Deeds, mortgages, satisfactions, easemen...
- Transfer tax (RPTT and NYS)Taxes on the conveyance itself, one City and one State. Rates step up at higher prices, and who pays is set by custom and then confirmed by the con...
Questions this raises
- Who pays a co-op or condo assessment at closing?A NYC co-op or condo assessment is allocated by the contract of sale, not by custom. How installments and lump sums get split between seller and pu...
- Who pays transfer tax on a sponsor sale?Sponsor sales usually shift the state and city transfer taxes to the purchaser, and the amount is grossed up. How the offering plan controls the al...
Building types
- Sponsor resale condo unitAn unsold condominium unit the sponsor still owns years after the building opened, sold under the original offering plan rather than as an ordinary...
- New-development condoA first sale from the sponsor of a newly built condominium, governed by an offering plan, often delivered on a temporary certificate of occupancy.
- Standard condoA New York City condominium unit: real property conveyed by deed, recorded in ACRIS, with an undivided interest in the common elements.
- Townhouse and 1-4 family condo declarationA small building divided into condominium units, where outdoor space, party walls, multiple-dwelling registration and the certificate of occupancy ...
This building type, borough by borough
- Sponsor resale condo units in ManhattanA sponsor unit still held in a finished Manhattan condominium is sold under the original offering plan, which is why the closing costs look nothing...
- Sponsor resale condo units in QueensQueens sponsor units are often held as rentals in investor-heavy buildings, which makes the delivery condition and the tenancy the first questions.
- Sponsor co-op units in BrooklynBrooklyn sponsor units come out of brownstone-belt and shorefront conversions, and in a small corporation the sponsor’s position can dominate the b...
- New development condos in BrooklynBrooklyn carries the largest new development pipeline outside Manhattan, and its buildings turn on tax benefit schedules, presale counts and first-...
- Standard condos in BrooklynBrooklyn is where most of the city’s new condominium stock has been built, so tax abatements, first-year budgets and sponsor obligations dominate t...
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Legal Disclaimer: This page is general information about New York practice. It is not legal advice, it does not account for the terms of any particular contract, building or transaction, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. This is attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.