Townhouse condo declarations on Staten Island

Which condominiums of this kind are actually in Staten Island?

• Attached and semi-attached townhouse communities across the South Shore in Annadale, Huguenot and Eltingville, declared as condominiums at completion rather than carved out of an existing house
• Communities where a single declaration covers scores of units, which is why the borough averages several times more units per low-rise condominium lot than Brooklyn does
• Overwhelmingly one to three storey buildings, so this stock is horizontal where the same building type in Manhattan or Brooklyn is vertical
• Very little of the split two-family house stock that makes up the townhouse condominium in Queens and Brooklyn, because on Staten Island a one or two family house is usually just sold as a house

What changes about the waiver and the loan file in Staten Island?

• The approval step is a right of first refusal waiver and it is routine, because these communities are owner-occupied rather than investor-held
• Warrantability turns on the association’s budget and reserves rather than on owner-occupancy ratios, which is the reverse of the usual condominium question
• A community that owns its roads, its parking and its drainage carries replacement costs an apartment building does not, and a lender reads the reserve study against exactly that
• Flood zone status drives a flood insurance requirement the lender will impose, and on the East Shore that is a normal part of the file rather than an exception

Which taxes and recording steps apply in Staten Island?

• Mortgage recording tax reaches the mortgage as it would anywhere in the city, but it is paid to the Richmond County Clerk rather than through ACRIS
• The declaration, the by-laws and the deed are recorded with and searched at the Richmond County Clerk, so a purchaser’s searcher cannot work from ACRIS here
• New York State transfer tax and the New York City real property transfer tax apply, and the transfer tax return is still filed electronically through ACRIS as well as on paper with the clerk
• The mansion tax is reached on relatively few sales in this stock, given the borough’s price distribution

What pattern does a purchaser meet in Staten Island?

• Read the declaration for what the association actually owns, because roads, drainage, parking and common grounds are the expensive part and they are invisible from the street
• Ask for the reserve study before the offer: road and drainage replacement is a large, predictable and unavoidable cost in a community that owns its own infrastructure
• East Shore and waterfront communities carry post-storm elevation and flood requirements that affect insurance, lending and any alteration a unit owner wants to make
• Compare common charges plus taxes against the upkeep and taxes on a Staten Island house, because that is the real alternative here rather than an apartment

What else should you read before closing on one of these?