How to buy an apartment in the city of New York without committing Hara-kiri

Here’s what happened in the week leading up to my close:

The seller stalled on confirming a close date because he wasn’t sure which day he wanted to move.

As he did, the deadline to my mortgage rate lock expiration, July the 11th, drew perilously near.

We got the seller onboard with a post-occupancy agreement and were able to confirm the purchase close for the 11th.

Then we were unable to confirm the sale close for forty-eight hours because my buyer’s lawyer had taken the week of July the 4th off.

He came back to the office Monday and confirmed but then the woman at the managing agency who deals with my building had a death in her family.

On July the 10th she returned to the office and at 3 p.m. confirmed a close for 11 a.m. the next day.

On the evening of the 10th, I found out about 10K in real estate transfer taxes that no one had informed me about. Then I saw that my legal representation in both deals had slapped on some additional and more than a little unethical fees.

The day of the close my mom helped me out with last-minute and unexpected costs. I was able to come up with all the necessary paperwork. A threat to call the state bar later, some of the legal fees were taken off, though there remain some in dispute.

The close for my sale went off without a hitch. I was able to proceed to the close for my purchase with the necessary check in hand and soon thereafter became the owner of a brand new crib in Gramercy.

It was, when all was said and done, a modern parting of the red sea.