Slevin & Slevin, Esqs.

09/29/2022

Join us on October 3, 2022 at 6:30pm for a first-time home buying seminar with Coach Realtors in Mount Sinai! Link below for registration, see you there!

Visit Emily Hampson's agent profile on Coach Realtors. Emily Hampson works out of the Mount Sinai office and can be contacted at (631) 506-9114.

07/19/2022

If you missed the first seminar fear not! Another one is on the way. Please email [email protected] to register for the ZOOM seminar through Teachers Federal Credit Union. See you there!

05/16/2022

Come one, come all! There's always more to learn.

11/10/2021

Slevin & Slevin, Esqs. is proud to announce our participation in the NYSBA Real Property Law Section Internship Program for the Spring semester of 2022!

If any of our friends and family know of a person currently enrolled in any NYS law school interested in pursuing a career in transactional real estate on Long Island, be sure to encourage them to take advantage of this program! More information can be found through the student career and internship offices.

11/05/2021

FREE program for members and non-members. Find out what your options are for assistance and how the eviction moratorium works. Beneficial for both renters and landlords to understand the complex nature of the rental market right now.

Program Description: The New York State Bar Association will be presenting an informational session for tenants facing the threat of eviction. This program will cover the new rights and protections that are have been put in place as a result of COVID-19, including the eviction moratorium, and how to...

06/22/2021

This article is an accessible and informative read on those pesky appraisals and how they are affecting the still-hot real estate market. Bidding wars are all well and good until the appraisal comes in $70,000.00 short*!
*Actually happened on a file recently. The Purchaser wanted to continue with the transaction but by all rights could have cancelled as the Seller wasn't willing to reduce the sales price by a penny. Now that Purchaser has to come up with $70,000 more out of their own pocket than originally anticipated. Not exactly a drop in the bucket for most...

Questions about what this could mean for financing your new home purchase? Give us a call at 631-335-3705 for a free consultation before you start bidding tens of thousands over asking. 😉

As a first-time homebuyer who’s done your homework, you know that getting in the door requires some hefty savings: A down payment, closing costs, and even a sizable cushion left over after you close, for starters. But there’s another common cost — the appraisal gap — that, in some scenarios,...

05/26/2021

Have you heard? There's a new Power in town...the new Power of Attorney effective June 13, 2021! Please contact this office to obtain a free, fillable, MicrosoftWord document of the new form and set up a consultation about what's changed.

Everyone have a wonderful, safe, happy, and healthy Memorial Day Weekend!

The Slevin's
222 Main Street
East Setauket NY 11733
631-335-3705

04/30/2020

With the COVID-19 shutdown open houses and showings have been all but suspended indefinitely in New York. This can be frustrating for buyers who still need a place to call home. Check out this article about buying a house sight-unseen and give us a call for any questions!

Buying a house sight unseen doesn’t have to be daunting. By avoiding these common mistakes, you’ll have a completely-remote yet smooth homebuying process.

02/14/2020

Happy Valentine's Day!

Give your partner a gift they would never expect...the gift of a low low low interest rate on a Refinance on your Mortgage!

Call for more information and let us get your refinance to the closing table. Rates are low low low between 3.3 and 3.5% on 30-year fixed rate!

12/09/2019

For some embittered spouses a last will and testament is actually a last chance to insult their life partner one more time. So it was for German poet Heinrich “Henry” Heine who left his estate to his wife, Matilda, in 1856 on the condition that she remarry, so that “there will be at least one man to regret my death”. Ouch.

Give the gift of a will to your loved ones this holiday season!

Call for your free consultation and quote with discounted rates through February 2020.

Why do you need a will? Check out our blog (linked below)!

Does everyone need a will? What about if you’re young and healthy? What if you don’t have any assets? Short answer: Yes, you’ll still need a will and we’ll tell you why in this post.

09/27/2019

The Curious Case of Boundary Line Agreements, Fence Line Affidavits, and Adverse Possession in NY.

Imagine the following scenario:
You are in contract to purchase a home. Your attorney has ordered a title report and the survey inspection* reveals that the neighbor’s driveway is encroaching onto your future property 5 feet! How dare he/she/they?!?
The reality is, homeowners rarely check their surveys or boundary lines before putting in an asphalt driveway, or even a fence or a shed. If the encroachment is a permanent structure (i.e., cannot be removed without changing the landscape of the property), like asphalt, the title company will require the neighbor to sign a boundary line agreement. What’s a boundary line agreement you ask? A boundary line agreement is a recordable form (read: will be recorded in the county clerk’s office the same as the deed to the property) that is signed by the neighbor in front of a notary and recorded in the county records book. It says the neighbor is aware of the encroachment and understands they don’t own that extra footage. Why do you need it? Because adverse possession is a thing in NY. If the neighbor satisfies the requirements, they could have a winning argument that the footage of the encroachment is theirs by right of law, stripping you of that parcel of land. A Fence Line Affidavit is simpler, albeit similar in function: if the encroachment is a non-permanent structure like a fence, the agreement does not have to be notarized and recorded. This is because removing the structure would not compromise the landscape of the property and the structure can be removed, or moved, as necessary.
The nitty gritty: if you have to order a new survey and an issue arises, it could delay your closing by quite a bit. Especially if the neighbor is difficult to find or unwilling to sign the affidavit or agreement. Always be sure to ask the seller of the home if they have a recent survey, or if they’ve installed any fences or sheds on the property while they’ve owned it.
For more information, give us a call!

*Survey inspection: A survey inspection is done by a licensed surveyor with the sole purpose of locating property lines. The surveyor uses specific equipment, maps and other recorded surveys to establish benchmarks in regards to property lines, thus identifying boundaries and potential encroachments.