Ask Real Estate is a weekly online column that answers questions from across the New York region. Submit yours to realestateqa@nytimes.com.
Barbecue Season
Q. I am considering buying some space in the back of my co-op, which is on the lobby level of an 11-story building, and creating a 300-square-foot deck or balcony. I will have to negotiate the price and rules, but before I approach the board, I’d like to know the rules in New York City for grilling on a deck or balcony in Manhattan.
Upper West Side, Manhattan
A. Happy Memorial Day. I can only imagine how eager you are to build your own deck and fire up that grill. Good thing for you, you might actually be able to fulfill your barbecue dreams.
New York City has strict rules about outdoor grilling, but it doesn’t entirely ban the practice. You can’t use propane, for example, but you can use a charcoal grill. You also need to grill on a noncombustible surface, like a fireproof tile. The grill cannot be within 10 feet of a combustible surface, including building walls, floors, doors and windows. Because you will be designing the space and choosing the building materials, you will be able to address these issues with a contractor.
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The fire department is not a fan of grilling on a balcony, but your space might be permissible so long as it is not beneath an overhanging structure. Just be sure the grill is a safe distance from anything that could catch on fire.
“All you need is a nice little gust of wind and it will catch a curtain on fire in a heartbeat,” said Elliot Valentin, an inspector with the fire department.
Theoretically, the fire department could issue a violation for breaking barbecue rules. But the department generally does not make door-to-door surprise terrace inspections. So it’s unlikely you’ll actually get in trouble with the city, unless you cause a fire.
It’s more likely you’ll have trouble with a watchful co-op board. Approach your co-op thoughtfully. Reach out to the property manager with your request, attaching a copy of the city’s barbecue rules to your proposal. Explain that your design will comply with all city codes and will include safety measures like a fire extinguisher. If the building’s insurance goes up at all because of your arrangement, consider offering to pay the difference.
“Everybody wants to get their grills out,” said Richard Klein, a real estate lawyer. “If the shareholder is complying with the code, it should be safe, and the board shouldn’t have any problem with it.”
New Broker on the Block
Q. I just got my real estate sales license. I don’t know how to transition from my current 9-to-5 job to a new career as a real estate agent, where I’ll be working on commission only. I’m concerned about being able to support myself while I build a client base. However, I’ve heard that selling real estate part-time isn’t enough to succeed in the industry. What should I do?
Bushwick, Brooklyn
A. Congratulations on earning your real estate license. Embarking on any new career can be stressful — particularly if your income will be based on commission from clients that don’t yet exist.
Real estate is a competitive industry, particularly in a city like New York where the financial stakes are high. Added to that, as of May 9, there were 30,711 people in New York City with a sales license, according to data provided by the state. And that’s not counting the 24,156 people in the city with a broker’s license, which is a step up from yours.
“First, honestly ask yourself, how badly do you want it,” said Tiffany Lee, a saleswoman at Brennan Realty Services in Brooklyn. “Because the odds are stacked against you, and there’s a high likelihood you won’t be making much money your first year even if you jump into this full time.”
Even though real estate doesn’t guarantee you an immediate income, you can’t do it part time. Yes, open houses generally happen on Sundays and many buyers shop on the weekends, but most of the work brokers do happens during business hours. Inspectors, mortgage brokers and property managers all work from 9 to 5. So to build a client base, you need to be available during the workday.
“People think that real estate is a nights and weekend job, but it’s not that kind of career,” said Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn, the author of “Sell With Soul: Creating an Extraordinary Career in Real Estate Without Losing Your Friends, Your Principles or Your Self-Respect” (BlueGreen Books, 2008). “It’s like saying, ‘I want to open a nightclub but I don’t want to stay out past 10.’ ”
It took Ms. Lee a month before she earned her first commission on a rental that she handled for a friend. Now, almost a year into her career, she is beginning to earn a living. “It’s definitely a ‘reap what you sow’ type of set up,” she said. “You get what you put in.”
To make it work, reach out to successful brokers in the field to find out how they broke into the industry and save up a sizable nest egg before you jump into the business. Perhaps pick up a second job in the evenings now to help build savings. “You don’t want to go into real estate with $500 in your pocket,” Ms. Allan-Hagedorn said.
Once you have several months of living expenses stored away, give real estate a try, which will mean trading in that 9-to-5 job. Align yourself with a broker whom you could shadow and who could show you the ropes while you learn the trade. Because real estate provides a feast-or-famine income stream, supplement your savings with part-time work that you can do off hours to help you manage the lean months ahead.
Lost Lease
Q. My family has been living in a rent-controlled apartment since around 1968. My grandmother, who passed away, was the original tenant. Now my mother holds the lease. The landlord is forcing stipulations on my family, claiming that the stipulations are in the lease agreement, but I am suspicious because he isn’t the original landlord. We do not have a copy of the original lease to counter his claims. Is there a way to find it?
Hamilton Heights, Manhattan
A. If you don’t have a copy of a 46-year-old document, I doubt the current landlord has it either. If the landlord thinks the lease has certain details in it, he needs to prove it.
“If the management company produces anything other than the original lease that was signed circa 1968, then the tenant should be very suspicious,” said Jaron Benjamin, the executive director of the Metropolitan Council on Housing, an affordable housing advocacy group.
Typically, rent-controlled tenants don’t have a lease anymore because tenancy is pursuant to state statutes. Unlike other tenants who get an annual lease renewal, rent-controlled tenants have the legal right to live in their units, which is why they are the most protected tenants in the city.
“It’s possible that the landlord might not even have it,” said David A. Kaminsky, a real estate lawyer. “These buildings have often changed hands, files have gone missing, sometimes records are destroyed in floods or files.”
So how do you obtain the lease? You could reach out to the Division of Housing and Community Renewal to see if they have it in their records, which is possible, “but a long shot,” said Mr. Kaminsky. But you’re not the one who needs the lease right now — the landlord needs it if he wants to enforce new rules. “Unless he shows you the lease, he has no ability to enforce those clauses,” Mr. Kaminsky said. “It doesn’t matter what other leases generally say. It matters if there is an actual lease with that language in it.”