Condos/Coops?? Input please!

Right now we are renting a basement apartment saving for a house. We are not exactly thrilled where we are, but we don't want to move to rent again. In the next few months we will probably have enough for a condo or a co op. Does anyone know anything about them and the difference between them, or can anyone direct me to a good source I can use to research them? Have any of you ever owned one? In the ads they refer to maintenance fees; what does that mean?

Any help or input would be appreciated. Thanks!!

We're in the process of buying a co-op now. I've done quite a bit or research. Plus, my mom lives in a co-op and my dad in a condo!

The basic difference between co-ops and condos are:

A Co-Op is a corporation. When you buy a co-op you're buying shares in the corporation and you esentially become a shareholder not a landowner. You buy shares in the corporation and then 'lease' your unit from the corporation. The co-op is responsible for all maintenance issues w/ the building, ie doormen, garbage disposal, garden maintenance, leaky, etc. You pay a mainenance which is calculated differently in each building (usually a % of the number of shares you own). The maintenance always included: your property taxes, the salareis for staff (doormen, orderlys, super), and a percentage of the buildings' underlying mortgage, heat and hot water. In some buildings, the maintenance also includes the gas & electric. But this isn't the case w/ all co-ops. A percentage of the maintenance is tax deductable. This also varies by building. 50% tax deduc. is pretty standard.
Co-ops are run like corporations, so there are bylaws, board of directors and committees.
Co-op buildings usually have admissions boards. This means that you can't just buy an apt and that's it. You need to submit an application (we're at this stage now) with financial information, personal references, etc. It seems like an invasion of privacy, but it's to protect the corporation. If one shareholder (owner) doesn't pay, the other owners need to support that person. The co-op we're buying has a finaning requirements (they require 20% down payment) and also require that all our housing expenses (maintenance & mortgage & debt) be less than 28% of our monthly income.
Some co-ops also have rules about pets, leasing, structural construction, etc.
The pro's to the coop are that you have a space that's yours, you get the tax breaks, but don't have to deal w/ lawns & maintenance issues. The con's are that you are governed by the bylaws of the corporation, which you should read and make sure you can live with before you sign a contract. When you sell, or if you're allowed to rent your apt, the people will need to be approved by the board, and the board doesn't have to accept just anyone. Some boards have it in their power to turn people down for any legal reason (racism, homophobia, etc. are not excuses to turn people down), so the sale and purchase will be contingent on board approval. Of course if you can find a sponsor apartment in a co-op, you don't have to deal w/ the board of directors to get in, you just buy and you're done with it. The sponsor is the original owner of the building - usually they rented the building then went co-op and let people who were renting buy their homes. Sponsor apt are those apt that renters didn't buy. Usually elderly people live in these apt. When they move on to nursing homes or pass away, the spronsor sells them and they can sell to whomever they want, w/o board approval. Generally you want a building where the less sponsor owned apt, the better. It means people want to own there, not just rent there.

A condo is like buying 'real' property. You buy a space, and the four walls, ceiling and floor are yours. Your responsibility and yours to do with as you please. You pay your taxes and 'common charges' which usually include super's salaries, and maintenance for common areas such as elevators, hallways, etc. You can rent as you please (and so can your neighbors) so you have less recourses if you're stuck w/ an up and coming rock star next door. Condos are good investment properties since you can own them for years and years and never have to live in them. Becasue of the freedom, condos are usually way more $$ than co-ops.

Check out 'The Co-Op bible'. You can read some on amazon or barnes and noble on line. It's been very helpful.

We've lived in apts for years, work in the city, don't have a car, and didn't want the expenses & responsibilites of a house, so a co-op was great for us. There aren't that many condos in the area we liked, or we would have opted for a condo (more freedom). We looked at a few condos but they seemed run down compared with the co-ops. For the most part, coops are the buildings w/ landscaped expteriors and doormen. We're in Queens, so it may be different in LI.

If you think you'd have enough saved to buy a house in a year, wait it out and go that route. With most co-ops, you'll need to put at least 10% down (usually 20%) and you'll have maintenance on top of that. You also don't get any 1st time homebuyer perks, since co-ops aren't technically property. I don't know if condos have those types of requirements.