CO-OP OWNERS?

FH started looking at co-ops this weekend and we are pretty sure this is the route we want to go bc we can't afford a house in the area we need to be. How long did it take to get approved and then how long until you moved in? Are you happy living in a co-op or is it a pain in the ***?

Re: CO-OP OWNERS?

FH owns a co op. Co op's have much more restricting laws. It will be a pain when he goes to sell it.
I own a condo, the laws are much easier as a homeowner..

Both have pros and cons, but I would try to go for condo (at the end of the day its the same type of space i.e. apartment, townhouse).

Good luck!

Re: CO-OP OWNERS?

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Posted by MirabellaNYC

FH owns a co op. Co op's have much more restricting laws. It will be a pain when he goes to sell it.
I own a condo, the laws are much easier as a homeowner..

Both have pros and cons, but I would try to go for condo (at the end of the day its the same type of space i.e. apartment, townhouse).

Good luck!

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Where is your condo if you dont mind me asking

Re: CO-OP OWNERS?

we are looking to buy a co-op too and where i have been looking there have only been co-ops and no condos. we can't afford a house so that is why we are buying a co-op, we would like a condo but they are about the same prices as houses

Re: CO-OP OWNERS?

I responded on the NW board in regards to my coop process. I agree with the PP condo's are easier....we did coop bc in the area we wanted to live there were no condos.

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My condo is in Queens (actually close to the 5 towns!) which is really an apartment in a building.
FH's co-op is in Hewlett.

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Posted by lizzie217

I responded on the NW board in regards to my coop process. I agree with the PP condo's are easier....we did coop bc in the area we wanted to live there were no condos.

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where is your co-op bc in the area we are looking there also arent really any condos and we are restricted to a certain area

Re: CO-OP OWNERS?

Whitestone, Queens .. What area are you looking??

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Posted by lizzie217

Whitestone, Queens .. What area are you looking??

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Great Neck

Re: CO-OP OWNERS?

From what I know of Great Neck it is mostly Coops as well, but they have a large selection. My friend's brother recently sold his, I wish I knew the building name, it was beautiful.

Re: CO-OP OWNERS?

Thanks for all your help girls!

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Co-ops are less expensive but with higher maintenance fees as well as more restrictions than a condo. Consider it like this... you are a PARTIAL owner and need approval to make changes to your 'own' place. Condos cost more outright but have much lower maintenance fees and the place is YOURS. In my opinion, and others that I know that have co-ops, condos are reallly the best way to go. Good luck!

typo

Re: CO-OP OWNERS?

I'm a co-op owner. I'm actually in contract to sell it as we type!

It was a PITA to redo my bathroom but aside from that, haven't had many issues.

My building restrictions have changed so I'm PRAYING the guy gets approved to buy it. It takes around a month to submit all the paperwork and get approved...but really it depends on how often the board meets. Mine meets once a month.

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I loved our co-op. it's fun to sit and eat dinner or breakfast on the terrace & we have the nicest neighbors. As for the approval, it's similar to applying for a mortgage.

Re: CO-OP OWNERS?

FH and I own a co-op in great neck and while the initial process with the board was a little bit of a pain, the rules are lax once you're in and don't matter much.

I found it is the cheapest way to start building equity if you can't afford a condo or house.

Re: CO-OP OWNERS?

like others said, condo's cost more but less for maintenance and co-op's cost less but more for maintenance. In the end price wise can be about the same. For example some condo's i saw where 300k and higher but maintenance was $300 about, co-ops were in the 200 k's but maintenance was $600 and higher. My co-op for example is $800 for maintenance.

It all depends on the board, my board was very cool and i was able to completely change my whole apartment. We basically had gutted it and re-did everything. We gutted the whole kitchen, positioned everything differently and everything new. Bathrooms, one we made bigger and added jacuzzi, the other was a half bathroom but alot of space left so we added a big stand up shower 8 shower headsl. Floors, closets and just about everything was changed. We had no issues when it came to this and all we were asked for was insurance from contractors.

For me i was basically looking at the space only when buying, and this was the best space. I would've taken either as long as i loved the apartment. The reason we bought a co-op was simply for the apartment. Big living room, dining room, big kitchen, 2 bathrooms and we made it 2 full bathrooms, nice layout the bedrooms were far from living room. Many were smaller that i had originally seen, but was looking for something 900 sq feet or bigger. When it came down to it, the space was the only reason for my decision.

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I loooove living in our co-op. Our process took a while only because our sellers' sellers dragged their asses ... our offer was accepted in February and we were approved by the board/bank by April ... but we didn't move in until July.

Seriously though, I love it. I knew we weren't ready for a house, so a co-op is a nice in-between for us. Responsibility without too much responsibility. People complain about there being a lot of restrictions, but we've never encountered one that wasn't reasonable ... it's fine.

Good luck!

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just check what the restrictions are. My coop is very laxed except when it comes to dogs. I gutted my whole place before I even moved in. Put in garbage disposal, eat lamps, etc and my super never said a thing.

Maintenance may be higher on a coop but that includes your property taxes. Condos fees are less but you have to pay property tax on top of it.

It's really whatever you can afford.

We'll be selling mine soon and I'm really going to miss it. I love it.

Re: CO-OP OWNERS?

Co-op owner here as well. I found my place in November and closed in April. Getting approved by the board wasn't bad at all-but I don't think my board is very strict.

Good luck!