Girls who own/owned a co-op

FH and I keep going back and forth on this...

Do you/did you think it was worth it to buy a co-op, or do you wish you had rented for a year or so and saved wedding money to just buy a house?

We were all set to buy a co-op (we'd like to move in together a few months before the wedding) but now some people are telling us it's not worth it and you'll just end up breaking even when you sell it and blah blah blahhhhh.

Also, do you think it's worth spending the few hundred more a month to buy a 2 BR for the resale value, or save more $ a month by getting a 1BR?

I feel so clueless about this.

I'm more or less in the same boat as you. (so yes, I won't be much help LOL) But... we were all set on buying a small house..what they like to call a cottage in the real esate world. Right now that's all that we think we can afford... sepcially a month or so before the wedding. My sister thinks that we should get a co-op...but I just couldn't see ourselves living in one. Before this was becoming a reality, FH was all for it...now that it's coming closer....he doesn't want a co-op...says there isn't enough value in it...and we could lose some. Soo...I'm just as lost as you....
Sorry for not helping!

Hi Ladies- Well I am all for your 1st investment to be a co-op. I purchased my co-op about 3 years ago while I was single. Its a 2br and I paid roughly baout 85k for it.

Now that we are about to get married -FH and I have discussed selling and a realtor that we were working with was going to list the unit at 145K. Another 2 bedroom in the complex sold for about 150K.

When we do sell _ i am confident I will at least walk away with some extra $$ money with any additional money we save to put down on our future home.

If you want to chat more about co-ops FM me and I am more than happy to share any info I have.

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Posted by Dani777

I'm more or less in the same boat as you. (so yes, I won't be much help LOL) But... we were all set on buying a small house..what they like to call a cottage in the real esate world. Right now that's all that we think we can afford... sepcially a month or so before the wedding. My sister thinks that we should get a co-op...but I just couldn't see ourselves living in one. Before this was becoming a reality, FH was all for it...now that it's coming closer....he doesn't want a co-op...says there isn't enough value in it...and we could lose some. Soo...I'm just as lost as you....
Sorry for not helping!

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LOL it does make me feel better to know I'm not the only one though!

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Posted by kbond06

i have a 1 br co-op....its good for us for now and really has helped us realize what we want in a house and in certain locations...the pros of co-op for us was to save and then choose a house we really like (not just to settle for) and also to help us realize exactly what we would want from a house...the cons would be that you might not 'make money' off of it in the future....but for us its not a big deal....the two bedroom idea for us was too close in prices to a house.....for now thats us....in probably 3 years we will leave

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I agree... we found a 2BR we really like but even though it would be nice to have all that extra room, we'd be spending like $300-400 more a month for it....blah if I just won the lotto this would be sooo much easier.

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Posted by Joe and Erica

Hi Ladies- Well I am all for your 1st investment to be a co-op. I purchased my co-op about 3 years ago while I was single. Its a 2br and I paid roughly baout 85k for it.

Now that we are about to get married -FH and I have discussed selling and a realtor that we were working with was going to list the unit at 145K. Another 2 bedroom in the complex sold for about 150K.

When we do sell _ i am confident I will at least walk away with some extra $$ money with any additional money we save to put down on our future home.

If you want to chat more about co-ops FM me and I am more than happy to share any info I have.

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A 2BR for $145k? WOW where do you live, I'm moving in!

Come on over! I am in Pelham! LOL

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Posted by chicky724

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Posted by kbond06

i have a 1 br co-op....its good for us for now and really has helped us realize what we want in a house and in certain locations...the pros of co-op for us was to save and then choose a house we really like (not just to settle for) and also to help us realize exactly what we would want from a house...the cons would be that you might not 'make money' off of it in the future....but for us its not a big deal....the two bedroom idea for us was too close in prices to a house.....for now thats us....in probably 3 years we will leave

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I agree... we found a 2BR we really like but even though it would be nice to have all that extra room, we'd be spending like $300-400 more a month for it....blah if I just won the lotto this would be sooo much easier.

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yep i know haha/...what places have you been looking at?

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Posted by kbond06

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Posted by chicky724

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Posted by kbond06

i have a 1 br co-op....its good for us for now and really has helped us realize what we want in a house and in certain locations...the pros of co-op for us was to save and then choose a house we really like (not just to settle for) and also to help us realize exactly what we would want from a house...the cons would be that you might not 'make money' off of it in the future....but for us its not a big deal....the two bedroom idea for us was too close in prices to a house.....for now thats us....in probably 3 years we will leave

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I agree... we found a 2BR we really like but even though it would be nice to have all that extra room, we'd be spending like $300-400 more a month for it....blah if I just won the lotto this would be sooo much easier.

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yep i know haha/...what places have you been looking at?

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We really want to stay in Nassau since we both work here... our two favorites right now are in Rockville Centre and Roslyn, but we like Mineola too.

I bought my coop abut 10 years ago...A junior 4 (850 sq ft) for $54,000. I'm looking to sell next year right after the wedding for $250,000.

where can you get a return on your money like that!

Thats over $200,000 to put down on a house and the good thing is the prices of houses are dropping but coops have remained steady.

Due to the high increase in divorce and people not being able to get mortgages with no money down anymore coops are a good sell. They turn over very fast where I am.

i did but i did so years ago. Now going to sell it and use money towards getting a new place.

I think its a great investment, but how long do you plan on staying in the co-op. If its for a year or 2 then obviously have to really give it alot of thought bc might not be worth it. If its a bit over 2 years you think youre going to sell it then i think its a good idea. I have my apartment for about 4 years. It is valued over 100k more than what i bought it for, put alot of work into it. So even with it being worth more than 100k than what i paid, its still not a very large amount you get back from it. The reason why is bc in 4 years a big portion of the mortgage loan is still unpaid, if you have a 30 year loan to add up to the value of the house, how much you pay in 2-4 years wont be alot in comparison to the loan. I did a 20 year loan so had more paid off than somebody who would've had a 30 year loan

My opinion is....if you have a decent down payment then the maintance and mortgage will likely equal what you pay in rent...plus you are gaining equity, picking up a nice tax write off and not making a landlord rich lol

The thing is if you do buy a coop/condo you should plan to say there for a cple yrs bc buying is a hassle,,then to sell right away another hassle lol

FH and I went with a 2 bdrm coop bc in my area any house we wanted just isnt an option yet....we figure we can stay a few yrs, gain equity and save bc our maintance and mortage equals what we would have paid in rent...I hope this helps

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Posted by Joe and Erica

Come on over! I am in Pelham! LOL

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I just told FH about this I think we are coming over!!

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Posted by Joe and Erica

Come on over! I am in Pelham! LOL

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My grandma lives in Pelham and my uncle lives in Pelham Manor!