What goes into buying a co-op???

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Posted by fashionbride

Management can never pass anything without the Board of Directors approval. Whether or not your Board can pass it without getting a majority of Shareholders to approve is up to the individual Cooperative as is laid out in the bylaws of the Cooperative.

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Management has nothing to do with the financials of the co-op. But the board can approve maintenance increases on their own.

Hell there wasn't a 'shareholder vote' the last time they increased my maintenance.

What makes you think though that as a shareholder... you will have a vote if a co-op wants to add or increase a flip tax? Couldn't the board of directors just vote on it themselves... since they were elected by the shareholders?

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Posted by DjPiLL

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Posted by beautyq115

My FI might be buying one (pending me getting a job). We are looking in Queens.


What do you look for??? What kinds of things do you have to do to buy one???

TIA

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1br co-ops in Queens run between 130-190k. 2brs run from 160k-300k.

There is no penalty or fee if you ever sell a co-op... outside maybe a small move-out fee which in my co-op is $300 buks. No biggie.

I almost bought a house in Suffolk... and i still may consider it. But the commute to NYC from Suffolk is so not practical next to my tiny commute I have now coming from Bayside.

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Nevermind

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Posted by DjPiLL


What makes you think though that as a shareholder... you will have a vote if a co-op wants to add or increase a flip tax? Couldn't the board of directors just vote on it themselves... since they were elected by the shareholders?

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Even though to Board was elected by the Shareholers, there is a checks and balances system set up so that the Board can't run rampant and do anything to severely hurt the Shareholders...especially financially. While the Board may set and approve the normal budgeting and maintenance increases (without approval of the Shareholders) of the Coop they are not always allowed to set up the flip tax if it is not specifically said in the bylaws. That is really a legal question for that specific Coop.

Yeah thats a good point. I know my co-op board cannot remove the 'no pets policy' in my co-op without a majority shareholder vote.

So I guess there are things they 'can't do'. Good to know.

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Posted by tara51799

Is there any reason why you should by a condo over a co-op??

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Condo's and Coop's are generally the same...there is a major difference in the ease of buying a Condo as opposed to a Coop though.

Oftentimes a Condo will have what is called the Right of First Refusal which means that if the Board is given a sales package and they think that the price is too low, the Board has the option of buying the apartment at that price and then the Board can sell it at market rate. This is highly unlikely. Normally a Board will sign a waiver of the right of first refusal without even looking at the package so it is an all but dead issue.

The good thing about a Condo Board is that they can not turn you down and it is not like a Coop where they can restrict who comes into the building.

Generally the Common Charges (Maintenance in a Coop) are less than those of a Coop because there is no underlying mortgage on the property that you are paying off. You are paying off your mortgage only.

In a Condo you own the physical space that is your apartment, whereas in a Coop you are merely a Shareholder of the Corporation and have Stock.

Services in a Condo or Coop are generally the same. Common charges go to keeping up the Common areas of the building and the general upkeep of building services.

Hope this helps.

Its very rare nowadays that a co-op will reject an applicant just for the sake of rejecting them.

If the applicant fails to meet all the requirements for the co-op... like salary requirement... down payment... etc... then yeah they will get rejected.

But follow the rules and you are good to go.

I personally prefer co-ops over condos. They are usually WAY cheaper. Maintenance is just as reasonable... because even though co-op maintenance is more expensive... it also includes your property taxes.

With a condo... you pay your taxes separately and you pay a HOA fee.

And a co-op will appreciate just as much as a condo will (assuming the co-op is financially sound).


If I want an actual house that I will 'own'... i am buying a single family house and skipping the condo cause at least in my neighborhood... condos run 500k and up!