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Apartment Owners and Buyers:
Buying a NYC co-op or condo apartment is one of the biggest investments you'll every make. This purchase is more than just buying a home, it's investing in a housing corporation. Articles, here, will help you understand what your investment really means, and how to make a safe one.
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The Co-op/Condo Owner's Manual
Case Notes: Owners Have Few Options When Boards Close Terraces for Years
Written by Richard Siegler and Dale J. Degenshein on July 30, 2014
Buyers pay a premium for a co-op or condo apartment with outdoor space. But what happens when a terrace needs repairs that prevent the shareholder or unit-owner from using it?
That was the question in Goldhirsch v. St. George Tower & Grill Owners Corp.
Spotlight on: The Admissions Process at Self-Managed Co-ops
Written by Michael Gwertzman on July 29, 2014
Without a property manager to wrangle applications and organize interviews, self-managed co-ops need to nail down an efficient admissions procedure to ensure that everyone has the right information. But getting everyone's schedules organized, getting all the application forms copied and distributed, following up on missing documents and all the other back-and-forth matters take persistence, dedication and time — items sometimes in short supply for self-managed boards.
Wary of dealing with the co-op board approval process, and desiring to own their own real-estate rather than just shares in a cooperative, many apartment buyers opt for condominiums over co-ops. This has rendered co-op prices' generally lower than those of comparable condos. But according to the appraisal firm Miller Samuel, reports The Real Deal, co-ops are catching up: In Manhattan in this year's second quarter, co-ops on average spent 71 days on the market, down from 160 days during the same period of 2012. And the median price rose as well during that time, jumping 9 percent to $725,000. The condo median remains much higher, at $1.26 million.
How A Brooklyn HDFC Co-op Succeeds in Keeping Apartments Affordable
Written by Bill Morris on July 28, 2014
In the early 1980s, the 16-unit co-op at 572 Sterling Place in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn was an abandoned, derelict shell. Catholic Charities and the parish of St. Theresa of Avila helped secure it a $440,000, 30-year mortgage, and property was incorporated as a co-op under the city's Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC). Each unit was valued at just $27,500, and shareholders agreed to contribute sweat equity for 10 percent of that sum, including demolition work and installing flooring, trim, and cabinets.
It was a building designed to be affordable to low- and middle-income New Yorkers. But now some shareholders, delighted by the low price when they bought, are seeing things differently as they go to sell — warping the very affordability the HDFC program fosters.
No less an eminence than France's U.N. Ambassador has been stymied by the co-op board of River House, the famously ... particular, shall we say, apartment house in Manhattan's Turtle Bay neighborhood. Josh Barbanel reports in The Wall Street Journal that after the government of France agreed in May to buy a 14-room co-op for the dignitary's domicile, the board bowed to the campaign of socialite Elizabeth R. Kabler, who lives across the hall and sent fellow shareholders a letter objecting to the prospect of noisy parties, armed guards and, yep, diplomatic immunity. The board actually approved the sale, but with restrictions. The French government agreed — except for one that scotched the deal. So if you have $8.2 million on hand and don't expect a lot of guests, the place could be yours!
Politicians sounded a hue and cry when they learned developers wanted to install separate entrances — "poor doors" — for residents living in the affordable-housing part of new luxury buildings. But now one developer is getting his way regardless. The New York Post reports that the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) has approved Extell's plan for such a separate-but-equal entrance at the 33-story condominium at 40 Riverside Blvd. that the company is building on the Upper West Side.
Anything about this reek of 1950s segregation, with income instead of race? Well, as David Von Spreckelsen, senior vice president at Toll Brothers, told The Real Deal last year, “I think it’s unfair to expect very high-income homeowners who paid a fortune to live in their building to have to be in the same boat as low-income renters...." Yes, because all those nurses, teachers, police officers, writers and small-business owners are all scum of the Earth, unfit to use the same lobby as lawyers, bankers and, evidently, real-estate company senior vice presidents.
Exploding Toilets Lead to Imploding Mortgages at Brooklyn's Caton Towers
Written by Bill Morris on July 23, 2014
Exploding toilets sounds like the punch line of a joke. But to the residents of Caton Towers, a 283-unit high-rise co-op in the Kensington section of Brooklyn, it was no laughing matter. A string of recent toilet explosions in the building injured three people — and now the co-op is facing three lawsuits.
The worst part is, that's not the worst part. Because of the three lawsuits, the Federal National Mortgage Association, popularly known as Fannie Mae, is now declining to back mortgages in the building, causing half a dozen potential sales to fall through.
Joanne Kaufman's New York Times article about families who become friends with the super and other building staff — to the point of having dinner, drinks or even a Hamptons weekend together — initially gives a warm and fuzzy feeling about the brotherhood of man. But as Dan Wurtzel, president of one the largest property-management firms in New York City, notes, this can "foster an environment of favoritism, a perception that not all residents are treated equally." Two leadership consultants agree, saying, "It can put the professionalism of the staff into question and create discomfort for observers because the roles of the players are now unclear.” It's a tricky issue, since true friendship is one of life's rare treasures. What do you think? Comment below.
Spotlight on Laundry: Can Private and Public Washing Machines Co-Exist?
Written by Ruth Ford on July 22, 2014
The co-op board of a 22-unit on Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan was facing a problem. One of the shareholders had petitioned the board to be allowed to install a washer and dryer in his apartment. While the board was sympathetic – the shareholder lived on the sixth floor, the machines were in the basement, and the building had no elevator – a clause in the laundry contract prohibited the board from "encouraging" shareholders to install their own private washing machines and dryers.
What's a board to do?
A READER ASKS: I want to perform some renovations in my co-op. I know that I'll probably have to fill out an alteration agreement, but what should I look for on the forms? What kind of restrictions or details am I facing?
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