Beech Hills Co-op in Douglaston, Queens good place to live?

[Cerebrator]

I lived in Deepdale for the first 23 years of my life. It is a nice neighborhood, but looking back on it, NOT meant for a family with more than one child--just not meant to be, especially considering the amount of appliances, clothing, electronics, and so on, that people have today compared to when those co-ops were built!

I say you can raise one kid there, but by the teenage years, move! My friends and I look back with disgust on how crowded and cramped our live were in what MOBE calls "boxes with four walls". My uncle moved from Deepdale because his kid was seemingly the only non-Asian in the town's elementary school and because of the lack of space.

However, it is peaceful and safe, but don't plan on having a sense of town community there. I knew hardly any of my close neighbors and it seems there are absolutely no young people for a young person to socialize with. One of my close friends, looking back said, "No wonder I sucked with getting girls when I was young; there were none in that damn town." Back in the eighties and nineties there were some young people and there were huge Fourth of July events at one of the parks. Stuff like that is dead now. There are no block parties, no festivities, and so on.

Teenagers are zoned to Cardozo high school, an overcrowded school when I went there with a graduating class of 980 (now even more crowded), with some diligent students but loads of losers, drug users, presexualized teenaged girls, and wannabe gangsters bussed in from god knows where. I am not sure what it is like now.

It is mostly Jewish, but the surrounding non-co-op residences are nearly all Asian. If you are OK with that, fine.

[johnreyes]

As a resident of Beech Hills for many years I often wonder why the prices for apartments are low. I am always told that people won't pay more but sellers and realtors need to bump up the prices. If every apartment was listed higher than that would be the price. Some of the cheaper apartments are from the original owners back in 1951 and they never renovated so you have to put in a lot of money. Nice renovated apartments are still cheap. If you compare this to any other housing it is very affordable. It is a very nice place to live with a diverse community and very helpful staff. They do an extremely good job clearing out any snow while you are sleeping and it is very clean and safe here. The schools are excellent. Somebody has to have the nerve to ignore the realtors and ask for a higher selling price.

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by mediumrare

The rules any co-op may have should protect and enhance the quality of life of its shareholders. Unfortunately, there are too many instance where this ain't so. One of the most widespread complaints you will hear is how co-op owners lose their buyers due to board rejection when they want or need to sell their apartment.

Imagine, especially in this bad economy how difficult a task it is to get a buyer when your unit is for sale. Once an owner is lucky enough to get someone in contract the next step is a board interview. While I'm sure many co-ops are reasonable about what qualifications are necessary for approval, too many simply reject buyers due to ridiculous standards that most will not be able to meet. The owner, should their buyer be rejected is then indefinitely trapped in the unit until they can find just the right applicant for the board to approve. In the meantime, months go by...

I look forward to NY laws changing in the favor of a shareholder soon to stop the cycle of abuse that way too many co-ops exercise against shareholders who are NOT on the board.

I can say I have been buying and selling co-ops we owned for 25 years and never had any issues with buyers. more than a dozen of them .

I actually like the rules and regulations in the buildings and found them quite transparent to our lives.

I like the idea everyone can not just do as they please and if we buy another one to retire in it is just the reason I would buy again in we may buy one in bay terrace next year. .

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by Bead girl

I have lived in beech hills for more than 60 years. My children attended the schools here and these schools are in the silk stocking district of NYC. I LOVE my co op and have always been happy here. I grew up here, was married here and divorced here as well. If something needs repairs, etc., the maintenance men are here in a little while. I love that I am 5 minutes from the LIRR and 25 minutes from manhattan. This development is kept clean and safe. I would have nothing bad to say about beech hills.

how much is the flip tax there ?

[Margarita2016]

I have lived at Beechhills for 10 years now and will not live elsewhere.It is so quiet you may think is a ghost town. They have strict rules about everything and that's what keep this neighboorhood safe. I will highly recommend living here.District 26 is among the best in queens.

Rev. Juan Cordova pastor

[Gesarsenal]

Neighborhood wise it is a great place to live! The LIE, Grand Central, and Cross Island are all just 2 minute drives away. Very peaceful, clean, and pleasant. Financially though there are a few issues. I bought a unit in 2008. Fast forward 8 years and my unit is now worth about 20% less than what I paid. That is not factoring the $8,000 flip tax as well. Maintenance is about $1,000 a month which includes electric and heat. I know there were a few issues financially with the coop board a few years ago and also some major unrest on the board as well. Again living wise I have absolutely no complaints but financially there are some issues you may want to research.

[eightgrand]

Whenever I googled Beech Hills and this come up so I'm gonna add something here to help the new researchers.

I bought a 2/3 bedroom coop here in Oct 2019. Since then, maintenance went up twice ($25 x 2) in little over a year. I pay about $1,025 in maintenance now which includes all utilities, lawn maintenance, security at night time and snow/leaves removal. You will have to pay around $25 for each additional AC/washer/dryer. There are total of 3 community laundromats in all Beech Hills compound. Verizon FIOS is available. Outdoor parking is not assigned but you need a tag from the office. Each bed room gets one free permit tag. There are also paid indoor parking (around $75/month) which is about one and half car length long. And of course, there is a waiting list for indoor parking. Upper units gets attic storage and lower units gets a storage unit. Most importantly, there's about $1,250ish yearly assessment fee which I didn't know when I purchase the coop. But they collect it in a form of not giving your the tax return and combined wit STARS, there's almost nothing coming out from your pocket.

Typical coop rules applies. You just need 36% DTI to be able to purchase an apartment here. I've read that management is a pain to deal with but it has been pretty easy for me. I've contacted them quite a few times and things get done fairly quickly. I have refinanced and the Ms. Nowak from Sales office is very helpful and understanding. Any major altercation/updates needs permission from board and you will in licensed and insured contractor. People talks about the coop being in financial problems few years back but as far as i know, they are doing better than good now.

If you need any information, you can DM and i can help as much as I can.

Pros:
- Quiet
- Safe
- Decent neighbors
- Close to major highways
- Supermarkets close by
- School District
- Playgrounds/Parks close by
- 6 days/week garbage/recycle collection (not garbage bins)

Cons:
- Relatively high maintenance fee and increase frequently
- $8000 (fixed) flip fee for 2/3 br apartment