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They say now is the time to buy, but I'm just curious about down payments for coops. The areas i'm looking into are: gerritsen beach, marine park, madison, sheepshead bay... and even howard beach (queens). Prices in theses areas for 2 brs are great but I hear that most want 20% down payments, thats insane! Anyone know if they go lower or if there is anyway around paying that much for a down payment?
For Manhattan, that would be a LOW down payment. It's pretty standard for co-ops to have minimal required down-payment that are around 20%, but realize that some buildings require 50% and some buildings (usually on Fifth and Park Avenues and on Central Park West) don't allow ANY mortgage and require 100% cash.
So, putting this into perspective, 20% isn't that bad.
I know it isn't bad and I know how ridiculous Manhattan is, but in today's economy I would think that they would lower the down payments. I know that 2 years ago my sister in law bought a two family house on SI and didnt put a penny down. I also know that down payments for houses are really low right now. I just don't know how I can come up with 20%.
I know it isn't bad and I know how ridiculous Manhattan is, but in today's economy I would think that they would lower the down payments. I know that 2 years ago my sister in law bought a two family house on SI and didnt put a penny down. I also know that down payments for houses are really low right now. I just don't know how I can come up with 20%.
That's precisely WHY they don't lower the down payment: they need to know that the proposed member CAN afford it in this economy. They would NOT be happy to see shareholder become unable to hold up his/her side of the financial agreement.
Nope, it's part of the downside of co-ops. On the upside, they're among the most secure kind of housing in NYC, with respect to soundness of financials. Condos are hurting now, precisely because of the economy: people are walking away from their down payments and, when a condo owner goes bankrupt, when the assets are divided, the condo is low-man on the totem pole. In a co-op, should a shareholder go bankrupt, the co-op gets the money FIRST.
The co-ops in Gerritsen Beach are very well-kept and reasonably priced. We live in the neighborhood and have friends who live in a co-op on Knapp St. In fact, they they are selling their 1BR because they are upgrading to a 3BR in another co-op building around the corner. They are very happy with their current building, but just want more space.
20% down, however, is the norm. Each building is different, so you might find a rare exception, but it is doubtful. Likely, if there is an exception, the RE agent will be pitching it to you. The good news is that unlike Manhattan, the co-op boards out here are generally less uptight about whether you are personally worthy of the privilege of living amongst them. This is more of a working class area. Basically if your finances are good and you don't seem like a jerk, you're in. But again.... every building is different.
Upstater - We currently live in the neighborhood as well and my husband has lived here his whole life so that sort of makes us neighbors, I like it here and would love to stay. We are also lucky to know a RE agent who works for Fillmore and we're hoping that will help us find the good deals but I'm not sure that will help us much. If 20% is the norm, are there coops for around 10-15% or is that very rare?
Upstater - We currently live in the neighborhood as well and my husband has lived here his whole life so that sort of makes us neighbors, I like it here and would love to stay. We are also lucky to know a RE agent who works for Fillmore and we're hoping that will help us find the good deals but I'm not sure that will help us much. If 20% is the norm, are there coops for around 10-15% or is that very rare?
I think your agent friend at Fillmore would be much more of an expert on the subject than me. I'm only talking from general knowledge.
Your best bet for buying a coop with less than 20% down is if you find a sponsor owned apartment.Typically,sponsor owned apartments are not subject to board rules and approvals so they can sell their apartments with 10% or less down even if the coop has a 20% or less rule.Banks have really tightened qualifications a lot however and will only give 90 or 95 % financing if your credit score is above 720 or 750 and you have a very secure job like a tenured teaching position or government employment.
And your agent is not likely to tell you about sponsor owned apartments because they are frequently sold directly by the sponsor without brokers.
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