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I've put in and had an offer accepted on a Co-op apartment in Jersey City at Montgomery Towers. I'm about to start attorney review, I have a couple of minor misgivings, but I just want to get all of the necessary information before I make my final decision.
1) I cannot obtain title insurance. If the previous owner has a lien on their shares, and the title search company doesn't pick up on this, I could be on the hook for a lot of money.
2) I was told a story about another Co-op, where HUD had to step in and save the building after the co-op management had millions of dollars of debt it was about to default on.
3) The mortgage rates are about a half a point higher than I could obtain on the standard condo. This is generally offset with the fact that property taxes and all utilities are included in the maintenance.
4) I can't find very much chatter about this building from residents, or former residents.
5) There are a large number of renters in this building as well, but I can't find an exact proportion of renters to owners.
well, i bought a co-op in brooklyn and its definitely something id avoid doing again. was fine while living there but it made the buying and selling process much longer than it should have been.
Current renter in Montgomery Towers. Which unit are you looking at?
Here are my comments on your concerns:
2) Was that about the Metropolis Towers across the street? Those two buildings are a disaster and I would stay away. Part of the building is managed by a rental agency and the other parts are condos (which can also be renter occupied if renting from the owner). However, the maintenance record and financial history of those buildings look like trouble. Also, that parking lot is getting Chromium remediation in order to build new towers...
3) If you break out the property taxes of the HOA (say maintenance + property taxes = HOA), you're not saving too much and I think my landlord said the maintenance cost has been growing higher very rapidly. We did get a new management company last year and did sustain some heavy Sandy damage, so you do need to look into how quickly your HOA will grow.
6) I feel the building is heavily tilted to renters (maybe 2/3 even?) just from my interactions with residents in the elevators but your realtor can find out the real numbers.
In general, I would say pros and cons:
+ the building has really solid construction and excellent sound proofing
+ great location
+ management is starting to crack down on over occupancy
+ nice staff
- old building so certain lines have bad roach infestation and I mean baaad. Extermination is included in HOA, but doesn't seem to help too much
- units are small, most 1bd's are around 500 sqft
- many units haven't been renovated in decades so expect high costs as appliances and AC break
- one elevator often out of order... it sucks walking up and down that many flights of stairs because the fourth packed elevator went by and you couldn't fit in.
I'd rather not say which unit, because we're still in negotiations, and I don't want give anything away that could possibly sour the deal. That being said, I've been in the unit, and it's gorgeous, and I'm fully prepared to make more adjustments to the unit in order to get what I'd like in it.
With what I was planning on paying for a condo, unless the maintenance shoots up 50% I'd probably still be fine.
Majority renters are only a concern for me, if it becomes an issue with me getting a mortgage. It added an extra point to a building I was looking at over in Van Vorst Park, I'm having that information sent to my lawyer and realtor.
Now, the roach infestation, which lines in particular are having the problem? I'm thinking that would likely be discovered in inspection though.
Thanks for the info?
Also, what are the general ages of people living in the building, I couldn't really tell when I was looking at units in the building.
I've put in and had an offer accepted on a Co-op apartment in Jersey City at Montgomery Towers. I'm about to start attorney review, I have a couple of minor misgivings, but I just want to get all of the necessary information before I make my final decision.
1) I cannot obtain title insurance. If the previous owner has a lien on their shares, and the title search company doesn't pick up on this, I could be on the hook for a lot of money.
2) I was told a story about another Co-op, where HUD had to step in and save the building after the co-op management had millions of dollars of debt it was about to default on.
3) The mortgage rates are about a half a point higher than I could obtain on the standard condo. This is generally offset with the fact that property taxes and all utilities are included in the maintenance.
4) I can't find very much chatter about this building from residents, or former residents.
5) There are a large number of renters in this building as well, but I can't find an exact proportion of renters to owners.
Any and all advice would be welcomed.
Just resurrecting an old thread as I'm looking at this building to make our first purchase. We can make 20% down and are quite comfortable with mortgage+monthly maintenance, but not sure if we can get financing or even approved to buy into the coop,
Do you know if there is any special approval needed to buy into this coop?
How easy is it to get financing for this coop? Do you have some recommendation?
How's the living there in general?
Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Just to clarify that we are looking to buy into Montgomery towers. Any opinions/suggestions would be appreciated. As the OP said, there are not much banter about this place, even online, except this forum.
I don't have much knowledge about the building but if you're getting no help at all, I'll share what I've heard about it. I've never been in the building but a friend of mine took a look at a unit there a few years ago but didn't pursue it. What I recall from his report were concerns about roach infestation, pungent smells in common areas, section 8 renters, and proposed construction of new buildings on the property.
What's attractive about it is the proximity to PATH and low asking prices relative to condos in the neighborhood. Not sure what the full carrying cost of a unit there would be, though.
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