Young couple buying an apartment need advise (sale, subletting)

[didadididadi88]

My husband and I, both are young professionals working in Manhattan, are planning on buying our very first RE in NYC metro area. Here is some personal info of us, we are non citizens (H1B visa), have a yearly household income of around $110K before tax, but we just started working last Oct, so we expect that we will get more within the next couple years. We have no plan of having kids in the next 3 years, so a 1 or 2 bed apartment would be good for us for now. We expect to get a house later when we have kids but want to keep this apartment as an leasing property. For the budget, we can put up to $150k down, and expect a total monthly expense of around $2000. We are considering neighborhoods within 45minutes commute to Midtown Manhattan, such as Astoria/Long island city/Forest Hill/ Jersey City. Any suggestions of what neigherhood and the type (condo/coop) of apartment we should buy? Thank you so much!

[deker0]

I'd recommend Queens - Astoria/Long island city/Woodside area will easily give you a commute to Manhattan within 45 minutes and will be well within your price range. You can go anywhere from 250k - 550k for an apartment and since you have a nice sized down payment, you'll be able to match your monthly budget.

[didadididadi88]

Originally Posted by deker0

I'd recommend Queens - Astoria/Long island city/Woodside area will easily give you a commute to Manhattan within 45 minutes and will be well within your price range. You can go anywhere from 250k - 550k for an apartment and since you have a nice sized down payment, you'll be able to match your monthly budget.

But we both are non-citizens, can we consider a coop? Most apartment fall in that price range turn out to be coop not condo.

[deker0]

Hmmm....good question. Let me ask my dad about that. He is on a co-op board in his building and I will check whether or not H1B visas are allowed.

[nyc_sport]

There is no inherent rule against non-citizens owning coops, but some coops may have their own rules in that regard. But, probably only the types of Manhattan coops that are not in a price range or location that is relevant to you. The coop issue might be more of a problem in terms of whether you will be able to lease it later.

[Nugget]

Immigration status is going to be the least of your worries in buying a co-op.

Since you've both only been working since October of last year that is going to be the biggest issue. Co-ops require a fair bit of financial history, they do credit checks, require tax returns, W-2's, saving accounts and other documentation. Many of them that I have seen do not require proof of immigration status.

You may also want to look into what mortgage loans you qualify for as well. Most banks have a pre-qualification check, the larger ones at no-cost the smaller ones a nominal fee.

[didadididadi88]

Originally Posted by Nugget

Immigration status is going to be the least of your worries in buying a co-op.

Since you've both only been working since October of last year that is going to be the biggest issue. Co-ops require a fair bit of financial history, they do credit checks, require tax returns, W-2's, saving accounts and other documentation. Many of them that I have seen do not require proof of immigration status.

You may also want to look into what mortgage loans you qualify for as well. Most banks have a pre-qualification check, the larger ones at no-cost the smaller ones a nominal fee.

We both have pretty good credit score and we have got the pre qualification from bank already....around $350k loan amount. But we are not planing to get that much...as I said, we wanna keep our monthly expense around $2000, and reserve some for future house buying...lol

[didadididadi88]

I prefer to get a condo, cause as far as I know, there is a lot restrictions for buying a coop (board approval, financial history etc.) But the thing is, its hard to find a condo in those neighborhoods below $450k, so I am also putting Jersey City into my consideration, I know the tax rate is quite good there and its good for young couple with no kids.

For the coop, I am thinking if it can be under $300k, it will not be hard for me to get board approval & mortgage.

Any suggestions?

[rv224]

If you are planning to have kids in 3 years and move to a house, why do you want to purchase an apartment now? Save your money for the house when you have the kids.

[Henna]

Originally Posted by rv224

If you are planning to have kids in 3 years and move to a house, why do you want to purchase an apartment now? Save your money for the house when you have the kids.

I agree, I think you should rethink your plan. You don't really have the money to buy much in terms of a condo, and coops are generally quite problematic when it comes to subletting or renting out a unit.

If you really want to pursue it, try looking at condos in other neighborhoods where your money might go further, such as Elmhurst. The problem is that if you are planning to live in the condo for a few years and you don't care for the neighborhood, then there's not much point in that.

Even the condos in Elmhurst are really quite pricey. For example, check out this one that's on a very busy/noisy corner on Queens Blvd. 81-14 Queens Blvd. #PHF - Condo Apartment Sale in Elmhurst, Queens - StreetEasy

and 87-08 Justice Ave. - Condo Apartment Sale in Elmhurst, Queens - StreetEasy