Should We Buy an HDFC Coop?

[tk2356]

I really appreciate all the input. I guess we'll just have to play it by ear, and really evaluate the finances/financial history of whichever place we're looking at, be it a regular or HDFC co-op. Same goes for the street atmosphere. I figured the area right across the Williamsburg bridge would seem nice enough, but having lived in Vegas for a time, I know how quickly a touristy/safe area can devolve into the hood.

Is getting board approval really that big of a pain? I'll start looking into sponsor units, though it seems like there aren't too many of them. Thanks for the info!

[randomperson2]

You should also be aware that many HDFC coops have limited or no financing available--they must be all-cash purchases. Do your research carefully.

[NiniCakes]

i have a question regarding these hdfc's... I noticed a lot of them state they require an all cash transaction but then have income limits (there's one I saw that had a $78K cap on a family of 2). How do they expect people who are borderline low to moderate income to have say $200K on hand for an all cash transaction? or does this mean something else? Do they consider mortgages at all?

[shadypinesma]

Because HDFCs are ridiculous.

If the city wants to keep HDFCs affordable then they should cap resale prices. Because as it is, you could put your 1 bedroom on the market for 1 million and nobody would stop you, but the income limits would still apply.

It defeats the purpose of affordable housing because the only one who have hundreds of thousands in cash lying around are trust fund kids, people with an inheritance, or people who have worked 40 years and have huge nest eggs.

[NiniCakes]

Originally Posted by shadypinesma

Because HDFCs are ridiculous.

If the city wants to keep HDFCs affordable then they should cap resale prices. Because as it is, you could put your 1 bedroom on the market for 1 million and nobody would stop you, but the income limits would still apply.

It defeats the purpose of affordable housing because the only one who have hundreds of thousands in cash lying around are trust fund kids, people with an inheritance, or people who have worked 40 years and have huge nest eggs.

Ahhh I see! Yeah, this program totally needs revamping! I don't know who thought it was common place for there to be a high number of "low income/high asset" folks to appeal to in the city, but that demographic is definitely not the majority! That all cash option for lower income working folks is absurd, I should write a complaint letter! once I figure out who handles hdfc's lol

[upthere22]

Originally Posted by NiniCakes

Ahhh I see! Yeah, this program totally needs revamping! I don't know who thought it was common place for there to be a high number of "low income/high asset" folks to appeal to in the city, but that demographic is definitely not the majority! That all cash option for lower income working folks is absurd, I should write a complaint letter! once I figure out who handles hdfc's lol

If they do that the program is over, it will be worthless for Coop owners, no way they would allow all their equity to be wiped out to save some property tax. That will kill the program. HDFCs are not public housing, they are private and will drop from the program.

there are other programs with resale cap, Michelle lama, HDFC are voluntary and the city has no legal recourse to force owners to cap their properties.

The HDFCs coop are just like any other coop (private corporations) that entered in a agreement with the city to get a tax breaks as long as the filter the prospective buyers by income and discourage speculation with a 30% flip tax. Caping will take away the equity accumulated on the property making the program worthless, as owners will lose more than what they will gain. ( the tax savings are just a couple hundred dollars per apartment while the lost of equity will be in the hundreds of thousands per appt. )


De Blasio proposed caping the HDFCs a while back but backtracked after hundreds of coops threatened to leave the program. Caping will be even harder in the future as Gentrification pushes Coop prices even higher.

Coops dont really care if the appt sells for a billion dollars as they will get 30% of that profit. Selling for high prices is in the best financial interest of the coop and benefit them greatly.