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Husband and I are looking to buy a coop at some point this spring/summer. We are looking around Riverdale area, Pelham, Yonkers, edgewater in the Bronx. Our goal is to eventually own a house, but for now it makes no sense to keep renting in NYC.
This whole process will be new to us so I am trying to prepare. Our combined income is 100K, and we would be using an FHA loan. What is the likelihood that we would get approved by a board based on your experiences?
We are looking for 2BDRM with a balcony for our dog to have some outdoor space.
He’s in law enforcement and I work part time on my own psychotherapy private practice.
I can't answer that but what I would do - start going to open houses in your target area. Talk to some realtors. Make sure they are local realtors, meaning most of their business is in Riverdale, etc. (each area probably has their own local realtors).
They will have insight into which buildings have more stringent boards.
Also check if any buildings still have any sponsor units, then you wouldn't have to get your financials approved.
Husband and I are looking to buy a coop at some point this spring/summer. We are looking around Riverdale area, Pelham, Yonkers, edgewater in the Bronx. Our goal is to eventually own a house, but for now it makes no sense to keep renting in NYC.
This whole process will be new to us so I am trying to prepare. Our combined income is 100K, and we would be using an FHA loan. What is the likelihood that we would get approved by a board based on your experiences?
We are looking for 2BDRM with a balcony for our dog to have some outdoor space.
He’s in law enforcement and I work part time on my own psychotherapy private practice.
Should work if you have little or no debt and good credit scores. Income is only part of the equation. Most
co op boards will want to see that your mortgage payment, the monthly maintenance of the apartment and the carrying charges on all other debt of any kind total no more than 30% of your income.
Take the time to carefully analyze the financial condition of any co op you might be interested in. Most people just don't do this and real estate brokers cannot be relied upon at all. They are mostly clueless. Financial soundness of co ops varies a lot...from very sound to total wrecks.
I can't answer that but what I would do - start going to open houses in your target area. Talk to some realtors. Make sure they are local realtors, meaning most of their business is in Riverdale, etc. (each area probably has their own local realtors).
They will have insight into which buildings have more stringent boards.
Also check if any buildings still have any sponsor units, then you wouldn't have to get your financials approved.
When I bought a sponsor unit years ago the sponsor had virtually the same financial requirements as the board. Knowing what I have learned about co ops I would completely avoid any building where the sponsor was selling units without approval of financials. It could indicate that they are just out to sell and filling the building with unqualified buyers. That's a recipe for disaster.
I also been reading that you can’t use FHA loans for co ops. Is that accurate?
Not true. Some do allow them and some don't. The overriding issue is the % downpayment. If a co op has a strict downpayment (even if only 5% or 10%) it can conflict with the minimum FHA which is 3.5%. In that case you would be expected to have the balance of the co op minimum even though you could get an FHA loan. Some co ops have no minimum downpayment percentage so a 3.5% FHA loan would be no problem.
When I bought a sponsor unit years ago the sponsor had virtually the same financial requirements as the board. Knowing what I have learned about co ops I would completely avoid any building where the sponsor was selling units without approval of financials. It could indicate that they are just out to sell and filling the building with unqualified buyers. That's a recipe for disaster.
We were the sponsors and set our own terms for those we sold to ..
We were even willing to sell to our remaining last two existing rent stabilized tenants in the coop converted building at no money down and 50% off the market value .
As well as we were willing to finance it for a few years before they even had to deal with a mortgage .
They didn’t buy which was foolish . They could have had a million dollar apartment for half and had 500 or 600k equity day one .
now we sold them to an investor group and the deals off the table.
The tenants were hoping for a better deal .
We ended up selling for less then half to the investor group but I wouldn’t give them to the tenants for less just on principal.
So they lost the opportunity of a lifetime
Last edited by mathjak107; 11-04-2022 at 04:19 AM..
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