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I did do a google search but haven't found a whole lot on this subject. Seems they are few and far between. Anybody live in one or have known someone that does?
Are you looking strictly for co-ops, or condos as well? The difference is that in a co-op you own a share in a common property, while in a condo complex you own your condo plus a share in common areas. I think that condos in general greatly outnumber co-ops nationwide, except in New York City where most multiunit buildings which are not rental are coops (ie, condo buildings are relatively rare in NYC).
Regarding senior condo complexes, they are very numerous all over the country, and are known as 55+ communities. Some of such 55+ communities are co-ops, primarily it seems in the Midwest. There are a lot of threads on this forum about 55+ communities, if that is what you are in fact looking for, but these tend to be complexes of townhouses, condos, or rentals. If you are for some reason looking specifically for a 55+ co-op, yes, that might be harder to find. Why are you intetested in a co-op specifically (if indeed you are) as opposed to a condo?
PS- I happened to be typing at the same time as Mathjak, so I guess duplicated his point...
We have quite a few new construction (+55) popping up in the city I live in (Iowa), but I don't know anyone nor have any personal experience with them.
I do know many elderly who just buy a patio home or one-level townhouse that includes all ages. We have quite a few new construction for those.
I live in a co-op but it isn't age restricted. I wonder if it would be illegal to discriminate on the basis of age alone for a legally constructed public entity like a co-op unless there was a special variance for a specific project or in a municipality like Sun City? The reality is that a co-op board here can reject someone without giving any reason so it is a bit murky.
The price of a co-op apartment is substantially less than a condo.
I live in a co-op but it isn't age restricted. I wonder if it would be illegal to discriminate on the basis of age alone for a legally constructed public entity like a co-op unless there was a special variance for a specific project or in a municipality like Sun City? The reality is that a co-op board here can reject someone without giving any reason so it is a bit murky.
The price of a co-op apartment is substantially less than a condo.
when it comes to pricing , you have to look under the hood ..
when you buy a condo you are paying for 100% of the value of the apartment .
with a co-op it is structured differently ...
lets take a condo that cost 200k .
the identical building and apartment with a co-op may be 150k , however the building in a co-op may be holding a chunk of your equity in their loan ... so the co-op may be 150k and you are paying for 50k worth of mortgage through your maintenance to the building .
co-ops were very popular and in fact still are ... the reason is , mortgages were easier to get .
when buildings went co-op in nyc as a means to get out from under rent stabilization many existing tenants were tenants because they did not have a lot of income .
so by taking the apartments value and splitting it up between the tenant buyer and the buildings bank , the tenants bank was more inclined to loan since they were not on the hook for 100% of the value with the tenant .
i know the co-op i bought in 1987 was 77k plus i had another 30k in the portion the buildings mortgage held ...
if it was a condo i would have paid 107k with much lower common charges.
there are some shown in parts of the country that are senior only
In a non-NYC east coast city I did see ONE co-op. (Many condos though).
The co-op was strange and difficult to buy into. I don't remember the details but the financial requirements were different and more difficult to meet than those for a mortgage for a similar condo.
Between that experience- and reading about co-op boards in NYC- I don't think a co-op is something to wish for. Maybe something to settle for.
Buying a condo is pretty clean- you pay yer money and you get yer keys. None of this board approval nonsense.
some high end co-ops can have boards the create problems but after owning 11 co-op apartments over the years i can say they were pretty transparent to life ......
income levels you need can be lower but you may need other qualifications board wise
In a non-NYC east coast city I did see ONE co-op. (Many condos though).
The co-op was strange and difficult to buy into. I don't remember the details but the financial requirements were different and more difficult to meet than those for a mortgage for a similar condo.
Between that experience- and reading about co-op boards in NYC- I don't think a co-op is something to wish for. Maybe something to settle for.
Buying a condo is pretty clean- you pay yer money and you get yer keys. None of this board approval nonsense.
Well it isn't so much about wishing for, but about the reality of one's finances & how much are you wanting to spend for the housing vs for the rest of your needs, just like looking at houses. Where I live there are "twin" buildings next to each other or around the corner where the exact same 1 bedroom apartment is $420K for the co-op & over $600K for the condo. Is saving about $200K while still working & saving "settling" for something?
True one owns the condo outright to do with as one pleases, but if several owners decide to sublet forever there may be a parade of short term tenants coming & going with little concern for the upkeep & future of the building. Owners may decide to sublet on AirBnB so that the transient population, and noise, increases greatly.
The less expensive co-op has rules that the owners agree on, similar to a HOA, to lessen the chances of lots of transient tenants & even for the expulsion of an extreme case like running a bordello or a rent-a-party-space or even in one case an AirBnB tenant that simply refused to leave & dragged the owner through court for months.
Anyone with enough money can buy the condo, a coop wants to vet the new potential neighbors to head off deadbeats, criminals or gang members or who knows what moving in next door, not really nonsense but annoying to go through.
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