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Hello! My husband and I are under contract at a coop in NW DC (listing was not active, so I don't have any links to send). We knew the coop approval process was complicated, but it seems they ask for even more financial information than our bank is requesting. This worries me because I'm self-employed with only 1 year of full-time freelancing tax returns (next month I'll have 2 years full time, which makes me a "normal person" in the eyes of a bank). We spoke to 2 lenders, and one had no problem approving us for our desired loan amount, while the other said he couldn't approve us for a loan of more than $417k because of my status.
Since the coop asks for even more information than the bank does, I'm suddenly very worried that we will get to a week before closing, having given 30 days notice on our current apartment, and not receive coop approval.
I live in a coop and am part of the local coop association. In general, coops are significantly less restrictive in their screening process than in New York, but every building has its own process. If there is scrutiny, it's usually over a buyer's finances, whereas in New York, they scrutinize your social standing, who you're married to, etc. In my building, we always ask for extra documentation for self-employed buyers, and sometimes if the finances seem a little shaky, we'll ask the buyer to put up a few months of coop carrying charges into an escrow account in case there's a default.
I live in a co-op, and the screening was pretty perfunctory. Everyone assured me that "this is not NYC." (Thank goodness!) Our co-op requires everyone, including cash sales, to be pre-qualified for a mortgage loan, just as a financial screen, and to keep a few months of fees in escrow.
I'd hazard a guess that their requests for additional information are just because their forms are out of date, not because they're suspicious about what you're hiding.
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