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Is it required that a board member or any shareholder for that matter notify the Board when he has gone into contract for sale of his/her apt.?
How come it is so difficult to get a property manager to answer/return a telephone call (unless you are on the board). No this is not an isolated case as I have worked with many over the years. Are you guys/gals so busy.
HH
I am a board member in a 300 unit coop in the Gramercy Park area and we are looking to hire a new management company. Our current management company is based in Long Island and although we like our current agent, we have had issues with the previous agent, their back-office and too many minor accounting irregularities.
We have interviewed a large number of companies and have narrowed it down to three; Cooper Square, Tudor Realty, and Orsid Realty. Can I please get insight from other board members/shareholders who have or have had experience with any of these companies?
Greatly appreciated.
a neighbir was trying toi sell and found a god buyer, a woman that had previously liced in the buikldinf iiver 2o years and now has family members here. a good stable resident.
the buyer was informed shae jhasto put 15 % down and 6 months maint and 6 months mortgage upfront.
this is the firsr we have ever haeard of the 6 months maint and mortgager payment s uop front.
we have never hrecievied a letter , it was never anounced at the last annaul meeting 0. no one is going to buy
in out building with thse requrements. it is not a tony buildimg, a basic 6 story brick, with an elevator, no amaenties no pool.
this sme board had turned the buiding into a rntal buiding, i counted 30 of 59 were occupied by shareholders. it used to be 80 percent , and very stringent.is there anything i can do as a shareholder to force the board to follow the nys courts ruling concerning ch 14 of the proprietary lease, the "and" "or" wording. my proprietary lease states shareholder "and" and that is why i consider the never occupied by shareholder as nit owner occupied. Many of these resident never went before the board for the interview, their parents did,however the parents never moved in.
I have a bone to pick with the appraisal process for Co-op units in NYC. That bone is that this process does not generally take into account the financial health of the co-op corporation.
Let's face it, Co-ops are a hybrid: half real estate(ish) and half corporate investment. From my limited perspective, appraisers take a look at the real estate side of the transaction but rarely have I seen them take into account the comprehensive financial health of the co-op organization.
Not all co-op corporations are created equal. While mortgage information is often listed on appraisals (and often incorrectly I might add), I have never seen the corporation's cash and reserves listed.
There is a positive value attributable to each share for each dollar in working capital (cash), capital and operating reserves, escrows & self-escrows, pre-paid expenses and valid receivables. I have never seen these amounts taken into account on an appraisal however they can significantly impact the value per share.
For example, a unit within a 100 unit co-op with $10k in cash & reserves is not as valuable as a similar unit in a co-op with $1 million in cash and reserves. Assuming that each unit has equal shares for the sake of simplicity and each building has an equal mortgage, then each unit would have a potential value adjustment of $100 or $10,000 based on the above example, respectively.
In the era when making informed real estate decisions is very important, I believe that increased disclosure can only help the sellers/buyers make informed decisions.
Is there any support out there to ask the NYC Council make it mandatory for appraisers to make this information available on appraisals performed within the City of New York for Co-op valuations?
Maintenance apportionment
Reference:
http://disc.yourwebapps.com/discussion.cgi?disc=94379;article=11863;title=Habitat%27s%20Board%20Talk;pagemark=40
Each year our co-op office sends 1098's documenting the amount of interest one has paid prorata (e.g.: based on shares) as well as taxes one has paid prorata as well. The amounts, interest and real estate taxes, are shown in block #5. If there are two owners in a unit each receives a separate 1098. Thus if the unit paid $1,800 in taxes and there are two owners, each receives a 1098 in the amount of $900 for taxes while the interest expense is similarly split.
These are sent before the end of January each year in compliance with IRS rules.
Further, our co-op bills (itemizes) the assessment separately in the monthly bill. For tax purposes, the yearly assessment (yes, the assessment is every year as our co-op is 43+ years old and capital improvements are de rigueur) is billed over a lesser number of months. This is to avoid any question or challenge by the IRS that the assessment was just part of the maintenance. It is also important when selling the unit in computing the gains, less capital improvements..
Is there any legal precedent to compel a sponsor to sell his unregulated apts. We have a 32 unit coop in Brooklyn in which the sponsor owns 6 (2 regulated and 4 which he charges market rent). It would obviously improve our owner-occupancy percentage
Can anyone recommend a good, reasonably priced lawyer that can assist with borderline disorder coop board?
Two directors on our Board would like to make a rule about when residents can move furniture and impose fees if it's done without getting prior permission.
However, my understanding is that fees can be imposed only if the proprietary lease allows for it. Is that so? Or is it co-op by co-op?
What do underlying building mortgages and the recent changes in lending programs have in common?
Answer everything.
True story.
A nearby coop has an underlying mortgage total of $ 50,000 average per apartment.
A buyer wished to buy a $200,000 apartment with 20% down ($40,000) and an 80% ($160,000) mortgage.
The bank looked at the $50,000 underlying mortgage per apartment and computed ($50,000 + $200,000) as the base amount for risk assessment and told the buyer the only way to obtain a mortgage is to put down 80% of $250,000 or $50,000 down for a lending mortgage principal of $150,000.
Real reality check for buyers, for boards and for sellers. No doubt it is worse for a co-op does not have a retirement program for the underlying accumulation of first, second and in some cases third mortgages. Balloon payment mortgages can be a death knell; for buyers and sellers.
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MSL – A coop board should get a sale contract with any sale application package they get for review and approval. If a coop has open house rules or sale policies (e.g., minimum 80% financing, parents can’t buy for an adult child), SHs should have them early on, and you’d know who’s planning to sell well before there’s any sale contract.
A board member who decides to sell should tell the board asap, especially if the annual meeting isn’t far off. The board should know this since that board member won’t run again or if he doesn’t sell before the annual meeting and does run again, he’d have to resign when he does sell. In either case, the board may have to look for a candidate to replace him which could take time, especially in buildings where there aren’t many SHs who want to run for the board.
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