Written by Jonathan Leaf. The first of a new biweekly column on board finances. on October 21, 2014
"It's the lowest interest rate I've ever seen for 10-year money to a co-op." That was the reaction of Jordan Muchnick to the mortgage refinancing arranged last year with Morgan Stanley for University Towers at 191 Willoughby Street, in or on the edge of Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood.
One might not think Muchnick, being a vice president for lending at the property-management giant FirstService Residential, is totally objective — at least not until one hears the rate: 3.21%. That figure was made even more attractive as the loan amortizes not on a 30-year schedule but 23. Consequently, the co-op saw the benefits in refinancing with more than three years left on its old 10-year mortgage.