How much is a condo storage bin?

The storage bin is a highly illiquid real estate investment. It should be treated as such.

I have a 10-20 year time frame.

If you really need one maybe 5K. You will most likely have to pay real estate taxes, unless they've structured the transaction as a long term usage license or lease, say for 99 years.

How many storage bins are there in relation to the number of apartments in the building?

Also is there any ongoing monthly maintenance charge/RE tax for the storage bin?

There are 89 bins for 270 units. I'm not sure about maintenance fees, but I wouldn't be surprised.

If it's real estate then there will be r.e. tax and common charge. If you sell your apartment you may be forced to sell your bin. The buyer of your unit may not agree to buy the bin...

storage on review ave is about 50/month

I would do that!

Considering that there are more apartments than storage units, that's a plus for purchase(people always want more easily accessible storage space). BUT, if there are additional monthly charges for maintenance/taxes, it probably doesn't make sense to buy if you've got storage places nearby that would basically be cheaper than owning in the building.

Wow Riversider, you know your stuff.
Just searched my papers and found out the storage bin thing is structured as a license and can be transfered to a subsequent purchaser or another unit owner. If no one wants it then it reverts to the "Board of Managers".
So does a license mean you pay a one time fee without recurring monthly cost?

I like that arrangement better LookedPied. I can't speak to how this affects price, but it sounds cleaner.

The offering plan probably has information about the arrangement.

14 posts and nobody's advised you to throw your excess stuff away and be done with it. Storage is an American sickness.

LookedPied, common charges are based on residential interest. if they charge a recurring fee it would have to be based on some other logic..

The storage bin is a great way to maximize revenue for the condo. They can turn space nobody wants into a marketable item. Years ago the basement wsa never monitized by the sponsor. Who ever devised this idea is a marketing genius.

It does, but I won't get the offering plan until we finish negotiations. I didn't do my homework on this one. Asking for storage as part of negotiations just popped in my head this morning. Thanks for all the info. I love Streeteasy.

How do you negotiate without an offering plan?

This is what is wrong with real estate. The home is the biggest purchase one may ever make it their life, and to not be provided with the legal details is absurd. Of course you could make an appointment with the attorney generals office in downtown and view it for free. How is your lawyer advising you on this?

This is my fourth set of negotiations for a condo and I have never been given an offering plan initially. We were in contract in another development and at that time our lawyer received the offering plan after an agreement on price was made. Contract negotiations then followed.
I'm still in the price negotiation phase for this condo. Am I doing it wrong?

I've bought several places all with the offering plan provided ahead of time. What's more I was able to view it with a $100 deposit. This seems to be a tactic frequently used by Corcoran and Extell amongst others. I guess they think the less time you can view the details the less you are likely to reneg. And after you sign the clock starts ticking. I've even heard they won't even send it to you , but to your broker.

Personally, I can't see how the broker looks at you with a straight face when they deny you the offering plan. If you are that inclined take a day off and photo-copy the pages or view them downtown.
Frankly I've seen the brokers provide so much mis-information that later gets denied(of course none of this is ever in writing).

Would be nice to hear a broker comment on this "new" practice.

You very much need to read the offering plan to know what you're getting into. My building reduced the ridiculous prices of storage bins to exactly what Riversider estimated.

Bottom line is that if that 80% of storage bins are unoccupied, then the price will come down... it just depends if it means a lot to you to have first pick at which bin you have.

a bin in your building is worth substantially more than outside storage - its almost hard to compare the two. we use ours for stuff like dining table leaves, bridge chairs, golf clubs/beach gear that we need on a semi-frequent basis, but don't want to take up room in our closets. if i had to go to a storage place and shlep the stuff back and forth each time, no way i'd use it that much. its more like an extra closet, albeit one you have to take an elevator to get to. On that basis, if you have a 4x8 bin, and your building is going for $800/sq foot, $5k would be a good deal - especially with only 1 unit per 3 apartments.

Sounds like you have too much stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac

> On that basis, if you have a 4x8 bin, and your building is going for $800/sq foot, $5k would be a good deal - especially with only 1 unit per 3 apartments.

But you're forgetting that there are only 270 possible buyers. Less demand = lower price.

Havint the sponsor build you a walk-in closet would seem to add more value. They sometimes modify apartments upon request.

Well, the sponsor wouldn't offer a storage bin with the apartment at his last price offer. He said that storage demand in their first phase (Tower 1) was so high that they are not offering them in negotiations (at least negotiations with me!).

Where in downtown can one review an offering plan for free?

Call the NY State A.G. They make free appointments. YOu can find the info on line. It's in Manhattan and downtown, Broadway I think.

I've paid $35 a month for a bin in the basement, and $65. I figure they should well represent the range, and its that standard 3x4 I see in a lot of places, mesh netting.

Divide out the long bond yield of 5% or so, i get $8400-$15,600 in "value". off of that. Increase the rate if you think you'll get it elsewhere, lets say $5-10k depending on location, how many units vs. total.

If you have to pay maintenance, pull that out before you divide out the %.

interesting SWE - by that basis, the 12 square feet are going for $700-1300/ sq. foot.

spaceboy - i've never done an analysis, but 1/3 ratio seems low to me - i think 1/2 is more normal. at 1/3 i think there'll be more demand than supply.

Negotiations are done. I got a few thousand dollars more off the price instead of a storage bin. It turns out the storage bins run $10,000 - $14,500 !!!!!

Good. Now you can buy a condo in Florida with the money you saved by throwing your excess trash in the trash bin instead of the storage bin ...

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/358-Flanders-H_Delray-Beach_FL_33484_1119232728

Please report back on your epxerience in how/if the offering plan was different than what you expected.

>>Negotiations are done. I got a few thousand dollars more off the price instead of a storage bin. It turns out the storage bins run $10,000 - $14,500 !!!!!

My building was playing the same stupid game. They finally came to their senses and re-priced. I'm sure they were giving them away as throw-in's to buyers.

>> He said that storage demand in their first phase (Tower 1) was so high that they are not offering them in negotiations

I think that's a blatent lie unless there are few storage units to apartments.

Riversider does, indeed know his stuff.

AlanHart knows that it's best not to hold on to too much stuff.

Not many people commented on this thread, and really only one said what I personally think is key: storage in your building has practical value way above a external. NY apartments are so small I hardly think this is a minor, no value extra as some seem to say. I'm just surprised more people don't think an inhouse unit is valuable.