So, does anyone here have experience with applying to an HDFC co-op? We have a contract on an apartment (they have not updated that this apartment is no longer available on StreetEasy which bothers me to no end) and an application to the board. It's been about eight weeks since we submitted our application to the board.

We have not been called for an interview. The co-op attorney doesn't answer our attorney's calls. After 8 weeks of silence, we were told "It's an HDFC so it takes awhile. Please be patient."

We're now moving into a 2 month sublet. I don't know whether to start trying to find a new apartment, I don't know how long I have to wait. I get they might reject us, and that's OK. I just want to know and it's costing us a LOT more money than we were expecting because of the delay.

So, is this normal? Is it abnormal? What's the usual wait time on this?

Thanks.

Let me guess, is the apt on Central Park North?

Nope. It's in Hamilton Heights, at the top of Sugar Hill.

similar situation: Hamilton Heights HDFC building on Convent Ave, application in, all kinds of nonsense from all parties involved....

i got a call from someone yesterday who 'has no final say' and is in a pre-board committee who told me that she would recommend to reject my application because i'm currently in an HDFC (although selling and moving out before hand).

from prior and current experience, i can tell you that hdfc's are run by about 1/2 insane people, and 1/2 sightly reliable ones.

Either 400 or 470 Convent?

subtract 200 from the latter...

My friend considered buying an apartment in that building but swiftly withdrew her offer when some bad behavior appeared from the board. These were not the people she wanted to deal with for the foreseeable future.

do you mind if i ask what happened?

We are trying to buy at 470, I believe Avaris is attempting to buy at 270.

It's really frustrating.

@Semerun - what happened?

This was more a situation of bad behavior from a broker than it was the board itself. In this instance the broker told us that she was a very close friend of a member of the board (I think it was the President, I can't recall this was nearly 2 years ago before the listing hit the NYC real estate sites). My friend was looking to buy a 2 bedroom @ 270- which was very small for what she really wanted- but the unit had all the great pre-war details she valued. She is single and was told by the broker that the board frowned upon 1 person purchasing a 2 bedroom apartment. The broker then proceeded to tell my friend that she should lie to the board that she would be buying the unit for herself and a (non-existent) boyfriend. Now, if the broker didn't disclose how close of a friend she was to the board member, we would have just assumed this was a lousy broker, but that wasn't the case. My friend's goal was to buy a home that she could live in for the next 20+ years and not outgrow. The policy of limiting the number of rooms based on the number of applicants at the time of purchase- that didn't meet her goal of buying a home she could grow into.

thanks for letting us know semerun! i assumed this would be the case after having read the past discussion about 270. as i mentioned, i was called by a lady who seemed to delight in telling me that my application would be rejected because I already have an HDFC. she then brought up the number of people to occupy the apartment (which is 2, my partner and I) and implied that it wouldn't be enough... i've had some experience with hdfc boards and communities now, and can safely say that some people just take great pleasure in making up rules and facts to torture others with.

So... lots of gossip but ... does anyone have any experience on how long this process is? It's been 8 weeks. I have a 2 year old, and teh turmoil of leaving our 1 BR, to go into a sublet, and still not knowing if we got this apartment... well.

So. Any estimates?

I don't know the individual coop decision pace- but generally 3 months is a reasonable assumption for most buildings. I have 2 friends looking at HDFC coops- one recently got rejected at the one on Central Park North and that one took about 5 months for her to finally get a decision.

So interesting! I have heard that 270 Convent has a bad history of delaying people and jerking them around, and when I tried to rent from an owner in that building several years ago, they made me go through the same elaborate process a buyer would, so I walked away. (The poor owners had the hardest time getting anyone to rent their place while they were away for a year. They intimated that there were a lot of ugly politics within the building and that they'd been hassled by the board for the desire to rent the place temporarily although the building's bylaws did allow renting...) And I've seen sales listings there come and go on the market suddenly and capriciously.

Right now I am in contract at 470 Convent and hoping, praying that the rest of the process will go smoothly. If everything works out, maybe I'll be closing In July. I haven't quite submitted my whole application package yet, and the amount of paper which has changed hands already is staggering. I figured as soon as the rest of the application package goes in, then I'll probably have to wait 6 weeks or so to hear back, and hopefully the interview would soon follow. Things have been slow so far, but everything seems to be going well. This process is not for the faint of heart! As far as I can tell, 470 Convent is well and sensibly run. I am really hopeful that everything can be sane and positive--let's stay positive that despite the inevitable frustrations of NYC real estate transactions, some HDFC coop purchases can be all that they should be!

Hey Uptown2012! What apt are you up for at 470? We are trying to buy #42. We finally have an interview. We waited about 12 weeks for an interview.

Hopefully we will be neighbors. GOOD LUCK! I adore the building and the apartment. I just want to move in already :)

Hi, nex0s--

Good luck with the interview! I've seen your apartment and it was lovely. What a great building and what exceptionally nice floor plans that line of apartments has. If all goes well, we'll be right over you in #52. Small world, eh?

Our interview isn't scheduled yet, but I hope it will be soon. And once all is done, I hope to be able to start a new thread here on Streeteasy about how great HDFC coops are, how it's possible for this whole process to work just the way it should for everyone involved, and how there are happy endings for us modest real estate dreamers trying to own our own little piece of Manhattan. It is a lot of suspense going through the process, though--I'm with you there. Sounds like your suspense is nearly over, though. Let us know how it goes!

Uptown,

I hope we are neighbors!

Just so you know, it took this board 12 weeks to get back to us for an interview. WE were supposed to interview tomorrow, and just now, at 7 p.m. the day before the interview, they are trying to change it. So, we'll see.

I adore the building and the apartments. Hopefully we'll be living there soon. *sigh*

Being patient is really difficult, and this whole thing has taken MUCH longer than I thought it would.

Hi, nexOs,

What a shame that it's so hard getting over those last few hurdles. Here's hoping the new date for your interview is very soon ... and that ours happens a little faster schedule than yours did, if possible. It would be nice to have some neighbors with whom to be new together if all goes well. I live in the neighborhood now, so occasionally I walk past 470 and look up and think "I hope those are about to be my windows soon, and I'll be up there looking out ...."

Being patient IS hard, especially when you really want something and know it will be good. I'm trying to be positive rather than worry, but it doesn't come naturally. I'm keeping my fingers crossed fro you that all goes well with the new interview date, etc.

all good wishes--

Hey Uptown2012!

Had our interview on Saturday and got word this morning (monday) that we passed. WOO HOO!

Hope to meet you soon :D Good luck!

Congrats, nex0s!!

now that you will be a shareholder, vote with your shares to get the asses who are currently on the board the hell out. being able to afford living where you really want should not come with a 4-6 month guessing game. this is a corporation and should behave as such.

NexOs--

BIG congrats! That's wonderful. A happy ending to your long, arduous wait! Every good wish to you for the closing, move, and life in the new home. It looks like it will be a month or two more waiting for us, though we are not really hearing anything now and it's nerve-wracking.

I think ab_11218 expresses his or her views a tad forcefully, but there certainly is an important point there. As new shareholders join a co-op community, they inevitably help shape its values and practices, and that's a good and natural thing. Being more buyer-friendly might well be a new direction for a lot of buildings presently welcoming new buyers with arduous processes ...

Anyway, I'm happy to hear your great news. I hope you're savoring it!

Uptown,

Just so you know, it was a good 16 months from contract to interview, so definitely don't plan on going anywhere soon. :( FWIW: your broker is the president of the board and lives in the building. He doesn't do interviews (conflict of interest) but if he let you put a contract on the apartment, I'm sure you will be OK.

I hope to see you in a couple of months. Feel free to come by and knock on the door and introduce yourself!

16 months?!? That is completely insane! I think ab_11218 is right on the target. Sheesh . . . .

drdrd--Yes, this kind of wait is extremely daunting. Not optimal. Maybe even crazy-making. But .... if you really really want to live in a great building in a good location and you aren't rich, this is probably the best path. Our city is so polarized now between the rich and the poor, who are exclusively being pushed to the remote edges of the city (as in Paris), that opportunities for people of modest means to have the Manhattan life so many New Yorkers value are rare. We can't have the benefits of the HDFC apartments without the pain, I guess. Living in this town has always meant doing what you have to do, and at present, it seems for some people that means wait. I am hoping so much that I can hang on long enough for this to work for me as it did for nexOs.

uptown,

if your broker is the president of the board or the board member, you will not wait too long. if that will happen, it means that there's a piece of garbage on the board who refuses to see potential shareholders if he doesn't get a piece of the pie. plain and simple.

Best of luck to you, Uptown.

I don't know how these buildings work but since my last post I had another idea. Perhaps there is a government office which acts like the management company of the building & that is what slows things down so? Nonetheless, 16 months is a long wait. You seem to have a great attitude, Uptown. Do hope you get exactly what you want.

Thanks for your thoughts, ab and dr. NexOs, who started this thread, is the role model here--and proof that good things can happen for those who wait. So, we'll see what happens ...

Uptown - I wrote 16 months... I meant 16 WEEKS!!! So sorry. Still, it's a long time, much longer than usual. Hang in there! We are in now, so please come by and knock on our door when you are accepted :)

16 weeks is excessive, but definitely not as bad as 16 months. there are times with regular boards that if you submit your board package now (early July), it's not uncommon to meet with the board in September.

Can you tell me what the address of the HDFC on Central Park North is? I'm planning to apply to one in South Harlem, but will think twice if this is the one that people are talking about.

Semerun, I'm curious about your friend who was advised to lie to the board and say that she was buying for herself and a boyfriend. Wouldn't her boyfriend's income have to be verified? Isn't the income of all occupants considered when one applies?

Hi, eveyone--

I just thought maybe someone would be interested in the end of the story as regards one more of these HDFC apartment purchases.

Today I walked downstairs from my lovely new apartment to meet my delightful downstairs neighbor, NexOs, who started this thread in a plaintive vein last spring. Reading backwards, you'll see things worked out for her this summer, which is great. By now I've kind of lost track of how the timeline went for me--it was snowy the first time I viewed the apartment ... I over-optimistically thought I'd have closed and moved in this past July. Oh, no. About a million little problems and delays cropped up while I bit my fingernails ... and worried ... and worried more ... and then ... wait for it ... well, then, everything has turned out just right! Yes. We've closed, we have keys, we move in soon.

Convent Avenue is gorgeous, the building is wonderful, and it is all Worth It. I know Streeteasy is a place of worldly-wise and sometimes cynical folks, many of whom are concerned about real estate more as a kind of sport or as investment or whatever. But for everyone out there who is reading their way through these boards dreaming of finding a home--for everyone who hopes that The System can work for them, I want to say, yes, dream on! Happy endings are possible and good opportunities exist.

The whole HDFC coop concept is complicated, confusing, hard to research. You have to move mountains and jump through hoops. You have to be smart and patient and lucky. Waiting can be hard and it can be scary. And--it can all pay off in the end with a prize of great worth. Here's to living in our beautiful city, to being a home-owner, and to benefitting from government programs that really work and do good things. Here's to happy endings, to shared information and to people helping each other figure out the world one Streeteasy post at a time. Big thanks from me to everyone who shared expertise in this thread--and in the various other recent ones dealing with the mysteries and aracana of all matters HDFC!

Uptown- welcome to the neighborhood and congrats. SoHarlem, the building was 45 West CPN. As to my friend that was applying to the building where she was advised to lie to the board-we thought the exact same thing you did...how can you lie to a co-op board like that???

Congrats to you, Uptown, you done good! xox