condos vs. co-ops

Co-op maintenance fees include the real estate taxes and the underlying mortgage on the building.

In condos, owners individually pay their own real estate taxes so add the condo RET and common charge together for a more comparable number.

Condo associations can not take a common mortgage on the building.

what underlying mortgage on the building? the common areas?

even when you add the condo ret and common charge together, i think it is still higher for the co-ops than the condos.

Prrhaps, gentle reader, you should begin your study here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_cooperative

Look, love 'em or hate 'em, NYC co-ops do provide the advantage of avoiding the onerous NYS and NYC real estate transfer taxes, mortgage recording tax, and title insurance. These costs account for about 5% of the price of a condo in NYC.

that makes sense. i find it strange that in ny one can't rent out properties to tourists for short term stays. one doesn't have much control over one's unit.

Try Craigslist. Lots of people rent to tourists even in co-ops; they just do it on the down low (or bribe the doorman).

The thing about NYC is that because taxes are so incredibly high (and rising) and every human behavior is strictly regulated, that increasingly behavior is moving off-grid to avoid being noticed.

The underlying mortgage is on the building in a coop. The legal structure of a coop is that the coop corp. owns the fee. The "tenant-shareholders" are shareholders in the corp. as well as tenants of the corp. under "propritary leases."

lookingtobuy: don't forget that RET are temporarily reduced in some buildings for 10 years. The other thing to note is that co-ops usually borrow money to make repairs/capital improvement which is reflected in the maintenance charges while condos charge temporary monthly assessments. Most condos are newer buildings which means that repairs haven't reached the tipping point yet.

now i understand the underlying mortgage and the extra high fees.

at one time i was thinking about purchasing a condo in ny and rent it out when i am not in town, which is most of the year. that would help pay for my mortgage and other fees. i don't want to do it on the sly because of the fear of getting caught. i heard that there is a penalty from the board if caught.