Renting from Buyers of A Co-Op

you should speak with your RE attorney. maybe work something out with the buyers of your coop. maybe you can push the closing off for a month?

OP here. We have a call in to our attorney to do that, thanks! Just wanted to see if anyone had any experience putting together a 1 month lease in this type of case . . .

I rented from the buyer but I stipulated this requirement at the time of the sale

Under New York law any party to a real estate transaction may seek a reasonable delay (generally interpreted under law to be about thirty days) in closing, provided that "time is of the essence" was not declared in conjunction with the purchase agreement.

A one month lease from the new owner to you poses them quite a bit of risk. First, they may find themselves having to evict you should you stay beyond the term of the lease, which does not happen quickly given the pro-tenant nature of our housing court system. Second, if they are financing one of the terms of their loan agreement is most likely that the unit be owner occupied.

You are better off pushing the closing, even if you have to take an equivelent of one month's rent off the purchase price, rather then enter into a landlord tenant relationship with your buyer.

Thanks #5. I am already planning on trying to push for at least 30 days as the contract allows. That may not give me enough time however and may need an extra week or so. Your points on "owner occupied" are important and I hadn't thought of that. Thanks.

What you are proposing is called a "lease back". As a buyer, I would NEVER agree to a lease back. Maybe your buyers will feel differently.

#7 - why do you feel so strongly? If they A) make sure that there are tough provisions if we dont leave, B) we are not "squatters" (we are talking about a $1.5M apartment) C) they are not in any rush to move in and D) we will pay them a lot of money is there that great of a risk for them?

#7 here: I don't care what provisions you put in a contract, how much the apartment is worth, or what you will pay in rent. At the end of the day, you would become a tenant and the buyers would become a landlord. And as a tenant, you would have all of the protections afforded to every tenant by law in NY. You can not sign away those protections, no matter how "tough" the provisions in your contract.

So I would NEVER do a leaseback.

If the buyer/tenant doesn't leave, I would have to take them to housing court to get an eviction. This could take months, during which I would have to deal with my own housing arrangemetns. If the buyer/tenant doesn't pay rent, I would have to take them to housing court to get a judgement for payment and then I would have to collect that. If they buyer/tenant damages the apartment....tough for me. If the buyer/tenant breaks an appliance that I own after closing...I then have to replace/repair it for the buyer/tenant.

The last thing I need is to be faced with a situation where I buy an apartment, lease it back, and suddenly the tenants are getting a divorce and can't/won't move. Or they are sick and can't move. Or the contract on the apartment they were buying fell through.

Why do I need this stress and potential ordeal? For a few weeks of rent? No thank you.

#7 - I guess the key here is "doesnt leave". As we are a normal couple just looking for a break, (our new place wont be ready for two weeks after close and I have a pregnant wife who doesnt want to move twice in two weeks) with a credit rating of 800+ and a combined income of $500K I highly doubt that we would become squatters and waste time going to housing court to stay in a place that we just sold for an extra two weeks. I guess it is just a matter of perspective. Thanks for yours.

When renting from a co-op/condo owner do we have the same rights as renting from a landlord? I am looking at rentals and have been told co-op/condo owners do not have to paint before I move it.

I believe you have the best of intentions. But my fear would be that you can't close on your new place, or for whatever reason you won't leave, and I end up in housing court trying to evict a pregnant lady or a lady with a newborn. Not worth it, IMO.

Why move twice? Have the movers pick up your stuff, take it to storage, and deliver it to the new place. Meanwhile, take your wife and a few suitcases to a hotel.

If you rent, you are renting from a landlord. It doesn't matter if the landlord owns one apartment in a condo/co-op or an entire building that is all rentals.