Percentage of condo ownership

Banks probably will not finance - way under the 50% (or more) ownership they look for.

One of the reasons that people choose to purchase a condo instead of a coop is that you can rent your unit. If your building was a new development and you were planning on making the condo your primary residence, then you might want to live amongst people who are doing the same and not living with primarily people subletting the condo units. In your case, it seems as though you are going to have a big mix with the apartment dwellers with 20% owner occupied and the rest of either long term renters or other arrangements. The problem is what interest do the renters have in maintaining the building- they most likely will want very low costs. I lived in a rental building where I paid market rate when at least 1/2 of the tenants were paying rent-control rates and the services provided by the building were terrible. Broken washer/dryers, bad staff, poorly maintained lobby, etc. It was a short term situation for me so I didn't care that much, but with a purchase, I'd check out what the rest of the building looks like and the costs associated with upkeep and who's going to pay.

Lobster - in this case it's not the "renters" who will be the problem - it is the sponsor who is still holding those units (and who obviously has not been able to convince many of the current tenants to purchase) who will not have much incentive to maintain/improve building with so few purchasers.

Thanks, ph41, you're correct. I was thinking of whoever owns the apartment which is rented, but for some reason, I wrote renters.

you see many of this type of apts. coming into the market in Park Slope, for example.

Do not buy a unit in a condo with majority renters. Most likely, there will be a lot of turnover and the renters will not have a stake in the condo's condition. You will be one of the few people complaining about the condition of the building or wanting better services/condo rule enforcement and you will be considered a troublemaker. If a large number of units are owned by one owner/sponsor, their primary interest is to keep costs as low as possible to enhance their investment. You will not be able to have a voice on how the condo is run/maintained. Again, don't do it. Trust me. Been there, done that. Then there's the financing problem potential buyers will have which will limit your selling flexibility.

wavedeva: You are correct. In addition to that: The sponsor's rep is probably on the Condo board of managers. In my building he still owns 18 units out of 79 (5 professional doctor's units). With the other board members and the owners who sign proxy -- you can never get a new board, or board member voted in. They continue voting themselves in,since 1986.

When a sponsor unit tenant dies, moves to Florida, or leaves the unit --the sponsor does a gut reno and rents the unit out. At market rate.

@Truth
OUCH! Besides owner composition, buyers must ask about board composition and board turnover. Seems we both learnt this the hard way!

@tyodora
Here's a link to a NYT article, "Buying a Condo: Now vs. Later" dated 1/31/2010. It provides a good overview of pros/cons of buying a condominium in the current environment:
http://tinyurl.com/yl3qjm9

wavedeva: The hard and ,for me, expensive way. However, we checked the minutes, before purchasing. The minutes are B.S.! They are written in vague,deceptive, misleading ways. We should have been able to find that info in the minutes, but -no, not in there.

The Condo Board President has a lot of explaining to do. Back to the Judge in court. The President doesn't want to show up for her deposition. The next stop, after they lose this lawsuit -- the Office of the Attorney General.