Prewar Co-ops & resale value

Congratulations!

The most important thing for you now is a good real estate attorney who will review board minutes. One thing I would want to know is, are there any structural/mechanical issues looming that could cost a whole lot of money in the near future.

I assume this is a relatively small co-op....in that case especially I would also want to know the financial reserves status.

There are other things too, but your attorney should be on those. For example, co-ops in buildings this age often do not have certificates of occupancy, they are exempt and instead must meet other requirements. If you need the name of an attorney with experience in historic buildings, feel free to give me a shout.

Karla Harby
Charles Rutenberg LLC
kharby@rutenbergrealtyny.com

My 2cents is to check the wiring situation of your apt. I failed to inquire about the wiring in my prewar coop before I moved in which was my one mistake. A lot of prewars have old wiring, which means you cannot eg run 2 ACs, run an AC w/ a hairdryer, et al. The cost of rewiring I have been told is about $4-7K, so pretty big deal IMHO. I'm saving up for it now. And yes, you'll want to review board minutes - any major issues the building is having/had such as plumbing, boiler and the like should show up there. Good luck!