Coop+Condo=CONDOP??!!

A cond-op can refer to a co-op with condo-like bylaws.

It can also refer to a co-op that owns or leases a big multi-apartment condo unit. It then leases the apartments to its shareholders, just like any other co-op.

It can also mean both. Either way, you're buying shares in a co-op.

Yes, the residential part is a co-operative in a properly described condop. I think using the word to describe a co-op with loose rules, or a condo with strict rules, just muddies the waters, but people do indeed use the term that way.

In my condop the condominium part is all retail stores, in some condops it is all doctor's offices. The parking garage could be in the condo part. It doesn't have to be residential apartments.

Your attorney will want to review the financial statements from both the cooperative side and the condominium side, however.

It's nothing to fret about (beyond the usual fretting, that is!) The cooperative is autonomous when it comes to decision making.

Karla Harby, VP
Charles Rutenberg Realty, NYC
kharby@crrnyc.com

Usually there is no board approval for the residential units, but other co-op restrictions/rules apply.

does that mean that the rules on renting are more condo-like than coop-like? (ie no lease tenor restrictions or number of times that owner can rent it out)

The condop i lived in had strict co-op rules that limited subleasing to 2 out of 5 years after owning for 2 years.

screw that then - the life preserver of the ability to rent it out if you get stuck is the only reason i am interested in condos - not sticking my head in that overpriced noose.

i thought a condop was a condo where there is a retail space in the building owned by the residents subsidizing the cost of common charges

No, it's just the opposite.

In a standard condo, the retail space forms one or two commercial units. They are very often retained by the sponsor and leased out to retail tenants. From that income the commercial-unit owner pays that portion of the CCs attributible to the commercial space.

In a standard co-op -- one that owns its own building -- the co-op leases out the retail space. That rental income used to be subject to the IRS's 80/20 rule. The sponsor may also have leased the space to itself, for a long term and cheaply, before forming the co-op. Some co-ops have been successful in breaking those leases.

In a typical cond-op, the sponsor retains the commercial unit, as with other condos. But, instead of splitting the remainder of the building into as many units as there are apartments, all the apartments together form one unit. That one multi-apartment unit is then sold to a co-op.