Buying Coop for Elderly Parents

A realtor would be able to find the bldgs. that allow that...I know there are bldgs. that allow parents to buy for children...you're a very good person to be so kind to your parents...good luck

columbiacounty?

Mhilqt - Any reason why you wouldn't just try to find a very nice rental apartment for them?

Mhilqt, perhaps I have you confused with someone else on SE with a recurring similar story, in which case I apologize in advance.

Are your parents the ones who have expressed no interest in moving, who are (presumably) happy in the home and neighborhood that is theirs, who can install a staircase chair thing and other modifications to continue living there, etc.?

Mhillqt. Better make sure they r willing to move first. Elderly people tend to not like change. When my parents were in their 80's they refused to move from fourth floor walkup. Same with another aunt.

I believe OP is the one who was considering buying that place on King St.

To answer the question, it's co-op by co-op whether they will allow this. The buildings that do will probably want a separate board package for each parent, and for them to go through the interview process along with you.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

I am not so sure. Why can't the OP buy the unit and then just have his parent live there? As far as I know, you are allowed to let relatives live in a coop unit.

Alan...i think you have me confused with someone else.....My parents want to move because the stairs are just not amenable to their circumstances any longer. We would probably rent out their home in brooklyn. In terms of renting for them in manhattan......its definitely a thought ........just trying to figure out all options at this point...thanks for the info...
MrSuttonPlace...dont think coops work like that...i believe they want you to live in the apt with the relatives...

coops might well give you a hard time--based on your parents'age, potential frailty and attendant health/liability issues--they might cite things like falls etc--similarly many coops would discriminate against young prople for the potential problemes and liabilities they might bring

it's age discrimination, and it's wrong--but it is real

My mother moved when she was 82. Paid cash, (things were a lot cheaper then) and passed the board in a very tough building.

Why do you want to rent out their house in Brooklyn? If you feel it's best to move them (and I do feel you should really find out if they want to leave their neighborhood) why not have them sell the house, thereby making them more financially attractive to the place (board) they might buy?

ph - could be a tax thing - a house in brooklyn, depending on the neighborhood, could be worth well over $1mm, and assuming they purchased it a while ago, they'd have substantial cap gains - above the threshold. if they keep it until death, it would fit under the exemption, and thus pass to their heirs free of taxes (of course I'm assuming that congress eventually gets it act together and passes some estate tax legislation). depending on the details, you could be looking at hundreds of thousands of tax savings.

so if I buy a coop and decide that my I want my son to live there and I elsewhere --- after the fact -- you are saying that I will not be allowed to do this? I have seen this done.

I would urge you to let this be THEIR decision & you facilitate for them. If they've been in their home for a long while, they may have friends, acquaintances, shopkeepers, church groups, etc. as part of their extended support system. How about making an efficiency apartment on the ground floor or first floor of their home & renting out the rest? What I'm really saying is to tear them away from their neighborhood for your convenience & peace of mind is wrong; I trust that's not going to happen.

drdrd - I agree it's very much a decision based on personal circumstance;
it was my mother's decision, eventually, to move, but it worked out best for both of us as I was much closer geographically, which was beneficial for both of us. But, I must say my mother was a very active, independent woman who did have interests in the area to which she moved.

why are you guys all over the OP, accusing him of trying to force his parents to move? He's made it clear that they want to move b/c they find living in a multi-level house untenable.

That's great that they want to move & that's the first step. What I'm addressing is WHERE to move. Unfortunately what often happens in this society is that the elderly are treated like children & that's terribly disrespectful & wrong. I'm just urging that the parents take the lead on this & that Mhillqt be the loving, supportive, helpful assistant.

Nobody answered MrSutton's question. I called my management company. They said it depends upon how the building's proprietary lease is written. Some buildings might allow individuals other than the proprietary leaseholder (e.g. immediate relative) to reside there WITHOUT the leaseholder actually also residing there. Most probably not.

to avoid any confusion to non-coop owners, "proprietary leaseholder" = "coop owner". And MrSutton, I suspect it really turns on the definition of "living there". If your mail goes there, the utilities are still in your name, and you show up once in a while and tip the doorman, as far as the coop is concerned you probably live there. Even if your kid is now the true full time resident. But I'm speculating a bit until I can read my own proprietary lease.

Well if ph lady would get off her fat assed bubble profit mentality, millqt's parents could have a nice coop ph to call home. And maybe if we didn't have this bubble, we wouldn't have such prick coop boards thinking it their tkt to riches working as a cashier as lord and Taylor. And actually just base their approvals on financials and not some fking agenda, I think the KKK used to have secret meeting to determine memberships headed by a board that answered to noone. Flmazo.

ph lady lives in a ph and her mother got into a tough building

mhill, you may not be cut of this kinda cloth

I WOULD PREFER MY PARENTS TO STAY WHERE THEY ARE....but my mom doesnt want to put the electronic stairs in the house etc and they dont want to live in an efficiency on the 1st floor....trust me...the last think i want to do is have them move...im doing what they want......

W67th and Wbottom - ususal unnecessary attacks that add nothing to the conversation.
My comment was simply addressing the advanced age of the buyers, and coop aproval of a person at an advanced aqe.

If co-op approval is your concern, you might want to consider purchasing a sponsor apartment and not worry about the board interview. My brokerage, The Triumph Property Group is assisting the sponsor in the sale of several units in Midtown East and the Upper Eastside elevator doorman buildings. Please check our website (www.triumphproperty.com)or call me at 646-812-7655. Whatever you decide, good luck. Sorry your parents have to leave Brooklyn. I can appreciate why they wouldn't want to leave as a Brooklynite myself.

Althea

MrSuttonPlace
about 14 hours ago
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so if I buy a coop and decide that my I want my son to live there and I elsewhere --- after the fact -- you are saying that I will not be allowed to do this? I have seen this done.

If the prop lease has your name on in and not your parents names the coop is within its rights to prevent them from living there. However, if you live there, they can live with you. RPL s.235(f) – applies to co-op tenant shareholder. It overrides certain provisions of the proprietary lease b/c you don’t need approval from board - but you MUST CONCURRENTLY live with them.

solution --> coop = bad ... condo = good

here is an article by Mr Coop himself. (no he's not me LOL!)

http://www.stroock.com/SiteFiles/Pub237.pdf

to get anyone into a coop that is not on PL use the 'roommate law' it includes parents but that old chestnut concurrent occ rears its fat head.

I understand that co-ops can behave in arcane ways, but I don't think that's a reason to avoid them altogether. (For one thing, you're giving up the price discount vs. condos, which is roughly 20-25%).

There are certainly many co-ops that would accept your parents, the challenge is just to figure out which ones and how to structure a board package. Agents do this all the time.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

The parents want/need to leave their home but do they need to leave Brooklyn? The ideal might be that they STAY in Brooklyn. Of course, the ideal ideal is that they move where they want to move & it sounds like Mhillqt is a wonderful helper & will expedite the move to wherever they want to live. Good luck!

wanderer -- thanks for that more complete answer and the reference. That's an interesting read.

Ironic that condo applicability was addressed in a case involving a condo owner trying to make the condo treat his roommate as an owner (requesting a parking gate remote control for him) by invoking the roomate law. So, condo = good, but it all depends upon your perspective!

> I WOULD PREFER MY PARENTS TO STAY WHERE THEY ARE....but my mom doesnt want to put the electronic stairs in the house etc and they dont want to live in an efficiency on the 1st floor....trust me...the last think i want to do is have them move...im doing what they want......

> Unfortunately what often happens in this society is that the elderly are treated like children & that's terribly disrespectful & wrong.

uf, why doesn't she want to put the stairs? many elderly get difficult in order to get more attention from their kids, just like little children. imho it's a good idea not to feed into this type of behavior or it becomes entrenched. don't even get me started when Alzheimer's kicks in. many elderly ARE like little children, just the way it is.

301 East 62nd Street co-op board accepts children buying for parents.