Typical Maintenance / Common Charges

The Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums used to collect numbers from its members and publish the results: http://www.cnyc.coop

NWT - Thank you!

The best way to figure it out is to open up the offering plan, see if there are costs the sponsor is absorbing, and if the building is appropriately staffed. For example Extell gifts the building some services such as Abigail Michael's concierge and some kidville services the first year. Other buildings may be a little tight on staff, which the building may adjust to better suit real life needs of residents.

Riversider - Thanks for this. The sponsor paid all maintenance in for an initial period. It has not transitioned to the owners. My concerns in that the building is almost brand new and, like a new car, will have few things that need fixing in the first few years. Maintenance, in my opinion, should cover capital replacements as well as ongoing labor and utility bills. The reserve fund is very low at least on the audited building financials which are for 2010. If the maintenance is too low now, it sets the building up for a time in the future when mainenance has to be raised a lot or an assessment done. I sought a broad based survey of the cost of running a building in NYC.

NWT's reference sounded perfect is unfortunately out of stock per the person answering the phone at CNYC. An updated edition is planned but not due out until next month....

If anyone has additional thoughts I remain a grateful recipient of them.

when buying a condo, do not be surprised that there is no reserve fund to speak of. you just have to take it for granted that once major work will be needed, you will be hit with assessments. plan for it.