Buying in Riverdale...

Jose, you haven't posted the price of the co-op. All the other calculations spring from that number. What is it?

I apologize...we're looking between the 150k-200k ballpark.

I hope this helps.

maintenance?

My husband and I just bought a coop in Riverdale - I am by no means a real estate expert, but can give you some info from our experience (also our first purchase). In general, we were told that buying here is less competitive than elsewhere in NYC, so the board's expectations for credit score, assets after closing, etc. are lower. In our case, the answers to most of your questions came from the lender's requirements rather than the board (so basically, we were told that once we were approved for a mortgage - the amount of which will be based on your income, debt, credit score, etc. - the coop board would be satisfied. Although of course they still want all of the documentation of your income, taxes, etc.) I think building you are looking at accepts a 10% down payment, but personally I think it makes more sense to put down 20% because otherwise you have to pay an extra fee with your mortgage (I forget what this is called, but in our case would have been something like an extra ~$150/mo on top of our $900 mortgage which didn't make sense to us if we could come up with the additional 10% dp.)

In our case, we have excellent credit and modest income by NYC standards. We were pre-approved for a loan up to 300k, but bought an apartment for 250k because we felt more comfortable at that point - had 8-9 months of mortgage and maintenance in the bank after closing. The whole process (getting the loan, board approval, negotiations with the sellers) was easy but long.

maintenance would be between 800-950.

Jose,

Other people will be able to give you more detailed and more constructive feedback, but just to get started:

- Assuming you've got the standard down payment of 20%, this means you'd put $30-40k down and borrow the rest. The more you can put down, the better.

- So you borrow $120-160k: banks will usually lend you up to 3 to 3 1/2 years' income, so you and your wife would have an income of $40-50k minimum. They'll look at your debt-to-income ratio, so lower this number if you have existing debt, and lower it more if maintenance on the apartment (which will lower your DTI ratio because it's another monthly expenditure) is very high. A lower credit score will make lenders less willing to offer you money, and will make them charge higher interest rates. If your credit score is over 700, you're in fine shape.

- Don't forget loan origination fees and mortgage origination "points". You might be paying several thousand dollars up front just to get the mortgage -- the amount you can use as a down payment will decrease accordingly.

- Co-ops vary in how much cash reserve they want to see (I have no personal experience in this area. I bought a condo and was literally down to my last $600 in cash when I did it. It all worked out fine, thankfully, and I could have sold some stock if I had been desperate for more cash.)

So to sum up, if you make more than $50k, have no other debt, have say $40-50k or more to put down, and have a credit score over 700, brokers and lawyers will be eager to deal with you. Other readers can probably give you a more detailed answer. Don't let the six-figure-earning elitists get you down about how much income you need!

here's the breakdown:

Price $200K

Maintenance $900
Mortgage $160K at 3.75% $741
Total Monthly Cost (TMC) $1641
Gross Income Needed $65.5K (based on 30% of gross)

Put Down $40K
Closing Costs $5K
6 months of TMC (above) about $10K
Total Liquid Assets Needed $55K

These are conservative numbers. I would have at least $65K in liquid, and a salary over $70K.

Thanks Triple_Zero and linderfeeder for the awesome responses. I was a little discouraged but that was because of ignorance on the subject. Still a little scared but excited as well

THANKS!!!!

Please keep the information coming!!!! :-)