Financial Coop Secrets

Need a new website for Sherlock Homes.

fg: It's not a static resource. Financials of buildings change, as do the intention of shareholders and the composition of the boards. How much of an art this is is shown by the fact that even real estate attorneys, who process dozens and dozens of transactions a year -- and therefore "theoretically" should be better at managing boards than even brokers, because they should have more cumulative information -- aren't very good at it.

The other part of the equation is that when even when it's possible to identify what factors would help a buyer pass a board, buyers don't like to sit still for that. I've taken buyers (successfully) through multiple drafts of board packages that were as thick as a phone book, but whenever I'm the listing broker I hear: "that doesn't matter/I don't need to do that/that's such a minor point/I have privacy concerns about that/I'll do that if the board asks me, but not before."

If you think that lack of compliance will change just because someone posts that a particular building historically likes 18 months of cash reserves, I do truly have a bridge to sell you.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

Looks like we have a juicy thread here, and hopefully one that doesn't include a fight between Brooks2 and Stevejxx about some ridiculous definitional issue, columbiacounty complaining about his prosthetic, or w67 complaining about white women.

or huntersburg slinging lies.

or truth redefining shoulder and chip.

Columbiacounty and you, perfect together.

actually those best to handle due dilly on apts are, in fact, good lawyers. they are provided contemporaneous info by managing agent, analyze, based on their accumulated knowledge, and guide a buyer.they also shepherd the closing. a pretty good value (at least with my lawyer, who is excellent) at 1500-2000$, fixed.

the last 2 coops i owned in actually published specific formulae for minimum financial requirements; and I've never had an issues getting this info, where not published, from managing agent. Simple shit like minimum down, liquid assets on hand after down payment, and income.

Some resent that, if they can get credit from a bank, they might need to engage a coop process as well. They either get over this, or they buy a condo.

What's laughable is the attempt by brokers to portray the whole thing as rocket science requiring their very expensive commissions, where they often screw deals up, based on weak intellect and incompetence.

Many brokers are ridiculous.
They cross their fingers and engage in wishful thinking.

Lawyers are there to get the facts and most of the facts are available.
It's that area in between where anything could cause a rejection beyond the financials.
What a good lawyer would do at that point is advise that the client look for a condo rather than waste more time with a broker who hopes that the situation will change.
Or hope the client will change his/her profession, skin color, accent,find a fountain of youth to take a dip in so they won't be so old anymore.

Yikes, who is your (excellent) lawyer?
I'd love to have recommendations...

I don't think corporate counsel for most coops would favor publishing clear qualification formulae, because ambiguity regarding admission criteria is one important source of flexibility, ans of litigation protection.

That said, anyone selling a coop should either make it their business to find out roughly what the Board considers a qualified buyer, or hire a listing agent who already knows.

As for whether brokers really help people get into coops that might otherwise reject them, I don't think there's a clear-cut answer. It's not brain surgery. If you have a general idea of the Board's guidelines, you can identify the buyer's vulnerabilities and look for ways to mitigate them. The process is about as complicated as crafting a persuasive PowerPoint presentation (a simple task that seems to be beyond the grasp of many people, including a lot of brokers). The main advantage a broker has - aside from experience - is that brokers exchange information about Board guidelines rather freely with each other, but are often quite guarded with buyers.

dru white of thomas and white--used him once, now always---many times since mid 90's--i even like his comments on state of the market, pricing and price direction

great guy

YIKES - Are you a broker?

Obviously.

I agree falcogold1, this information should be published. People are making large purchases and yet it seems as if there are entrenched industry interests that seek to prevent information flowing. A serious buyer who has submitted a preliminary financial package ought to get a detailed view of the financials, purchase requirements today and in the past, the building conditions, the building shareholders and their makeup as well as assurance of on time maintenance payments, the percentage of owners and renters and sponsors, who is on the board.
Did I miss anything?

but for who is on the board and "assurance of on time mntnce pmts" (whatever that means??), my lawyer has always gotten me all of this information

tenants with mntnce in arrears is info i have gotten, as well as info on lawsuits, whether with tenants, or other parties