How to determine if co-op allows for rentals

Yes, in the Sales tab, where it has a blank for "Type", choose Condos.

Yes, but the OP wants condo rules at a co-op price.

Try http://streeteasy.com/nyc/coops/nyc/status:open%7Cdescription:subletting%7Ctype:P1

Don't bother. The vast majority of co-ops, for all intents and purposes, do NOT allow sublets. What temporary sublets they DO allow is intended more for the flexibility of shareholders who find that due to work for personal reasons, they may need to temporarily relocate out of New York City. Extremely rare to allow for more than one year at a time.

>Extremely rare to allow for more than one year at a time.

And what percentage of renters want only a 1 year lease and to have to go through a 2 month approval process?

Wad: I agree with Matt's don't bother. Other issue is that co-ops can - and often do - flip back the easy sublet policy. You saw more of this a few years ago. Put otherwise HB's advice was spot on.

"And what percentage of renters want only a 1 year lease and to have to go through a 2 month approval process?"

I honestly don't know what the percentage is, but we never seem to have a lack of sublet applications to slog through every year for one-year sublets.

"co-ops can - and often do - flip back the easy sublet policy."

Among many other things.

Any and all "policies" are really just one quick decision away from being reversed at a routine monthly board meeting.

And that's not even highlighting that co-ops are tougher than condos which themselves have been able to master keeping out undesirables or at least certainly delaying them.

"And that's not even highlighting that co-ops are tougher than condos which themselves have been able to master keeping out undesirables or at least certainly delaying them."

Bingo.

You'd better make sure your applicant is squeaky-clean, or else you'll be moved out with an empty apartment and still trying to find a tenant. Don't think that just because you have a moving-to-Chicago (or wherever) deadline that the board is going to rubber-stamp your less-than-par applicant.

wad, there are agents who like to advocate co-ops to investors who want to rent them out. These agents will have lists of buildings and co-op rental policies. There's at least one who's posted recently.

But I feel quite strongly that being a landlord in NYC is risky enough without adding the wild card risk of a co-op board pulling the rug out from under your nice investment analysis.

Co-op buildings may change rental policy suddenly and without warning. Also, most collect a stiff fee as a percent of the rent.

If you buy a co-op with the intention to rent it out, you are a moron. If you are a non-foreign investor not from a scary non-stable country like China or Brazil or France, and your goal is to buy 1 or 2 units for investment purposes in order to rent them out, you are an idiot.

Just to clarify: I am not looking to do this simply to rent it out. My view is to live somewhere for at least 5 years. But what happens if I have to leave the area for a new job or what happens if we have kids and decide we are going crazy living in the city. I view this as a risk I can mitigate if I can rent out the space. The condo inventory looks really shitty right now and all the pre-war buildings I seem to like are condos.

I guess this really isn't a risk I can control unless I buy a condo.

The other way to think about this is, you will sell the co-op when you need to.

As someone who's selling an UES Manhattan co-op right now (it's under contract), selling at a loss :( , we've decided it's condo or bust next time unless of course we find a co-op so utterly perfect in every way that we want to die there.

In our current co-op ,a new board came in and made decisions that are bad for resale value (however good those decisions might be in the long runb). Specifically, they have deferred cosmetic maintenance in favor of structural maintenance despite a huge, and I do mean huge, reserve fund. So the dingy hallways plus, especially, the second ave subway construction mess were a double whammy we could not overcome on the selling price.

So the "what happens?" questions are good ones to ask. My point (and I do have one) is that there are plenty of things that can go awry and cost you money that you haven't even thought up yet.

There are no guarantees. Buying is a risk. So is not buying. We really loved our apartment, had wonderful times and parties there, and that makes the modest financial loss on it just not such a big deal.

wad, your issues are not uncommon. People deal with it in co-ops. If you get a job elsewhere or decide to move, there are LOTS of co-ops which allow you to rent for 2 years over the lifetime of your ownership, even Matt's.

That's true, crescent (although I don't know if "lots of co-ops" in Manhattan will allow it.)
In Brooklyn, there are lots of co-ops that allow it (usually after a two-year period from the date of purchase).

"If you get a job elsewhere or decide to move, there are LOTS of co-ops which allow you to rent for 2 years over the lifetime of your ownership, even Matt's."

Psst. MY co-op, believe it or not, does make exceptions for people who've fallen into difficult times. Particularly during the Great Recession of 2008/2009/2010/2011/2012/2013. We understand that people lose their lucrative NYC jobs and often can only find work in another city ... requiring them to relocate for a year or two (or more) until they get back on their feet, regroup, and decide whether this move will be permanent.

I'm willing to bet there may be other co-ops willing to bend the rules in such extreme circumstances.

wad:

1. there appear to be a few coops in Manhattan which are 100% or almost 100%
investor owned and allow subletting as of right

2. because those buildings are investor owned rhey are unlikely to ever revoke
their unlimited subletting policy