I'm thinking about possibly buying a coop in western Queens (Astoria, Sunnyside, Long Island City, or Jackson Heights) sometime in the next few years, and I am analyzing the financial details of the rent vs buy decision. One data point that I'm having trouble figuring out is how much a coop owner should budget over the long term for maintenance and renovation expenses, above and beyond the monthly... [more]
I'm thinking about possibly buying a coop in western Queens (Astoria, Sunnyside, Long Island City, or Jackson Heights) sometime in the next few years, and I am analyzing the financial details of the rent vs buy decision. One data point that I'm having trouble figuring out is how much a coop owner should budget over the long term for maintenance and renovation expenses, above and beyond the monthly maintenance fee assessment. The New York Times rent vs buy calculator (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html?rref=upshot) plugs in a default value of 1% of the property value for maintenance, but I'm guessing this is for a house rather than a coop, as the coop maintenance fee should cover things like saving for a new roof and paying for landscaping which would be major costs for a house owner. The coop owner would still have to pay for things like replacing flooring, renovating the kitchen or bathroom, etc, repairing the plumbing, new windows, etc. Depending on the financial status of the coop, one would also have to save for potential large increases in the monthly fee and special assessments to cover renovations to the building. Does anybody have a good estimate of these costs for a coop owner? Could anybody who has actually owned a coop over a long period of time tell me how much they paid for renovations and maintenance over the years? Thanks.
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