Process without a broker

Hire a lawyer who will draft the contract of sale. You need one for seller and one for buyer. Managing agent will give you the application package which you should complete very diligently. They will also tell you the fees etc and board interview requirements.

You'll need full exposure to buyers' agents even if you're not paying 6% to a traditional broker. That means a flat fee RLS listing coupled with exposure on popular local search websites like StreetEasy. You'll need a good lawyer and be able to show your property at all times.

How the closing process works: http://www.hauseit.com/nyc-fsbo-closing-process-home-sellers/
Tips for co-op FSBO sellers: http://www.hauseit.com/tips-selling-a-coop-in-nyc-without-realtor/

Good luck and make sure you don't skimp on a few hundred dollars for professional photographs as well!

Thanks Mercer, but how does the board package work in terms of does the buyer gather information (including any required seller info) and submit or does the seller? Or does this vary based on board requirements? Is the process as simple as agreeing on a price, having the seller understand if there any contingencies and then have "my lawyer call yours?" Should the offer and acceptance be documented in some way? Is it as simple as the buyer submitting the deal sheet that was included in RiddhiBman's link? Does the seller need to formally communicate acceptance?

Riddhi, the scenario is a deal that never goes the public offering route.

Thanks for the answers.

http://www.hauseit.com/sample-deal-sheet/

Corsair - it's important to understand that nothing is final in real estate until the contract is fully executed by both buyer and seller. So yes, you can communicate and accept offers in writing or verbally all you want, but both parties are free to do as they wish until they sign the contract.

For example, it's not uncommon to see a seller go with a higher offer even after a buyer has signed a contract (but seller hasn't counter-signed yet).

The deal sheet is a nice formality, but the main point is to summarize the deal and put the lawyers in touch with each other.

For the co-op purchase application, have the buyer do it (and follow these instructions: http://www.hauseit.com/nyc-coop-board-package-purchase-application/), you are free to then review it if you'd like and either person can submit it to the managing agent.

Corsair,

Most of the information in the board package is for the buyer to complete. There may be couple of pages which you need to complete. If the buyer is diligent (I really mean very diligent) about documentation and their income is sufficient, it should be fine. The biggest is their financials which should be exactly as specified in the package - W2, letter of employment, pay stub, bank statements, brokerage statements, full asset documentation, liability documentation etc. You need to put together the documents in the right order with page numbers and list of contents/appendices with page numbers. Be friendly to your managing agent. He/she will tell you any issues with the package beforehand.

Lawyers formalize the agreement and set up a closing date. That is what you need to start with. Bank financing does not need much hand holding from brokers.

I am assuming that your sale price is in line with other sales - you may want to document that in the application or mention to a friendly board member.

Good luck.

You could probably get a broker to handle all of this for you for a nominal flat fee. If you don't know anyone I'm sure I could get someone in my office to handle it for you.

Corsair, I think in a world where access to lisitngs is fairly widespread, a lot of the value that brokers offer is to run the deal --- i.e. to chart the journey from offer to closing, keep track of timetables, keep pieces of paper moving, and point out possible obstacles and how to avoid them. Yes, one of the attorneys could technically do this, but since the lawyers are only making $3K or so per close, and they have the expenses of keeping an office open, they make a living by handling a lot of volume, and they're not likely to invest that kind of "high touch" time into any one deal.

I therefore would second 30_yrs 'suggestion that you bring in a broker (not me, but I used to work in his office, and I trust him, so I would trust his judgment about who in his office would be good) on a flat-fee basis to do it.

If you don't want to do that, then realize that (like a surgical procedure, I guess) 80% of the time the process involves following predetermined steps in a predetermined way, and that what the pros are doing is trying to anticipate the 20% of the time that it will go wonky, and make their efforts to block/defend against those scenarios look as seamless as possible.

The one pro tip I will give you here is that there are timetables for financing and board package submission set up in the contract, and yet the buyer's financing contact is likely someone who is unaware of those timetables. In fact, the financing contact probably couldn't confirm to the timetables even if he was informed about them (the buyer is probably facing a bank's salesperson, who isn't the person who processes the actual lending documents.)

So whoever you do pick to manage the process, even if it's you, needs to spend some time being in frequent contact with the lender, riding herd: Do you have the loan application? Do you have the fully signed contract? when are you sending the appraiser? when are we going to get our copy of the appraisal? etc.

That will help you head off one of the more common problems with deals, which is that they run late because the bank runs late, and nobody realizes it for weeks because the customer contact is metaphorically sitting in the backseat of a car yakking with the buyer, but he's not actually the guy driving the car.

ali r.
{downtown broker}