Do's and Don'ts~ COOP BOARD INTERVIEW~

DO'S:

Express a long term commitment to the coop, wanting to be involved in building activities etc.

Project stability highlight things like length of employment, community involvement, stable family ties

DONT'S:

Do not bring a gift it is way too transparent.

Do not give any impression that you will be in and out of the building during late hours or hosting guests late in the evening.

Don't tell them if you are a smoker.

Do not let on to any massive rennovation plans for the unit.

Do not let onto any plans for short term residency or subletting the apartment.

This is basically their chance to be a gate keeper and weed out any potentially problem neighbors. Think of the positive things you would seek in someone living in the apartment next to you and make an effort to project the real qualities that you posess.

thanks, makes lots of sense~i will nix the chocolate then

It's like being interviewed by the cops. Anything you say can be used against you...the less you say the better.

my wife insisted on leaving them chocolate, the broker called to tell us we were accepted, i was worried

but all the nancy reagan's on co-op boards love chocolate! u are likely to be interviewed by idiots with money so keep that in mind. the smarter money in the co-op want nothing to do with the board and all the bs meetings, etc. these people like the position of power and like talking to hear themselves talk. if i have to do another interview with those people i think i will just put a sharp stick in my eye, it would be less painful. i sold co-op and am in a condo.

Very interesting cynical discussion. As a board president, it is quite eye opening. I'm sure I must be the only one, but I've spent eight years getting this building back on track, with decent management, solid financials, cleaned up and a great place to live. I don't consider our six board meetings a year a lot of bs meetings. We have real busines to transact. We are running a real corporation with $2M in revenues.
As for the interview: We don't care if you're planning a renovation - we'd be surprised if you didn't. It's your new home. You can't sublet, so don't bother mentioning it. We don't want or need gifts; we are just performing a legal requirement to know who we're taking on as a shareholder. If you tell us you're going to be active in the building and on committees, we'll know you're a liar. No one is like that, and if we did find find one, I'd be afraid to let them in the building. They'd drive us nuts. Sorry I didn't see this discussion when it was new. I hope I've shed some light on the nonsense.

After the Seller accepted our offer and our lawyer had done due diligence, we lost the contract the next day to another Buyer. Not unsual in NYC , except for this: The Seller claimed she had been pressured by another broker, who was the FORMER BOARD PRESIDENT of her building and still lives in that building, to take his client’s deal. The Seller called me at home (!) and told me this herself; she said that the other broker (the former Board Pres.) called her and pressured her into taking his client over us, even though they were offering less $. She said she felt “afraid,” and that he said “it only took a phone call” to get the Board to give us a thumbs down. It was the same story, more or less, that her lawyer told our lawyer about the broker. Who knows what the truth is, but she clearly didn’t want to chance having to start the process all over again, if the broker/former Board Pres. carried through with his supposed threat. The very same broker threatening her was the broker who sold her the apartment a few years back, she said, and because he was the current President at the time, “he got her into the building.” So much for progressive NYC . Try corrupt.

wow. that's so sad. Seriously, this is why I will never buy a co-op in Manhattan. Isn't there some legislation coming through the pipeline about co-op boards having to be more transparent with their decisions and their rejections? Seems like that would curb obviously manipulative situations like yours.

Co-op board members can be total power mongers. I got fined several times because the apt downstairs (a member of the co-op board) claimed that I had made too much noise by walking in my own apartment with heels on when I came home from work each day. No investigation, just her say so. When I said I wouldn't pay and would sue, they reminded me that I had signed an agreement before getting the apartment that gave them total control to levy fines. Any apartment owner that objected and sued, they would have to pay the co-ops legal fees regardless of whether they won or not. It's really scary. If you must go co-op, GET ON THE BOARD as soon as you move in.

To the poster who said their offer was turned down because of pressure from the former coop board prez - how could the board have turned down a buyer if they hadn't event met with the buyer yet? I'll bet that this other broker didn't even speak with other board members. Also, what does the sellers' broker have to say about this? I'm sure the story is true but people have to realize that in this market shady broker games don't always work.

I feel bad for the board member who had the woman who lived above her and wore her heels inside. I am suffering from that now myself. There are two women who live above me who both constantly walk around in heels and heavily soled shoes. It is the most annoying distracting sound in the world, and they don't care, no matter how many times I have asked them politely to either not wear their shoes indoors or to get carpets. I guess people don't have any ide how loud those shoes really are.

we would force residents to install a suspended floor, if they wanted a wooden floor, to avoid noise problems.