What are the best Manhattan Co-ops?

Where in Manhattan are you looking? What is your price range? How large an apartment. Can't answer you without these basics. If you want a 10-room, 4 bedroom, that is one thing. If you want a 1 bedroom and can spend millions on it, that is another. If you have under $1MM to spend and want a studio or 1 bedroom, that is another discussion. Central Park? Greenwich Village? Upper East Side? Upper West Side? Chelsea? Tribeca? You don't just usually say "any of them is fine." And "best" is defined differently depending upon what amenities you are looking for.

You can find AAA buildings throughout the city with excellent finances that are well-maintained, first class buildings. For a city like Anchorage, or Portland Maine, or Albany you probably can ask what the best building is. In NYC, that's tough.

that's why it's important to have a realtor your comfortable with. he/she can guide and advise you. good luck.

Most realtors are useless. Your chance of finding a good realtor are the same as you finding an apartment on your own. Do your research by reading from good sources.

What are the good sources I can go to for research..I'm looking to buy a 1-2 bed on UES or UWS?

**that's why it's important to have a realtor your comfortable with. he/she can guide and advise you. good luck.**

No, realtors are generally useless in this department. In fact I would NOT trust a realtor to be straight with you on this stuff - they are trying to make a sale, remember? Another dud from Julia. *yawn*

ginger - a lot of this is word-of-mouth, so you're doing the right thing by putting the question out there. But do keep in mind that a co-op that was well-run several years ago may now have a crappy board and vice-versa.

You might want to start with places like the Normandy (140 RSD), which is a large, well-established co-op building that has a pretty decent track record. 310 RSD is also pretty well-run from what I understand as are 90 RSD, 100 RSD, and 50 RSD. 180 RSD is also a good bet.

But you see, I happen to know more about RSD buildings where as someone else will be able to steer you towards options in other areas.

Thanks, Squid. Agreed re. most realtors.

not an expert by any means, but check www.cityrealty.com. they seem to have info on specific buildings.

Propertyshark, Trulia, and Curbed are other helpful websites.

This website used to its fullest capabilities is key. You can become an expert using this site and going to A LOT of open houses. Most of the buildings on the UES are in fine financial shape and the apartments at many are ubiquitious. Junior 4's are available by the zillions up there. Look for the same thing in central Greenwich Village and you are almost lucky to find one.

Asking for "best" on the UES you are going to get Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue addresses. Can you afford those buildings, and do you really mean to include those buildings? Or do you want good coops and condos on First, Second and Third Aves and the side streets? What is your price range? Do you require a gym, parking and pool? Must the gym be Equinox quality or is a private one the building constructs okay? If you want a ton of amenities, you are going to pay dearly for that, so are the amenities more important than the second bedroom, or is your budget able to accomodate all of it?

If you want to know how to "get started," create an account on here, save building you are interested in and apartments that catch your eye, monitor the updates and see how they fair in the market. Go to open houses and add or eliminate buildings based on your tastes. Some will have layouts you hate, others may have a 'look' you love. Some may be 40% down and others only 25% down and perhaps that will matter to you. Must pets be allowed? That may eliminate some choices. Read these boards, ask questions, read www.urbandigs.com , read the NYT RE section on sundays. Start a notebook of open house flyers you attend and make notes on them so you can remember your thoughts and not accidentally backtrack in the weeks to come.

Be clear on your economic situation. Clear within your own mind. Speak with an independent financial advisor if need be, but know what you can spend consistent with your long-term financial plan and your overall risk tolerance.

By becoming an expert in the niche you're looking at, you'll know the place that is right for you when you see it.

This website used to its fullest capabilities is key. You can become an expert using this site and going to A LOT of open houses. Most of the buildings on the UES are in fine financial shape and the apartments at many are ubiquitious. Junior 4's are available by the zillions up there. Look for the same thing in central Greenwich Village and you are almost lucky to find one.

Asking for "best" on the UES you are going to get Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue addresses. Can you afford those buildings, and do you really mean to include those buildings? Or do you want good coops and condos on First, Second and Third Aves and the side streets? What is your price range? Do you require a gym, parking and pool? Must the gym be Equinox quality or is a private one the building constructs okay? If you want a ton of amenities, you are going to pay dearly for that, so are the amenities more important than the second bedroom, or is your budget able to accomodate all of it?

If you want to know how to "get started," create an account on here, save building you are interested in and apartments that catch your eye, monitor the updates and see how they fair in the market. Go to open houses and add or eliminate buildings based on your tastes. Some will have layouts you hate, others may have a 'look' you love. Some may be 40% down and others only 25% down and perhaps that will matter to you. Must pets be allowed? That may eliminate some choices. Read these boards, ask questions, read www.urbandigs.com , read the NYT RE section on sundays. Start a notebook of open house flyers you attend and make notes on them so you can remember your thoughts and not accidentally backtrack in the weeks to come.

Be clear on your economic situation. Clear within your own mind. Speak with an independent financial advisor if need be, but know what you can spend consistent with your long-term financial plan and your overall risk tolerance.

By becoming an expert in the niche you're looking at, you'll know the place that is right for you when you see it.

Ginger,

I'm a real estate agent who thinks a lot of people on this board really should be D-I-Yers, but I don't think you're one of them. You're asking to tap into a body of knowledge that good professionals have, and I don't think it would be worth it for you to spend the time to try to get the same knowledge out of the collective hive mind. There's a risk that any realtor you hire might not be the service person you want, but I think there's a greater risk that the collective on this board misses areas of your search, or doesn't alert you to social subtleties.

I agree with Kylewest about ways to get started -- I would throw in three more: my site, www.frontporchllc.com, which is set up as a kind of searchable wiki (for example you can search the term "good" to get Tom Wolfe's list of "good buildings");

www.wirednewyork.com, which is a real estate message board with a strong core community of knowledgeable posters and many threads on specific buildings,

and finally the real estate section of the New York Post (which, full disclosure, I used to edit) which runs on Thursdays and is in many ways more helpful to a first-time buyer than the Times.

Realtors are like lawyers in that many are quite mediocre but a good one is invaluable. I don't work uptown but if you will provide more specifics about your aspirations, price range, etc. I can try to recommend two to three people on the UES who you might want to talk to.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

> that's why it's important to have a realtor your comfortable with. he/she can guide and advise you.
> good luck.

Did we just confirm that Julia is a broker?

She who protested that she couldn't find anything... but now brokers rule...