Board Interview - Guarantors

be prepared for anything...

the interview could be a cordial welcome to the building...to a Jack Bauer interview
you never know

Are you working with a broker? Your broker should be explaining the entire process to you and be preparing you for it. If he or she is not, you have a really bad broker. Anyway, you should definitely be prepare for ANYTHING! Depending on the building it could just be a meet and greet or they could grill you and your daughter. They could ask you for letters of recommendation, pretty much anything. If, however, you get rejected, you may want to consider a condo. If you don't mind my asking, what kind of building are you buying into and what area? How much is the apartment, is it a high-end pre-war? The reason I ask is because usually high-end pre-wars are going to grill you and if the apartment is more expensive, you will get burned.

She said it was a true starter apartment. I wonder why she thinks that her daughter would be the only one in the hot seat, maybe her financials are better than the daughter's. However, if the daughter can't pay the mortgage that month or vice versa, the other tenant would have to pay so I would think they'd both be looked at pretty closely. Good luck, the co-op process can be grueling.

Also keep in mind that some coops don't allow guarantors from out of state. I know it sounds ridiculous (I mean how many people have parents living next door in NJ...hello?) but it has to do with legal liability & jurisdiction in case your daughter defaults.

Co-ops suck for the most part, unless your buying into an ultra luxe building like 740 Park, 834 Fifth, 1040 Fifth or 435 East 52nd... any buildings like that then it's worth it because those buildings are unriveled. However, if you can get what your looking for in the form of a condo, BUY A CONDO! There is SO MANY ultra luxe condos like 515 Park, 502 Park (All Trump buildings for that matter), Beacon Court, Time Warner! I know it's starter but you know what... if you get rejected, start looking for a condo! OMG CONDO ORGASM!

Thanks for the advice. I didn't realize that some boards don't accept out of state. I just found a broker, so hopefully that will help.

No, we're looking at a 500k coop in Midtown East - nothing terribly special, and not a high-end prewar, thank goodnes.

It's a curious process, but we've been scouring through our finances with our broker, so I hope it'll be okay.

Condos are so much more expensive here, and I understand why - given the rigors and annoyances of the coop process. But I will definitely keep that in mind. Do you know where you can find cheaper condos - or at least condos with low enough monthly charges that they will be reasonable for my just out of college daughter?

I had the idea that the women were going to be living together but I guess not. I understand that everyone says condo, condo but everything I like is older & therefore co-op. I've been fascinated by Long Island City, it may finally be happening now - maybe. It's one stop from Grand Central.

i've lived in lic for 12 years, i dont know of any co-ops there,
all new construction is condo

If you want to find condos with low monthly charges look to brooklyn. If I were you I would tell your daughter that manhattan is a bit unreasonable and if she wants your help paying for her housing she needs to live in a borough.

Manhattan is the only place to be, don't listen to them!

I hope the daughter is on the ground in NYC. I suggest that she get out there & search the different areas that interest her & see where her friends live & visit the apartments she likes & can afford & thus make her decision as to where she wants to live. Visit the neighborhood at all hours, see if there is a cafe that she likes, a market, a good vibe, people on the street, etc. then she can decide where SHE should be.

This to Mom: I hope going in you make it abundantly clear what you want/need out of this. It's wonderful that you can help your daughter but after you pay the down & half the monthly, will you be giving the apartment to your daughter or are you looking at a return for your retirement. I would also suggest you get the agreement in writing. There's the possibility that this could get ugly at some point so if it's all understood & written down, you've at least done all you can toward that not happening. Good luck.

Well, my daughter is covering the full monthly. She has a very good salary, but no liquid assets yet (she just graduated, and she's doing one of those "bonus is half the salary jobs"). She doesn't want to pay over 3000/month, and I'm just giving her the down payment, and the strength of my financial statement for the board and mortgage process. Regardless, I will definitely make sure that we're both clear on how this will work.

I went through the experience of buying on the lower end about 2 years ago. One less expensive condo building that I came across is at 1420 York Avenue (if your daughter would consider the UES). There always seem to be apartments coming on the market there.