Rockland County New York Real Estate » rockland townhouses

Co-op vs. condo – What’s the difference

admin — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:10:18 +0000

Co-op Vs. Condo – What’s the Difference?
Rebloged from Rand Site (by permission)

Co-ops and Condos are different. A Co-op is a corporation; you actually buy shares in the corporation. The monthly maintenance includes the property taxes and mortgage interest if the building has taken out a mortgage for improvements. These costs are deductible on your personal income taxes – on the listing it will tell you how much is tax deductible, usually about 50%. Co-ops have a Board of Directors and require an application with a fee and board approval for all perspective buyers. They also usually have a minimum down payment that varies from 10% to 35% depending on the building and not all Co-ops allow pets.

With a condo you actually own the unit from the outside wall in and in addition to the common charges you are also responsible for paying the property taxes as well. The taxes will be posted on the listing. Condos also have a board but there is not usually board approval or a minimum down payment requirement. Condos also usually allow all pets. There are not as many condo complexes as there are co-op complexes so the old supply and demand theory – condos are more expensive than co-ops.

The maintenance and common charges both include the maintenance of the building, heat and hot water (unless the heat is electric). Sometimes other utilities, like electric are included but then there is a monthly fee for items such as air conditioners and dishwashers. Some buildings also have temporary assessments for things such as oil costs or improvements. These charges are for a specific period of time.

Some of the Differences

Condominium

Deed ownership to unit and undivided interest in common elements.

Unit owner may finance and refinance his unit with mortgage.

Condominium cannot mortgage common elements.

Condominium Board of Managers has right of first refusal of match offer to purchase or lease unit. (Most never exercise it)

Failure of unit owner to pay common charges increases costs to other unit owners for operating expenses – no risk of foreclosure to other unit owners.

Condominium may foreclose on individual unit for failure to pay common charges.

Units separately assessed for real estate taxes – each unit owner pays his own real estate taxes and mortgage.

Each unit owner deducts real estate taxes and mortgage interest paid directly by him.

On new condos, buyer may be locked into specific bank or two. On resales, most will make a loan. Rates are comparable to a home.
Cooperative Apartment

Ownership of stock or corporation owning building with right to a lease to a designated unit.

Cooperator may finance and refinance his stock ownership and lease with loan secured by pledge of stock and lease as collateral. Called personal loan.

Failure of cooperator to pay maintenance (rent) increases costs to other unit owners for operating expenses and debt service on underlying mortgage-risk of foreclosure on entire building.

Apartment corporation foreclose on cooperator’s apartment for failure to pay maintenance.

Entire building assessed as a whole – cooperator’s maintenance used to pay portion of real estate taxes and underlying mortgage.

Each cooperator deducts his proportionate share of real estate taxes and interest on underlying mortgage paid as part of his maintenance – also, deducts interest on individual cooperative apartment loan paid directly by him.

Interest rates and sometimes points are higher because it’s a personal loan.

Nanuet 3BR, 3.5 Bath Townhouse in Versailles $439,900 with Elevator

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:57:14 +0000

THIS PROPERTY IS SOLD AND CLOSED.

Go here for lot of pictures of the Versailles Townhouse Development

Absolutely gorgeous, upgrades everywhere. Express Bus to NY City or Train for easy commute. Handi-cap accessible. Elevator (only 1 of 2 in the complex) Gated community. Gas fireplace, Elegant. Nine feet ceilings, Hardwood floors throughout. W-In Closet. Full master bath w/Jacuzzi and shower. Walk-out sliders to patio and full bath on LL Sec System, 2 car garage, central AC. See amenities section & fact sheet for more details.
x
Gas Line for Grill.

First Time Homebuyer Credit update

admin — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:06:06 +0000

First Time Homebuyer Credit May Become a True Credit and Not a Payback Deal

I thought this was a terrific article written by a fellow Broker/Owner Rick Hauser ABR GRI,
Managing Broker/Owner Hawthorn Woods , IL …

Thanks Rick for the opportunity to repost it.
___________________________________________________________________

Via Rick Hauser ABR GRI Managing Broker/Owner (Relocation Advisors Group Inc.):

Late yesterday – the House passed the $819 billion stimulus plan, which included a modified first time homebuyer tax credit. The Senate may vote on its version of the bill sometime next week.

The bill is changing the terms of the $7,500 tax credit that was issued as a part of the Housing Recovery Act, which Congress passed last summer.

Previous legislation required that the tax credit be repaid over 15 years, making it more of a no-interest loan. Not surprisingly, the measure had little impact on the market. The stimulus bill now under consideration would make that tax credit a true credit that doesn’t need to be repaid.

NAR estimates that there could be a 10% increase in home sales if it’s implemented – giving people who are sitting on the fence or who have inadequate funds for closing costs an incentive to act now. NAR thinks that a 10% increase would yield an extra half million sales this year.

To be eligible, buyers cannot have owned a home for the past three years, and the new home has to be used as a primary residence. The credit phases out as income rises above $75,000 for singles and $150,000 for couples, and disappears entirely at $95,000 and $170,000, respectively.

Applying for it is easy, or at least as easy as doing your income taxes. Just claim it on your return. That’s it. No other forms or papers have to be filed.

Both the Senate and the House versions of the new act remove the requirement that buyers repay the credit. The Senate bill applies retroactively to any purchase completed between January 1, 2009 and the end of August. The House version is also retroactive to the start of the year, and expires at the end of June. As long as buyers don’t sell for at least 36 months, they keep the money.

And the credit is refundable, meaning that it can be claimed even if the amount of the credit earned exceeds the buyer’s tax liability. So even if your total tax bill comes to just $5,000, you can still qualify for a full $7,500 refund.

THe theory is that First time buyers who purchase from existing homeowners free those sellers to trade up to bigger, better houses. But many exsiting homeowners are not trading up anymore.

Buyers should be aware that they won’t actually receive any refund for a home purchased this year until after they file their 2009 income taxes in April 2010.

Some argue that the credit is poorly targeted because it goes to every first-time buyer, not just the ones who wouldn’t buy without it. So, it merely provides a windfall for many people who would have purchased anyway. I believe that interest rates are still too high to stimulate things as much as they need to be stimulated. 6 months ago – there was talk that the government was going to figure out a way to get rates to drop in the 4.5% range or less. That hasn’t happened. Rates are still in the 5′s.

I believe that patchwork stimuluses in this multi-billion dollar package isn’t the answer – though this well help. Getting rates to drop is the answer – and answer that we’ve all been waiting for for a long time now.

The $7,500 tax credit, regardless of the details, does nothing to address the issue that’s holding some buyers back – the suspicion that prices are going to keep falling. That said – when we negotiate on a home for our buyer clients – we build in a large buffer factor for to cover that very issue. I’m having one of my busiest January’s in a long time…Though I kinow that other agents are suffering. My clients aren’t holding back at any rate…. I’ve written up a couple of purchase contracts this week – and we are in negotiations for some serious price-off…

I suggest that the government may want to think about making it available to all homebuyers, not just first-timers. And have the credit last through the end of the year, at least. But the biggest thing that could be done is to drop rates. As we all know – rates are inversely related to prices.

Rockand Real Estate Positive Signs

admin — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:42:15 +0000

30 Year Fixed at a 37 Year Low.

Yes Virginia, there “is” a Santa Claus. Well that’s how I felt yesterday when I saw that mortgage interest rates had adjusted downward again. Below is a reprint from the Freddie Mac Site, but I saw that Provident Bank yesterday had a 30 year conforming rate of 4.875 (with 1 point). I had an email from a colleague where they saw a mortgage broker at 4.75 with no points. So . . . let the games begin!

Compilation of Weekly Survey Releases for 2008

December 11, 2008	30-yr	15-yr	5/1-yr ARM	1-yr ARM
Rates:	5.47%	5.20%	5.82%	5.09%
Points:	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.4

There are other positive signs in the marketplace as well. Remember the huge bailout plan to purchase troubled mortgages? Well part of that plan is being shelved. Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist writes (Source GHVmls economic and market watch report/Oct) that “Instead the money will be used to support securitization for consumer financing.” Yun adds that the goal is to get capital to lenders so that they can start issuing loans to consumers and companies. Yun shares that LIBOR rates (the key rate measurement of liquidity flow in the financial system) have begun to thaw. But those stubborn residential mortgage rates carry a high spread above Treasury rates, commercial mortgage loans are non-existent and the banks are still not lending to small businesses.

The notwithstanding the above information, the most important thing I want to communicate is YES THERE ARE LOANS OUT THERE ! If you have good credit, (read my post on FICO Scores here)a stable job and some $ to put down, you can get mortgage money. Property values have digressed to levels not seen in years. Improved affordability has led to improved home sales. The huge inventory is being worked off. As I’ve told you for months now, a shrinking inventory is another sign that the real estate market is stabilizing. Yun goes on to warn though that while these signs are encouraging, more must be done.

NAR, the National Association of Realtors has proposed that the government buy-down mortgage interest rates to ensure fixed low rates for home buyers. NAR has also presented a plan to Congress that would eliminate the repayment feature of that $7500.00 first-time home buyer tax credit. NAR has proposed that this credit be offered to all buyers and that higher FHA and conventional loan limits be made permanent. This should greatly aid in the housing recovery.

We all know that consumer confidence is at an all time low, but we also know from history that the journey to wealth accumulation begins with owning ones own home.