[proxy_user]

Coops are an only-in-NYC phenomenon, and many people don't understand the financial structure.

The maintenance fee includes property taxes, building expenses, and paying the building mortgage. Property taxes are usually not too bad in the city. On these tiny studios, they should be less than $100/month.

The big costs are the building mortgage and salaries, particularly in a doorman building. It costs about $200,000 a year for four shifts of doormen. This is not too bad if there are 300 apartments in the building, but it's a big expense for smaller buildings. You also need a live-in super and a staff of from 2 to 20, depending on the building size.

The building mortgage can be large, especially if the sponser cashed out in a big way.

I bought my studio, 440 square feet, in 1985 for $75,000. It turned out to be a good deal, but there was a time when it was unsalable.

The guy who posted about rent stabilization is right. The market for these apartments would collapse if rent stabilitization were eliminated. But that is not going to happen, short of a revoluation.

[teech]

humbly disagree. The population pressure + developer $ -> political presure; the disconnect btwn Republican free-market rhetoric elsewhere and the reality in NYC becomes untenable; eventually the system gives way. I give it no more than another 10 yrs -- though that's just my opinion; I could be wrong.

Funny about that poster who wanted stabilization abolished, but not til after they were done playing w/it. Easy to have political beliefs that you don't have to pay the freight for...

[austinTparty]

Coops are an only-in-NYC phenomenon, and many people don't understand the financial structure.

Actually, they have them in DC, too. :o)