Forum Archive: Posts by: sjtmd

What seemed like a good idea – a two bedroom coop in Brooklyn that would be a weekend place for the next five years, a year round residence thereafter, is now but a failed exercise that has left us $1000 poorer, but a good deal wiser. Two years of open houses, multiple failed bids (10% off asking with an all cash offer), misinformation, and miscommunication ended suddenly when our successful bid made directly to the owner was left unconsummated. The coop board, who accepted pied a terres on a case by case basis, felt this would not be a case. When I asked the board president, what was it about our case that was troubling, the answer was nothing. We have never accepted a pied a terre, and you were not going to be the first. When I asked if they had been misleading, the answer was no – we review all such requests, and reject all of them. Fortunately, our denial was based on an introductory letter that we had written. This spared us the $1350 in fees, as well as an exacting and total examination of our finances in which our privacy was never guaranteed. Top all that off with a management company whose customer service style would have been more appropriate to selling soup in Manhattan. Ultimately, we learned a lot. Coops are bizarre and arcane real estate instruments that we want nothing to do with. We had received all pertinent documents from our attorney: board minutes that would indicate a narrow minded leadership by individuals not qualified to put together a grocery list. House rules, renovation regulations, inflated mortgages, assessments, and fees upon fees. I am so grateful that the board, in their own misguided way, set us straight and relieved us of this irrational desire to own a second home. And as much as I hate to say it, a buyers broker would have been very helpful in this matter. There is no way they would have allowed six months to be wasted in a deal that had little or no chance to be closed. A commission is to important to waste on such foolishness.