I've been a Real Estate Agent, who's sold coops and condos, and when I moved to Bay Ridge, purchased a coop. I won't go into the differences, since you seem to have done your homework. The best thing you can do is get a real estate attorney that is familiar with coops in the area (and there are many).

I was happy in my coop. There are many well-managed coops in Bay Ridge. Its important that the Management Company is responsive and that the coop itself, is financially stable. Maintenance fees are critical, as well. Take a look at how stable the maintenace fee has been over the past 10 years. If you can get the information (from your own research, or through a RE Agent, compare the maintenance in one building, to a similar building (but don't compare 4th ave to shore road). If one has considerably higher maintenance, ask why.

Posted by: rkohlny1 at March 17, 2009 10:16 AM in response to Co-op living experiences

Thanks for your comments....fyi, a number of our members are also PSFC members.

Posted by: rkohlny1 at January 22, 2009 4:44 PM in response to Bay Ridge Food Coop

Correction:

Tuesday's meeting has been cancelled. The only New Member Orientation Meeting is scheduled for Saturday Jan. 24 @ 11:00am.

Posted by: rkohlny1 at January 21, 2009 2:30 PM in response to Bay Ridge Food Coop

As a former broker, I have a prejudiced view. You can successfully sell your own property if you're extremely knowledgable about the market, and how to follow through on a real-estate transaction.
There's a lot more to selling a property than advertising. Listing at the right price is key, and this doesn't mean comparing only to existing similar properties on the market, but also looking at the price that similar properties sold at. You can get that information at sites like Propertyshark.com.

The whole process is like Project Management. If you have the knowledge and time, you can do it.

In terms of commissions, it varies. You can expect anywhere from 3 - 6%. Interview a number of Brokers (if you decide to go that route) and ask them to explain the process to you, and what role he/she plays throughout the entire transaction until closing.

At the end of those discussions, you should have a good idea if this is something you feel comfortable doing on your own.

Posted by: rkohlny1 at January 21, 2009 12:01 PM in response to Tips on FSBO?

As a former Real Estate Agent, I can tell you that generally speaking, its an advantage to use an Attorney that has a relationship with the Broker. The Attorney has obviously worked with the Broker before and because of this, and the prospect of working on future deals, the Attorney will do everything possible to make the deal happen, while still acting in the best interest of the client.

A Broker's main concern is to get the deal done, and you might view that as a conflict of interest, but in reality its not. An attorney is obligated by law to protect their client's interest, but I've seen many who let their egos get in the way. The best attorney will do two things: protect theit client, and compromise where necessary to get the deal done.

You have every right to choose your own attorney, but make sure it comes as a recoomendation from someone who's had a positive experience with him/her.

Posted by: rkohlny1 at January 7, 2009 10:17 AM in response to Atty/Broker Conflict of Interest

These are diffcult times, as we all know. Banks and coop boards are going to be extra conservative when it comes to approving loans and board applications. Even with very good credit, its difficlut getting a conventional loan, with 20% down. 10% makes it even more unlikely.

If you have the option, wait until you have enough of a down payment. Its a good market to buy in now, but its likely to get even better in the next 6 - 12 months.

Posted by: rkohlny1 at October 16, 2008 2:27 PM in response to Mortgage for Coop with 90% financing

I'm a real estate agent, and the biggest problem you're going to have, outside of getting 90% financing, is that most coop boards require at least 20% down, regardless of whether or not you can get 90% financing.

I'm not sure if you've had a bad experience with a Broker before, but the reality is, your best prospect of getting 90% financing is with a Broker. A broker can shop for the best terms for your situation and is not tied to a specific bank. Also, most Brokers are paid directly by the Bank and charge you nothing.

Posted by: rkohlny1 at October 16, 2008 12:53 PM in response to Mortgage for Coop with 90% financing

For more information, please come to one of our member orientation meetings at the Bay Ridge Library, at 73rd street and Ridge Boulevard (2nd Floor).

Saturday October 18 at 11:00am
Tuesday October 28 at 6:30pm

Posted by: rkohlny1 at October 14, 2008 9:49 AM in response to Bay Ridge Food Coop

The lady doth protest too much, methinks!

Posted by: vanburenproud at January 7, 2009 3:09 PM in response to Atty/Broker Conflict of Interest

I am not an outsider to all of this. I have been through a number of transactions as a client. I have dealt with realtors who tried really hard to push their inspectors and lawyers on me. I have dealt with others who stayed more neutral, which I was happy about. I went with a referred inspector once and was not totally happy about it. I went with my own another time and was happier, although not completely. I used my own attorney both times and was pleased with the representation. I also had a deal go terribly wrong (not the deal with the broker pushing referrals) and I cannot say with any confidence that a realtor-referred attorney would have fought as hard and as well for me as my attorney did, and that I needed every ounce of that fight. An attorney with dual loyalties might very well have managed to stay within the ethical lines without accomplishing nearly as much. Whether or not the entire Brooklyn RE world is polluted, I definitely wandered into corner of it that would qualify for an ethical Superfund cleanup and I am glad I did not have to reflect for a second on my attorney's loyalties.

Posted by: slopefarm at January 7, 2009 3:15 PM in response to Atty/Broker Conflict of Interest

I know from experience that the relationship between broker and lawyer are not even close to cozy as some want to suggest. There is no "one hand washes the other." In fact there is even some contempt on the part of the lawyer against the broker in that the broker stands to make a huge amount of money on the deal as compared to the lawyer. Most lawyers even make the broker jump through a lot of hoops and leg work between the accepted offer to the final closing because they feel the broker is making the money he/she should do the work. I don't know of any lawyer that would compromise their client in the hopes of more referrals from a broker. It is just ridiculous. I am not saying all lawyers are ethical. I am just saying that there is no real substantial monetary incentive for the lawyer to compromise their license. You give the broker way too much power if you think he/she is lining the pockets of recommended attorneys with so much money that they would sell their client down the river. It's just not that much $ in the end.

Posted by: broker at January 7, 2009 4:39 PM in response to Atty/Broker Conflict of Interest

With respect broker, I see lawyers do outrageous shit all the time. Indeed, I see judges do outrageous shit all the time.

And yes, by "outrageous shit," I mean shit that would "compromise their license."

I know that this topic has been beaten to death djdevvydev, and you probably already lost interest.

But if you want this humble lawyer's advice: re-read David Lewis's comments and act accordingly. Slopefarm at 12:02 has it right too.

Posted by: Come Clean at January 7, 2009 5:59 PM in response to Atty/Broker Conflict of Interest

Obviously there is no real conflict of interest, or the state bar would have guidelines in place to prevent this. It's just that there are a number of plausible motivations that you won't be aware of.

Part of it is also that in my opinion it's never a bad idea to have some distance between the various parties in a transaction like this. Obviously plenty of people have done just fine using a broker-recommended lawyer; as I said, our experiences were good and bad. And just as obviously, the vast majority of lawyers are scrupulous about ethics and have their clients' interests at heart.

Next time, though, we will find our own lawyer, and I would advise others to do so. As for the poster complaining about advice on an online bb...well, you get what you pay for.

Posted by: Bolder at January 8, 2009 10:37 AM in response to Atty/Broker Conflict of Interest

This may be a little off target, but I think there are fundamental issues regarding realtors and their "interest" in any deal. I personally believe that realtors (some, not all) bear a significant share of the responsibility for the present real estate bubble and its consequences. Who do they represent in any transaction? Will they counsel a potential buyer as to the dangers of obtaining too large a mortgage or simply refer to a broker who will obtain the necessary funding (and send a little commission back)? Will they recommend an appraiser & inspector who will be honest and forthright, or will they suggest someone who will let the deal get done? Bottom line, it is buyer beware - ultimately, it is greed that dictates motivation - I would get my own attorney.

Posted by: sjtmd at January 10, 2009 4:05 PM in response to Atty/Broker Conflict of Interest

I think your packaging looks very good. I'm not sure about your asking price, since I don't know your area and what you are using for comps. I priced mine about 3 % lower than what my comps showed and in the end I took an offer about 6% lower than my asking price. But my buyer was all cash, and that was worth it to me to be certain that the deal would fly. Make sure you qualify your buyer; don't be shy about asking about their assets, salaries, etc.

Curiously, the brokers who were interested in listing were recommending that I drop the price to a number 25K lower than what I ultimately sold it for!

Posted by: diors at January 21, 2009 12:10 PM in response to Tips on FSBO?

Photos look good. Your ask seems a bit high though, especially for that area. I have sold 3 apartments FSBO, two in South Slope and one on a PS name street (that was the most recent, sold in August). Make sure you keep all contact info of everyone that comes through, follow-up in a tasteful way, know your building and make showings very easy (hold lots of open houses, even some on weeknights). One thing I realized in our last sale was that a broker seems to smooth over the appraisal process (not sure this is legal or still happening) and when we sold in August low appraisals were coming in and we almost lost our sale a few weeks before closing. I think FSBO is possible still in this climate, but it does take work. I agree it is like project management, but I think you can do it. Good luck!

Posted by: WTbound at January 21, 2009 12:22 PM in response to Tips on FSBO?

My experience with brokers in Brooklyn has been uniformly negative [Corchoran]. I ended up doing all the work in terms of staging, photography, and coming-up with the terms of the listing.
What's worse, all of the brokers I've used responded by bumps-in-the-road by insisting I shave off a few thousand here, a few thousand there... in other words, they had no interest in delivering the highest price - only the sale [their % of those few thousand is so low as to be irrelevant to them - even though it was very costly to me]. And to make matters worse, one of the reasons I had to drop my price by $5K was because the broker had made an inaccurate statement in the listing without consulting me [the said we had dedicated storage space in the basement rather than shared space].
If you can create a good ad, do good staging, set a realistic price, and do some very basic due-diligence on prospective buyers, your real estate lawyer will do all the rest. In fact, that's the real nut of my argument: a good real estate lawyer is far more valuable and important than any broker.
So I say go for it! And yes, if it doesn't work out, you can always go pick up a broker - and make sure to interview plenty & negotiate their fee!

Posted by: parkedslope at January 21, 2009 12:24 PM in response to Tips on FSBO?

The traditional commission is 6%. In today's climate most brokerage firms will accept a 5% commission if there is a co-broke (the buyer has a broker representing him) and 4% if it's a direct.

If you go with a too low commission on a co-broke deal you run the risk of buyer agents not bringing their customers, hence I don't recommend going below 5% on the co-brokes.

My suggestion is to try to nagotiate a 3% or even 2.5% on a direct.

If you go with a broker please view the process as a job interview. There are so many professional, ethical agents out there, and they are all dying to work for you.

PS: I sold my condo as a FSBO this summer.

Posted by: kdabrowski at January 21, 2009 1:18 PM in response to Tips on FSBO?