Co-op of the Day: 135 Prospect Park SW, #F12
This one bedroom at 135 Prospect Park Southwest is both beautiful and large. It has nice prewar character and views of Prospect Park as well. At $458, the monthly maintenance is also quite reasonable. If this were on the Park Slope side of the park, the asking price of $399,000 would seem quite reasonable. Its…
This one bedroom at 135 Prospect Park Southwest is both beautiful and large. It has nice prewar character and views of Prospect Park as well. At $458, the monthly maintenance is also quite reasonable. If this were on the Park Slope side of the park, the asking price of $399,000 would seem quite reasonable. Its location in Windsor Terrace, while very nice in our book, certainly makes the price more challenging. Not impossible though. Do you think they can get it?
135 Prospect Park SW, #F12 [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
Bolder… so you’re telling me that your TAX LIABILITY… i.e., how much you paid in federal/state taxes was reduced by $9,600 because of your mortgage and co-op taxes?
NO… I don’t buy that. These are deductions on your *taxable* income, not how much you pay.
All you people are guessing at monthly carrying costs, but here’s some real world numbers: We paid 425k in 2003 for a 1 br, put down 25% (107k,, if i recall). Mortage was around 6 pct. even, maint was around 800. Total was 2600/mo. BUT, after tax deduction for mort. interest and 50% of monthly, it was $1800 something. That’s not bad.
If you got this place for 350k, your actual costs would be considerably lower, say probably around $1,500 with 25% down.
Last I checked, bitter renters still don’t get any tax benefits. You buy in a co-op, usually around half the monthly is deductible, plus mortgage interest.
Obviously in a declining or flat market, the question is whether your money is safer as a dp, in the market, or in your mattress. (probably the last). But actual carrying costs and rents are a lot closer than many people think.
AMT caps a person on amount of deduction one can claim on tax return. So it doesn’t sound logically that taking on an add’l deduction item (mortgage interest in this case) would actually help lower impact of AMT. Not disputing your claim (cause I’m no tax expert) but it’s peculiar scenario I’ll go test out in Turbo Tax tonight. Hope you’re correct, cause I’m going to buy a super expensive house if I ever hit the lottory
Blah. I love Windsor Terrace, but to me the whole point of the neighborhood is that you don’t have to live in a big prewar building. I agree the location’s in the middle of nowhere retail-wise, but to the Fresh Direct comment, there is actually a decent-sized grocery store a few blocks away.
rates are actually at 4.875% today for a 30-year fixed conforming. this does apply to co-ops. rates have been hovering around 5% for a while and are coming down in the wake of the Fed announcement yesterday re: buying Treasuries. if you put 20% down on this apt at asking, your monthly mortgage is 1,689. add the maintenance and you’re up to 2,147. and even this number is inflated compared to your true cost if you factor in tax breaks for mortgage interest and real estate taxes.
at 20%, the down payment would be 80K, not 90K. not sure why one would conceptualize the down payment as being paid out monthly over the course of 4 years. i think it assumes that your apt is a wasting asset that will be depleted by 20% in 4 years. in normal markets, a home buyer recoups their down payment (and any other equity) upon selling the apt, and under those circumstances, the “cost” of the down payment is more of an opportunity cost, i.e. what else could you have done with that 80K for those four years? if you put it in a savings account, it would generate about 1.875% right now. not a heck of a lot of opportunity cost lost.
one last point, since yesterday someone was prattling on about how high income earners lose the mortgage interest deduction because of the AMT. simply not true. it’s actually quite the opposite — the mortgage interest deduction can reduce your tax so that the AMT no longer applies (or applies with less effect). i got hit with the AMT in 2007 and bought real estate in early 2008 in part to combat the AMT. i can tell you first hand that paying mortgage interest and real estate taxes enabled me to get a sizable tax return at both the state and the federal level, and from a tax perspective, the only economic difference between 2007 and 2008 for me was that i was paying mortgage interest and real estate taxes in ’08 but not ’07.
I know you “get it back,” but you can’t just discount it. That is real money and a HUGE chunk of change. That’s totally illiquid. And unless you had a windfall, that took a long long time to amass. (And if you’re buying THIS place, chances are you are not “trading up.”)
Yeah, this was pain in the *past* — but I was just trying to put it in perspective as if you had the “luxury” of paying off the downpayment over time. (Which of course you don’t)
tybur6, I’m not arguing for this price, the market will decide if it’s reasonable, not you or me, but your logic does not make sense. You understand that downpayments go against the purchase price, correct? You are putting equity in your home that you will eventually get back, unless you sell at a loss.
No one factors downpayment into monthly costs because it makes absolutely no sense to do so.
Unless you work from home and use fresh direct, the location is pretty crappy. I also would rather the sizes of the living room and bedroom be reversed… Considering that this is an apartment for a single, a buyer should probably hold off and look for something in a better location. i would.
dmn….I’d better bite my lip…oops! 😉