<p>In both of the foreclosures I am personally familiar with, the banks now own the houses but seem to be in no hurry to evict the (now-former) owners. One hasn’t paid the mortgage in two years; the other, eighteen months. In one case, the house went to auction but didn’t generate the minimum bid, so the bank bought it back but has not tried to resell it.</p>
<p>Oldfort, You seem to know NYC well. If I were in your position, I’d probably rent for awhile.</p>
<p>fwiw, I think its a good move, oldfort. I have not checked out the price in NYC, but in my area, the price did bottom out since 2009 and has not increased much. But recovery signs are all over the place. I can imagine NYC can be on the recovery curve earlier than other regions. Good to pick up some low priced property before price increases.</p>
<p>What I don’t like is the “college interview” process in NYC condo buying. They can reject you based on race, creed and income for no reason at all. Especially for those CPS hard nosed HOA’s. It sounds that you are entering that area or close to it…good luck.</p>
<p>The interview process in NYC is coop buying, not condo, that’s why condos are more popular because they are less restrictive, hence the extra premium prices. The finance and legal industries that have supported the $1M-$3M units are in transition, and prices may be soft for a while. The inventories are low at the moment because owners are still waiting for higher prices. They may have to wait a while longer.
My son was thinking to buy something but it is still cheaper for him to rent at the moment according to the NY Times calculator even with income tax deductions consideration.
[Is</a> It Better to Buy or Rent? - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Is It Better to Rent or Buy? - The New York Times”>Is It Better to Rent or Buy? - The New York Times)</p>
<p>^^ you are right, I was thinking of coop, but kept on write out condos…</p>
<p>In that NYT model, I did not see after income tax benefits on the buying side included and the projected sales price 6 years from now is anyone’s guesses. So, it is still difficult to determind which would be better. But the rent increase in an area could be irratic, in the Silicon Valley, there could be 30-50% difference from one year to the next, so buying would be better.</p>
<p>So cbreeze…coops are 20 to 40 percent cheaper than condos in cities like NYC?</p>
<p>When I was looking in SF…coops were a lot cheaper…</p>
<p>I was kind of against coops…but I probably should look into them more…</p>
<p>The interrogation of future owners could be a good thing.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If you click on advanced setting, you will see 3 tabs on the left, click on “other” and you will be asked your marginal tax rate, rate of return on investment etc.</p>
<p>In the case of coops, should you decide to rent out your unit,they want to interview your tenants first and your tenants have to wait till the board convenes which can be as long as a month. They are not going to meet just to interview a tenant. Would a prospective tenant want to wait to be interviewed and face possible rejection? Other laws may also restrict the length the unit can be a rental, like 2 years out of 5 or 1 year out of 3, only after a certain length of owner occupancy. Of course, there are buildings that are more lenient.
For people who want to be long-term residents in the building, coops make more financial sense and may offer more protection because other owners have been approved by the board.</p>
<p>Condos are priced 15% higher than Coops. On Streeteasy you could see average cost per square foot for both buying and renting. I did a comparison between buy/rent on after tax basis, and for us buy is still better. The market pretty much bottomed out in 2008, it hasn´t gone up much since then. Good units, which are priced well, are moving fast. My brother is also in the market to buy a condo to rent out. </p>
<p>For 850K, you could get a 1 bedroom condo with 850 sq ft (1000/sq ft), and around 1500 maintenance/tax. Assuming you finance 100% for calculation purpose(if you put 20% down, it would be opportunity lost for the downpayment), at 4% interest, your total before tax payment would be 5400, and after tax would be 3500. That same apartment could go for 4500 in the rental market.</p>
<p>Many condos in NYC do ask for buyer/renter´s financial.</p>
<p>Incidentally, there are some HOAs in Californina only allow X% of units be rented out and the length of rental could be limited. </p>
<p>The worst in my finding is a Single Family House in an Adult community which I was looking at recently. After contacting HOA, I found out:</p>
<ol>
<li>The renters must meet 55 years old requirement for the community. It is an adult community.</li>
<li>Only 4 homes can be rented concurrently, out of about 80.</li>
<li>Home can be rented for one year only without renewals.</li>
<li> Renters must be approved by the board. No interview, nevertheless.</li>
</ol>
<p>I lost interests with those restrictions in place.</p>
<p>Oldfort…</p>
<p>Amazimg that you can get positive cash flow in Manhattan by buying a place and renting it out.</p>
<p>oldfort, what area are you finding condos for $1K per sq.ft?
I am looking at streeteasy’s Manhattan condo snapshot and everything is over $1K per sq. ft.</p>
<p>My brother was looking around W 12th St, around old St. Vincent. There are some new condos going around that area. He was looking at one of the older buildings.</p>
<p>Another area to look into is around 63rd to upper east side where the second ave subway is going in. The prices are lower because of the construction, but once that’s all done the prices will go up.</p>
<p>If you are looking for your son, he probably wants to be around Chelsea, Gramcey, Soho area, and those places are very hot and expensive.</p>
<p>Not all coops are bad, a lot of them do allow subletting, low down payment. A friend of mine owned a three bedroom on upper east side, he rented it out for 10+ years, and only moved in few years ago.</p>
<p>Oldfort…can you really get a positive cash flow by buying a place and renting it out? Especially the area around NYU?</p>
<p>I am looking to buy/live. For every apartment my brother looked at, he did an extensive analysis on return on investment, and it is around 3-5%, using conservative assumptions. It is expensive around NYU, a very desirable area for young professionals. Another place is around Lincoln Center.</p>
<p>Ok…oldfort…thanks.</p>
<p>I guess I just don’t get it! :eek: That money could buy a lovely condo or house here, with $500,000+ dollars left over.</p>
<p>Yeah, but would I be able to work there? :)</p>
<p>I happen to think vinyl siding can look very good and avoids huge amounts of maintenance. DH thinks vinyl siding is a lower-class thing to do to a house. Consequently, as we browse houses to replace our current house (that’s not yet even on the market), we differ on what we like.</p>
<p>Opinions? Conventional wisdom?</p>
<p>I agree with your husband…</p>
<p>Agree, not a fan of vinyl siding</p>