The New York Co-op Bible: Everything You Need to Know About Co-ops and Condos: Getting In, Staying In, Surviving, Thriving : Book

This Paperback Book item from St. Martin´s Griffin was reviewed on 25-Oct-2008.

1) Paperback Book The New York Co-op Bible: Everything You Need to Know About Co-ops and Condos: Getting In, Staying In, Surviving, Thriving by St. Martin´s Griffin. As the owner of a real estate company in Manhattan and an attorney, I recommend this book as a superb guide to understanding the residential cooperative market.¤

2) Paperback Book The New York Co-op Bible: Everything You Need to Know About Co-ops and Condos: Getting In, Staying In, Surviving, Thriving by St. Martin´s Griffin. This book has a lot of great details on how to think about buying (and living in) a co-op in New York City. 2 caveats come to mind:

1) Book is much more suited for you if you´re buying in Manhattan. Many of the co-ops in Brooklyn I researched didn´t quite match what I expected based on this book.
2) Though condos are mentioned in the title, the book is really more about co-ops... look elsewhere for details on buying a condo.¤

3) Paperback Book The New York Co-op Bible: Everything You Need to Know About Co-ops and Condos: Getting In, Staying In, Surviving, Thriving by St. Martin´s Griffin. Pros of co-op ownership:
You can actually afford to own something.
You can have a tax write off like normal people.

Cons of co-op ownership:
Everything else.

Enter The New York Co-op Bible. I had it, read it, lost it am now purchasing a second copy after looking high and low for the first one I bought. That should tell you something.

I own a co-op in Metro New York. My managing agent is a jerk, to put it mildly. He blames the board, the board blames him - It´s this game they play and it successfully achieves getting nothing done. The super does nothing unless you hold a $20 bill in your hand when you ask. My maintenance is very high for my area. I estimate that it is about 30% higher than comparable properties near me.

This unit has a ground floor patio. I have access to about 30 feet of flower bedding (sans flowers) that lines the front of my unit. This is the primary reason that I bought this place 6 years ago. I am all alone here, from the rural South and I wanted a place to call my own and I needed greenery. And I was really eyeing up those beds and my neighbor´s "yard" work which was just beautiful - and still is.

I can´t plant anything because of excessive drainage - all the dirt washes into the sidewalk. I have been asking for the split gutter to be repaired (all 30 feet of it) for 6 years.

So - I bought this book. Now - this is the most important thing I learned . . .all this strife between me, the board and the management agent falls under Landlord-Tenant law. This made me feel immensely better. Landlord-Tenant law in the state of New York is normally something the courts don´t play around with. Maybe I will have one stinking petunia this year.

The book gets 5 stars because it is very good, COMPREHENSIVE and it is the only single source of this much information on this subject that is available. This woman has really performed a public service by writing this book. Everyone, and I mean, EVERYONE who is considering the purchase of an apartment, has already purchased or is trying to sell needs to read this book. You need to know what the author is trying to convey to maintain your financial health and your mental health and possibly avoid a life sentence. :-)

It can be very diappointing, very stressful and you could find yourself feeling helpless and at the mercy of someone else. To get away from that is why you want to buy in the first place. As in everything else in life, average people who have been given authority like to excercise that authority, even if it does make the owner/tenants feel like crap. And then you might get lucky and get a managing agent like mine who is sadistic and has actually brought several of our elderly residents to tears. Nice guy.

By the way, no seller is legally obligated to tell you that the board are boobs and that the managing agent is a cretin. Do your homework, do your homework, do your homework.

So read Ms. Shapiro´s book and BELIEVE what she is saying because it is the truth.

To be forwarned is to be forearmed. And being a shareholder of a coop can be war.

Good luck.

PS - If you need more immediate help, please call your local office of the Attorney General of New York. They publish and will provide additional information regarding your rights under New York State law.¤

4) Paperback Book The New York Co-op Bible: Everything You Need to Know About Co-ops and Condos: Getting In, Staying In, Surviving, Thriving by St. Martin´s Griffin.

A user-friendly guide to the art of living in a co-op and condo

Sylvia Shapiro, a lawyer and board president of a major Manhattan apartment building, has written what will become required reading for anyone buying or selling an apartment, or curious about entering the fray of the co-op and condo market. Shapiro answers all the questions apartment dwellers are afraid of asking the board, broker, lawyer, or accountant-and she does so without talking down or a steep hourly fee. Included are such topics as: Is the building right for you? How can you make the approval process go as smoothly as possible? What should you do if the board rejects you? And what if you get in? Can you keep your dog? How much power does the board really have?

Having lived in her building for more than a decade in blissful ignorance of how it was run, Shapiro awoke one morning to discover that her building was going co-op, and she intended to buy. Intent on protecting her investment, she took on the mantle of board president and set about figuring out how the system worked. Seven years and many trials by fire later, Shapiro presents her hard-earned knowledge in this neat little tome. Apartment dwellers will come to swear by it.

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 22-Nov-2008, 03123407539780312340759, 550-530-2X0-530-440-5X1-8

The New York Co-op Bible: Everything You Need to Know About Co-ops and Condos: Getting In, Staying In, Surviving, Thriving, Book, Image © St. Martin´s Griffin

The New York Co-op Bible: Everything You Need to Know About Co-ops and Condos: Getting In, Staying In, Surviving, Thriving

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