What to ask for from prospective coop owner?

brooklynjack · July 2009

Subject: Re: What to ask for from prospective coop owner?

LongTimeSloper wrote: We have done this a million times, but, I jsut want to make sure I am not missing anything. We have a meeting in a few weeks with a prospective owner and I am sending a list of documents we require, am I missing anything?

LongTimeSloper wrote: -Government ID with his name and date of birth

Never hear of anyone asking for this, but OK

LongTimeSloper wrote: -6 months pay stubs

I think the 2 most recent is adiquate

LongTimeSloper wrote: -letter from employer confirming employment, pay scale and guarantee of future employment

You can ask and might get a confirmation of for employment. A smaller company might give you pay but you have the pay stubs. Guarantee of future employment? Not unless they have an employment contract.

LongTimeSloper wrote: -6 months rent receipts from present apartment or, mortgage receipts/canceled checks if he owns now

I've never seen that on an application

LongTimeSloper wrote: -letter from present landlord confirming what sort of tenant he has been, etc.

If ownes a ccop or condo a letter from the treasurer

LongTimeSloper wrote: -3 letters of personal recommendation (these can be from friends or relatives, preferably one from a neighbor attesting to what type of neighbor he has been)

Fine

You are putting the cart before the horse. First they fill in the application then if you like that you set up the interview.

There is lots of stuff you need

Fully executed contract of sale
Credit report or Permission to run one
Financial records: checking, savings, and brokerage accounts. I don't care much retirement accounts as mostly aren't liquid.

You say they are paying cash, IF they weren't I'd want to see a loan commitment letter from the lender

Then I'd go through the financial records to see where the money is coming from and in this case how long it has been there. IF it is a gift from a parent you want a letter. IF it is coming from the sale of an apt you want to see the contract of sale from that and mortgage payoff from the lender.

So the biggest concern before interviewing is figuring out

If and how they can afford the place
Do they pay on time

If you have questions about anything ask for clarification before the interview and get it in writing, don't wait to try and go over this in the interview. The interview is about chemistry since it is a small building. In a big building it is for the most part almost a formality

If you look at this coop's website:

http://www.thepinehurst.org/Residents.html

part way down you can download their application and coversheet to look at.
Feel free to PM me

BTW I am on the board of my ccop and used to work in property managment

booklaw · July 2009

As for the all cash purchase, he may have just sold a more expensive place in Manhattan or Brooklyn Heights, or received his annual bonus from Goldman Sachs.

FWIW, we are planning to sell our brownstone in a few years, move someplace far away and far cheaper, and buy a house that costs at least as much the apartment in your building, without a mortgage (we'll be retired or retiring, and a mortgage would be most inconvenient!).

And we are neither bank robbers nor international terrorists...

longtimesloper · July 2009

Flexichick wrote: LTS - I ran one of those $40 background checks on the LL's asshole son and found out he had a long arrest record (no surprises there). I kept that info in my back pocket in case things ever got too ugly

That's a riot!! What info did you need to do that? Just his name? LOL

longtimesloper · July 2009

Subject: Re: What to ask for from prospective coop owner?

BrooklynJack wrote: [quote=LongTimeSloper]We have done this a million times, but, I jsut want to make sure I am not missing anything. We have a meeting in a few weeks with a prospective owner and I am sending a list of documents we require, am I missing anything?

LongTimeSloper wrote: -Government ID with his name and date of birth

Never hear of anyone asking for this, but OK

LongTimeSloper wrote: -6 months pay stubs

I think the 2 most recent is adiquate

LongTimeSloper wrote: -letter from employer confirming employment, pay scale and guarantee of future employment

You can ask and might get a confirmation of for employment. A smaller company might give you pay but you have the pay stubs. Guarantee of future employment? Not unless they have an employment contract.

LongTimeSloper wrote: -6 months rent receipts from present apartment or, mortgage receipts/canceled checks if he owns now

I've never seen that on an application

LongTimeSloper wrote: -letter from present landlord confirming what sort of tenant he has been, etc.

If ownes a ccop or condo a letter from the treasurer

LongTimeSloper wrote: -3 letters of personal recommendation (these can be from friends or relatives, preferably one from a neighbor attesting to what type of neighbor he has been)

Fine

You are putting the cart before the horse. First they fill in the application then if you like that you set up the interview.

There is lots of stuff you need

Fully executed contract of sale
Credit report or Permission to run one
Financial records: checking, savings, and brokerage accounts. I don't care much retirement accounts as mostly aren't liquid.

You say they are paying cash, IF they weren't I'd want to see a loan commitment letter from the lender

Then I'd go through the financial records to see where the money is coming from and in this case how long it has been there. IF it is a gift from a parent you want a letter. IF it is coming from the sale of an apt you want to see the contract of sale from that and mortgage payoff from the lender.

So the biggest concern before interviewing is figuring out

If and how they can afford the place
Do they pay on time

If you have questions about anything ask for clarification before the interview and get it in writing, don't wait to try and go over this in the interview. The interview is about chemistry since it is a small building. In a big building it is for the most part almost a formality

If you look at this coop's website:

http://www.thepinehurst.org/Residents.html

part way down you can download their application and coversheet to look at.
Feel free to PM me

BTW I am on the board of my ccop and used to work in property managment

Thanks for all the info! We don't have an application or do one, as I said, we are a pretty small coop and pretty informal. But, you have some good suggestions, I forgot about asking for a letter from his coop treasurer if he owns a coop now and I like the idea about asking and seeing where the money came from and how long it has been around, thank you very much!

longtimesloper · July 2009

booklaw wrote: As for the all cash purchase, he may have just sold a more expensive place in Manhattan or Brooklyn Heights, or received his annual bonus from Goldman Sachs.

FWIW, we are planning to sell our brownstone in a few years, move someplace far away and far cheaper, and buy a house that costs at least as much the apartment in your building, without a mortgage (we'll be retired or retiring, and a mortgage would be most inconvenient!).

And we are neither bank robbers nor international terrorists...

That all makes sense booklaw, I have friends who sold in NYC and moved down to NC and paid cash for their place down there since things were so much cheaper in that area. So, yes, that might be the case with him, my downstairs neighbor is just very paranoid

brooklynjack · July 2009

Subject: Re: What to ask for from prospective coop owner?

LongTimeSloper wrote:

We don't have an application or do one, as I said, we are a pretty small coop and pretty informal.

I would say you do, it may not be in writing or formalized but by asking for this documentation I think that is an application. An application can be as simple as name and address and a checklist of documents required and a signature that they received and read the house rules. you might want to ask who is going to live there, there relationship to purchaser (i.g. kids), do they have pets, type and size

Sign that they understand that they will have to do a shift taking garbage out, now you've got that in writing if they refuse or say they didn't know, though if that is the case then you might consider putting that in the proprietary lease

It is precisely that your are a small coop that you need an application because you can't afford to make a mistake and you want to CWY if you do. Just because you are running a small business doesn't mean you should run it loosy goosy. As a board member you have a fiduciary responsibility to the coop corporation If they agree to a share of the chores you want that in writing before they even go to closing, you don't want a nod and a handshake, you don't want this to blow up and closing adn you want everything up front before the interview.

Believe me I know the urge to run things informally, you want to promote collegiality, but even small businesses work better with some structure

Again, take a look at what other coops do and adopt and change what makes since for you and your building

ian · July 2009

LongTimeSloper wrote: [quote=Flexichick]LTS - I ran one of those $40 background checks on the LL's asshole son and found out he had a long arrest record (no surprises there). I kept that info in my back pocket in case things ever got too ugly

That's a riot!! What info did you need to do that? Just his name? LOL

I had name, year of birth and current address. There were some matches that were not him, but I knew what state he lived in previously, and the records were an obvious match - plus it comes back with a basic description and I was able to eliminate the matches for black people as he was white. Made it very easy to figure out

brooklynjack · July 2009

Oh and they should sign a permission to run credit and background reports. Did I say that?

longtimesloper · July 2009

^^Thanks Brooklynjack. We have never had anyone sign off on agreeing to do certain coop jobs. We always assign certain jobs to various people in the building solely on verbal agreement and have never had any problems.
But, you never know, it doesn't hurt to have it in writing.

carmen · July 2009

In most states you dont need a signature to run a background check. You *should* not be able to access credit reports without special clearance, I would recommend asking he or she to bring one to avoid the hassle.

Almost all criminal background checks are public record. Signatures are requires only if youre using these checks as a deciding factor (employment, residency, etc.)

brooklynjack · July 2009

Try renting Pacific Heights with Melanie Griffith and Michael Keaton

Netflix wrote: Young couple Patty and Drake (Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine) buy their dream house in San Francisco and rent out the ground floor apartment to Carter Hayes, who seems to be an ideal tenant -- until he stops paying rent, refuses to leave and barricades himself in the apartment. Michael Keaton, in a performance of creepy intensity, plays the sociopathic Carter in this tense nail-biter

veets · July 2009

Pacific heights is the movie that will convince you never to be the Landlord.

drunken revival · July 2009

If you really gave a shit about this persons background then there are ways to find out about it. It sure as hell isn't by asking on this board.

For $2,500 you can find out exactly what you might not want to know. Or, perhaps the person has the excess cash and knows the value of a dollar, that your place is cheap and concrete in a good hood is priceless.

longtimesloper · July 2009

Why in the world would a coop board spend $2500 to find out information on anyone?

brooklynjack · July 2009

LongTimeSloper wrote: Why in the world would a coop board spend $2500 to find out information on anyone?

They wouldn't the applicant would pay the fee like the should for the credit report. But that is a bit accesive even to me

BTW your coops isn't anything out of pocket for this are you? Most coop charge a fee $200-$250 + credit check fee + make the applicant make all the copies for each person reviewing the applicant. And of course that is why you have an application to say all that. You sould be zero moneyout of pocket for this.

longtimesloper · July 2009

Interviewing prospective tenants has never cost us as much as a dime before (and we don't charge to do this either). But, thanks for asking!

jmd · August 2009

last two years tax returns, 12 months of rent checks last three pay stubs, copy of mortgage commitment and lien search and credit check from bank

Coop fee should range about 250-500 depending if you are doing a back ground check ( full check including criminal )

Person who is making the calls to make sure the paperwork is legit usually gets compensated. or at leaset the coop does.

If job is less than 1 year old maker sure you ask for reference from job before that

ask all proposed occupants over the age of 12 to come to the meeting and all adults should have references not just the one named on the pruchase.

raw · August 2009

shell out the dough for credit and crime reports.

jmd · August 2009

If the board doesnt do its due diligence and something happens
( purchaser has a recent bankruptcy or is out on parole for child molestation), the Baord will be at fault and liable for law suit.

BTW the checks are done aftet the buyer and seller have signed a contract and if the buyer refuses to cooperate with teh Board then the buyer can lose his/her down payment.

longtimesloper · August 2009

^^Correct!
As for it being a buyer's market and no buyer is going to gather all that paperwork (which i can't imagine anyone telling their prospective neighbors no in this case), then they won't get approved to move in and will lose the apartment.

raw · August 2009

shell out the dough for credit and crime reports.

it's a buyer's market and people aren't going to waste their time gathering all that easy-to-fake extra paperwork -- all those personal letters from employers, landlords, etc. -- for you.

longtimesloper · August 2009

As I said above Raw, if they refuse to bring what we ask (and we have always asked for these things and gotten them), or, if the letters are fake, then they will not get approved for the apartment, no skin off my nose

What to ask for from prospective coop owner?

Comments

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories