NYC co-op: To sell or not to sell

NYC co-op: To sell or not to sell

Member since 2024 · 3 posts · 2 votes

Hi everyone! I’m seeking advice from any investors who have dealt with the pain of owning a co-op in NYC. I bought my co-op in the Concourse area of the Bronx in 2019. The area was showing so many of those signs we’ve seen time and time again that a neighborhood will one of those you wish you invested in on the ground floor.
I lived there for three years and I’m now coming up on my second year of renting it out. My building has the 2 out of every 5 year rental rule. I realllllly don’t want to sell because I don’t think it has had enough time to appreciate, but I also don’t want to waste thousands of dollars every year in the likely event that my co-op board will not allow me to keep renting out my place. Also, the maintenance has gone up so much I’m down to only $89 cashflow each month.  Here are the facts/numbers:

2019 purchase price: $212,000

Outstanding loan: $153,000

Co-op: 1bed, 1bath, 774sq ft. Renovated kitchen and bath. All the pre-war charm. 

Has anyone been able to get around the subletting restrictions?


Should I have a family member live there at a loss each month? (Maybe - $500)

Would I be better off selling and investing the funds elsewhere? 

Hold?

Any advice is appreciated! Thank you! 

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Developer · NY · Member since 2021 · 131 posts · 106 votes
2y

@Ashley Payne great post.  Coops can be difficult and I understand what you mean when you talk about the appreciation, as I bought a condo in Mott Haven and appreciation has been slower than I hoped (thanks Covid).  Could you claim a hardship to get the coop board to allow you to rent for longer than the 2 years?  Otherwise, I assume you are seeing about 5-7% appreciation annually, so if you can sell and beat that return elsewhere, then it makes sense IMO.

How much do you anticipate your rental would go for?  Knowing the area, I think you should be north of $2,200.  

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  • Developer · NY · Member since 2021 · 131 posts · 106 votes
    2y

    @Ashley Payne great post.  Coops can be difficult and I understand what you mean when you talk about the appreciation, as I bought a condo in Mott Haven and appreciation has been slower than I hoped (thanks Covid).  Could you claim a hardship to get the coop board to allow you to rent for longer than the 2 years?  Otherwise, I assume you are seeing about 5-7% appreciation annually, so if you can sell and beat that return elsewhere, then it makes sense IMO.

    How much do you anticipate your rental would go for?  Knowing the area, I think you should be north of $2,200.  

  • Abel CurielBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Queens, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    2y

    Hello @Ashley Payne,

    Welcome to the BP forums!

    It seems you'll need rent growth to outpace maintenance significantly for the apartment to cashflow.

    As far as appreciation, did you have a goal in mind? For example, are you looking for median or avg. prices to reach the $300,000 mark?

    As it stands now, 1 bedroom co-op apartments in the area have an average sale price of $242,800 and a median sale price of $230,000.
    ** Excluding sub $100K units from Jerome Ave., Plimpton Ave., and Anderson Ave.

    Assuming your unit's value is consistent with the average unit sale, you'd have a roughly $90,000 gross profit. 

    Subtract sale expenses (attorney fee, broker commission, flip tax, etc.), you could hypothetically net around $70-75,000.

    Re-investing the $70-75K upstate (i.e. Albany, Syracuse, Utica, etc) or out of state will likely net you more than $89/month in cashflow. 

    There are more factors to consider here but from a surface level, it seems your $ will go further in another market or perhaps locally with a different property type (i.e. small multifamily).

    Lastly, I like @Andrew Jennings Freerks' point regarding claiming hardship or another workaround for keeping your unit as a rental. From my experience, many owners in co-ops with similar rules are able to get around the rental restrictions.
    One of our handymen is a porter at another co-op with similar guidelines and he reports that the majority of unit owners find ways to keep their apartments rented long-term vs. moving back in.

    All the best!

    Abel

    REbuild Team - eXp Realty5234 Reviews
  • Real Estate Broker · New York, NY · Member since 2020 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    2y

    Hey @Ashley Payne - I think the question of whether or not to sell really depends on what you're trying to accomplish. 

    Do you have a sense of what you would do with the money after you sell (potentially)? 

  • Member since 2024 · 3 posts · 2 votes
    2y

    @Mohammed Rahman thanks for the response. If I were to sell, I’d likely purchase an investment property that would yield a higher cashflow. As much as I don’t want to let go of a property in NYC, I think I’d have to look elsewhere. 

  • Member since 2024 · 3 posts · 2 votes
    2y

    @Andrew Jennings Freerks you’re right on the nose regarding the rental price. Sounds like you know the area quite well so you probably understand how I don’t want to end up looking back in a few years  and wish I held on longer.

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