Buyong a co-op

I know that you have to go before the board so that they could approve you. I heard this at work and not sure if its true...when you want to do approvements, do you have to get the boards approval. I thought since its yours you could make whatever approvements you want. Will they ask who your friends are that will be visiting.

Any help will be appreciated

Re: Buyong a co-op

It depends on what you are doing... basically, if you are changing anything major you will need approval, like gutting a bathroom/kitchen, knocking down a wall, etc... and you will need a licensed/insured contractor. Minor things where you aren't changing anything that is attached to a wall, you can do on your own. They certainly should not ask who is visiting you.
That is how it was with my co-op board.

Re: Buyong a co-op

when you buy a co-op, you are not buying the actual property, but buying shares of the cooperative corporation....which means that if you want to change the sturcture of the apartment you need approval from the board. but if you want to paint the walls a different color - that's up to you.

as for the interviewing process....they just want to make sure that you can afford to live there, that you have a solid job with a solid income. the members of the board are people who live in the co-op communitywho have been elected by the community to represent the co-ops. they are protecting their investment by checking on the people who come into the community, for themselves, as well as everyone else who elected them.

i live in a co-op and i like that they interview people. i know that when we were interviewing, there were people who were turned down because of their interview...so i was grateful that my investment was being protected!

Re: Buyong a co-op

I know that with our previous co-op, we could make no structural changes whatsoever. They also gave us a list of "rules" that go along with living there. SOme co-ops are more strict than others when it comes to these kind of things and getting approved. When we were looking at buying another co-op, they wanted a MUCH higher application fee and were way more stricter with their rules and such.

Re: Buyong a co-op

thanks everyone. this is very helpful

Re: Buyong a co-op

My brother just sat in front of a co-op board the other night. He was wondering the same thing. I think it's only if you change something structural like knock down a wall or something. I don't think you need to get permission to carpet, finish floors and get new kitchen cabinets or something like that.