Selling a Co-op on Long Island or in Queens
Selling a co-op is not only about finding someone who wants the apartment. The buyer also has to satisfy the cooperative’s financial and application requirements. I help sellers prepare for both parts of the transaction.
The marketing is similar. The qualification is not.
When I market a co-op, my goal is the same as when I market a house: present it properly, bring as many legitimate buyers through as I can within a short period of time and let those buyers see the actual demand for the property. The difference is what has to happen before the seller accepts an offer.
Every co-op has its own requirements for who can purchase there. Depending on the building, those requirements may involve documented income, a maximum debt-to-income ratio, credit, a minimum down payment and funds remaining after closing. A mortgage preapproval does not automatically satisfy those rules, and an all-cash offer does not automatically make someone eligible.
That is why I want the building information before we list, why I begin with comparable sales from the same building or development, and why I evaluate more than the amount of the offer. I cannot guarantee board approval, but I can help the seller avoid entering a contract with a purchaser whose documented finances do not appear to meet the building’s stated requirements.
I want the building information before I market the apartment.
Once the listing agreement is signed, one of the first things I do is start collecting the co-op documents. I need to understand what I am working with before we market the apartment and especially before I advise the seller to accept an offer.
Every cooperative has its own requirements for who can purchase there. Depending on the building, those requirements may include minimum documented income, a maximum debt-to-income ratio, a minimum credit score, a minimum down payment or a certain amount of money remaining after closing. If we do not know the requirements, we can spend time attracting and negotiating with purchasers whose documented finances do not appear to satisfy the building’s rules.
When the seller does not have the documents
When the seller does not have these documents, we have to request them. I normally ask the seller to contact management directly because the seller is the shareholder. Some management companies will cooperate with a Realtor. Others will respond only to the shareholder, and some do not respond to an agent at all. In my experience, the shareholder will usually get a faster response.
I generally do not want to activate a co-op listing until I at least understand the current purchase requirements. If the seller remembers the requirements from when they purchased, we can begin preparing the apartment and gathering the rest of the information. Before the seller accepts an offer, however, I want the current written requirements and available documents so we can compare the purchaser’s information with what the building actually requires.
A maintenance statement may not explain every charge
I normally obtain a recent maintenance statement from the shareholder so I can verify the current monthly charge and disclose a separately listed assessment if one appears. The statement does not always provide an itemized explanation of everything included in the payment.
If annual financial statements or other building information are available, I provide those as well. Those records may explain the cooperative’s overall income and expenses, but they do not necessarily show exactly how an individual shareholder’s monthly payment is allocated. I give prospective purchasers as much information as I can obtain and clearly identify what I have not been able to verify instead of guessing.
Locate the stock certificate and proprietary lease.
At the beginning of the process, I ask the seller to locate the original stock certificate and proprietary lease. The seller can look for them while we prepare and market the apartment, but the seller’s attorney will need the documents as the transaction moves forward. If the stock certificate has been lost, the seller will need to contact management and follow the cooperative’s replacement process. That normally involves additional paperwork and a fee, and the exact requirements depend on the cooperative. Addressing it early helps prevent a missing document from delaying the transaction later.
The building usually gives us the best pricing evidence.
One of the advantages of pricing a co-op is that I can usually find a recent sale in the same building or development. I normally begin with units that sold during the previous three to six months and compare the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, approximate square footage, layout, condition, photographs and final sale price.
If there are not enough useful sales within the building or development, I expand the search to other co-ops in the surrounding area. At that point, the comparison requires more judgment because the buildings may have different maintenance charges, assessments, amenities, purchase requirements or costs when the shareholder eventually sells.
Similar apartments may have similar maintenance, but I do not assume they are identical.
Co-op maintenance is commonly connected to the number of shares assigned to an apartment. Similar units within the same cooperative often have similar monthly charges, but the number of shares and the maintenance are not necessarily based on square footage alone. The layout, location within the building, exposure and other factors may create differences between units.
When I have recent sales from the same cooperative, those transactions already reflect much of that building’s cost structure and the way buyers reacted to it. Maintenance becomes a more important comparison when I have to use sales from a different building, especially if one property has a substantially different monthly payment, an assessment or a significant transfer fee.
I can show a purchaser the current maintenance statement and any other information I have been able to verify. I cannot promise what the maintenance will be next year or whether a future assessment will be imposed. Those decisions depend on the cooperative’s finances, expenses and board.
What Windsor Oaks and Bell Park Gardens taught me about low maintenance.
I have completed six transactions across five apartments at Windsor Oaks, representing either the buyer or the seller depending on the transaction. Early in my career, I regularly worked with purchasers who were comparing Windsor Oaks with nearby Bell Park Gardens.
Bell Park Gardens often attracted attention because its monthly maintenance was lower. At the time, however, Bell Park Gardens had a 20% flip tax based on the price paid for the apartment when it was sold—not merely 20% of the seller’s profit. Windsor Oaks did not have that charge at the time.
Many of the buyers I worked with were new to the area. Once they understood the potential cost of selling at Bell Park Gardens, they preferred Windsor Oaks even though its monthly maintenance was higher. In my experience, that difference affected both buyer demand and the prices purchasers were willing to pay.
Bell Park Gardens later acknowledged the same problem in its own shareholder communications. Its board wrote that the high flip tax depressed apartment values, limited mortgage options and caused some shareholders to delay selling. The cooperative reduced the flip tax from 20% to 5% over several years and increased maintenance as it moved away from depending so heavily on sales for operating revenue.
“A lower monthly payment does not automatically mean the apartment offers the better financial value.”
This is a historical example from my work with buyers in these developments. Bell Park Gardens’ April 2020 bulletin stated that its flip tax had been reduced from 20% to 5% over the preceding three years. Anyone selling or purchasing in either cooperative should confirm the current charges and rules directly through management and the appropriate attorney.
Renovating only makes sense if the numbers support it.
I do not tell every co-op seller to renovate. The decision begins with the comparable sales. I want to see what apartments in the same building or development have sold for in their current condition and what fully renovated units have sold for.
From there, we can compare the apartment’s likely as-is value with the cost, time and possible benefit of doing the work. Sometimes the price difference supports a renovation. Sometimes the better decision is to clean, declutter, make a few practical improvements and sell the apartment in its current condition. The seller’s available money, timing and willingness to deal with construction are part of the decision too.
A $35,000 renovation changed the buyer response.
I listed a one-bedroom co-op at 37-51 86th Street, Unit 1L in Jackson Heights. When the apartment first came to me, it was in very poor condition. The kitchen was essentially unusable, and the offers were coming in around $200,000. Buyers were not willing to come close to the seller’s expectations while the apartment remained in that condition.
The apartment was marketed through more than one listing period. After the market made it clear that continuing with the same approach was not working, I convinced the seller to reconsider the condition of the apartment. He later confirmed that he invested approximately $35,000 in a renovation that included a new kitchen, bathroom, floors and paint.
When we brought the renovated apartment back to market for the successful final listing, we priced it at $257,000. It sold for $267,000—$10,000 over asking—with 20 days on market reported by OneKey MLS for that listing.
The difference between the earlier offers and the final sale price was approximately $67,000. That is not the same as saying the seller made $67,000 in profit. The renovation expense, carrying costs, closing expenses, market timing and other factors still have to be considered. The lesson is that the buyer response gave us evidence that the original condition was preventing the apartment from reaching its potential.
Initial buyer response
Offers around $200,000
Seller’s renovation
Approximately $35,000
Successful final listing
Listed at $257,000 · Sold at $267,000
OneKey MLS reported 20 days on market for the successful final listing. Earlier marketing periods are not included in that 20-day figure. This is one completed transaction, not a promise that another renovation will produce the same result.
View the public MLS-distributed sale recordThe highest offer is not useful if the buyer cannot qualify.
The showing strategy is similar to selling a house.
Once the apartment is ready, my marketing objective is the same as it would be for a house. I want the photographs, price, launch date and showing schedule working together. I concentrate the initial activity into a short period when possible so legitimate buyers can see the actual level of demand for the property.
That does not mean manufacturing competition or pressuring someone with a situation that does not exist. It means making the apartment easy to see, following up with the interested purchasers and allowing the market response to become part of the negotiation.
A co-op offer requires another layer of information.
Purchasers submit the same basic offer information I request on other properties. For a co-op, however, I also need enough supporting information to compare the purchaser’s documented financial circumstances with the building’s stated requirements.
What I request depends on the cooperative. It may include tax returns, income documentation, a CPA letter for a self-employed purchaser, proof of funds, credit information, the proposed down payment and evidence of the funds expected to remain after closing.
The purchaser supplies or authorizes the release of any private credit or financial information. A mortgage lender does not simply give me a purchaser’s credit report. If the buyer has an agent, I request the appropriate supporting information through that agent.
Cash does not override the cooperative’s requirements.
A cash offer removes the mortgage contingency, but it does not automatically make the purchaser eligible for the cooperative. If the building requires a certain level of documented annual income, credit or post-closing liquidity, a cash purchaser may still have to satisfy those standards.
I have met cash purchasers who had enough money to buy an apartment outright but whose tax returns showed too little qualifying income after deductions. They may have owned a business, had substantial assets or generated meaningful revenue, but the documentation did not appear to meet the cooperative’s stated income requirement. In that situation, the amount of the offer did not solve the qualification problem.
An offer could not be evaluated on price alone.
During the period when I was regularly working with purchasers at Windsor Oaks, the published income requirement I encountered was $50,000 in annual income for one purchaser and $75,000 in combined annual income for two purchasers. I had to turn away cash offers when the purchasers’ documentation did not appear to meet those requirements. They could have offered far more than the apartment was worth and it still would not have created a realistic path through the cooperative’s financial review.
Windsor Oaks also maintained a minimum contract price that the cooperative would permit for its apartments at that time. I checked with the board regularly because that minimum could change. In some transactions, when permitted by the buyer’s financing and actual closing expenses, the agreement used a fully disclosed seller concession of approximately 5% or 6% toward allowable purchaser closing costs while still meeting the cooperative’s minimum contract price.
The concession was not hidden from the attorneys, lender, appraiser or cooperative. It had to be written into the transaction and approved by the parties responsible for reviewing it. The amount a lender permits depends on the financing, the purchaser’s actual costs and the applicable requirements. This is a historical example of an unusual cooperative policy—not a recommendation to structure another transaction the same way.
Co-op requirements and policies can change. The Windsor Oaks income figures and minimum-price practice described above are historical requirements Andrew encountered during earlier transactions. A current purchaser or seller should obtain the cooperative’s current written requirements rather than relying on an older listing or prior transaction.
View a historical Windsor Oaks listing showing the $50,000 and $75,000 annual income requirementsThe timeline depends on the cooperative.
Once the seller accepts an offer, the attorneys begin their work and the purchaser’s attorney reviews the available cooperative documents before the contract is signed. After contract, the purchaser still has to complete the building’s application process and, when financing is involved, continue working through the lender’s requirements.
Every cooperative handles that process differently. The application, management review, board schedule, interview and approval can move only as quickly as that particular building allows.
A general co-op sale sequence
The order and timing can vary, but this is the general path I expect the transaction to follow.
Offer accepted
The seller selects an offer after reviewing the price, terms and the purchaser’s supporting financial information.
Attorney review and contract
The available cooperative documents are provided for attorney review, the contract terms are negotiated and the parties sign.
Application assembled
The purchaser completes the cooperative’s application and gathers the financial statements, reference letters and other required documents.
Management and board review
Management checks the package and forwards a complete application according to the cooperative’s process.
Interview and decision
The purchaser attends the interview if one is required. The board makes its own decision, which I cannot predict or guarantee.
Final conditions and closing
After approval, the approval letter is provided to the appropriate parties. If the purchase is financed, the lender completes its remaining conditions before the closing is scheduled.
Who handles the purchaser’s application?
That depends on whether the purchaser has an agent. If the purchaser is represented, their agent works with them on the application and the documents the building requires. I check in periodically, provide information from the seller’s side and find out whether anything is needed from me.
If the purchaser does not have an agent, I have sometimes been much more hands-on. I can review the checklist with them, help them understand what a section is requesting and help organize the documents. I do not interpret the contract, offering plan or financial statements for the purchaser, and I do not replace the purchaser’s attorney, lender or accountant.
The lender may evaluate the building as well as the purchaser.
A mortgage preapproval evaluates the purchaser. It does not automatically mean that the lender has approved the cooperative. I have encountered buyers whose loan officers checked the specific building before contract and advised them that their bank would not lend there.
I have not personally had one of my co-op transactions fall apart under contract because a lender rejected the building, but the possibility is one more reason for a financed purchaser to tell the lender exactly where they plan to buy as early as possible. One bank declining a building also does not necessarily mean that every lender will reach the same conclusion.
Why I want the financial information before contract.
Early in my career, I represented purchasers who repeatedly declined to provide their tax returns before making an offer. I requested the documents, but I was still relatively new and proceeded with the offer at my clients’ direction. The listing side also allowed the transaction to move forward without requiring that financial information.
The purchasers eventually completed the application and attended the board interview. They later told me that the board had rejected them. No reason was provided to me, so I cannot say that their income or tax returns caused the rejection.
The experience changed the way I approach a co-op offer when I represent the seller. I advise the seller not to proceed without enough documentation to compare the purchaser’s financial profile with the cooperative’s stated requirements. I have not had a purchaser rejected by the board in a co-op transaction where I represented the seller.
Financial screening cannot guarantee board approval. It can reduce the chance that an obvious or preventable mismatch consumes months of the seller’s time.
Explaining something is not the same as being understood.
In another Jackson Heights co-op transaction, the purchasers were a mother and son from Nepal. They purchased the apartment together, and the mother was going to live there. The purchasers did not have their own real-estate agent, and English was difficult for the mother. Her son helped translate, but some of the application and lending terminology was still difficult for both of them.
I sat down with them and worked through the co-op application question by question. I used Google Translate when it helped, but sometimes a direct translation was not enough. At one point, the lender requested pay stubs and the term did not translate in a way the mother recognized. I found an example of an ADP pay stub, and once she saw the document, she understood what the lender needed and supplied it.
After they received board approval, the lender continued working through the remaining conditions. When they needed insurance for the purchase, I searched for an insurance professional who spoke Nepali and called until I found someone who could communicate with them. On another occasion, I contacted a Nepali-speaking Realtor to help explain something that was not translating clearly.
I was not translating legal documents or replacing the lender, attorney or insurance professional. I was making sure the purchasers understood what document or professional was being requested so the transaction could continue moving.
“Communication is not complete because I said the words. The other person has to understand what I am trying to explain.”
I pay attention to how people respond, not only to whether they say “okay.” If their reaction tells me that the message may not have been understood, I ask whether it makes sense and look for another way to explain it. Helping a capable purchaser get through a difficult application process can also protect the seller from losing a viable transaction over a preventable communication problem.
“As an immigrant, the process was overwhelming, but he was patient, knowledgeable, and always took the time to explain everything clearly.”
Ngima purchased the Jackson Heights co-op with his mother and later posted this review publicly on Google.
Read Andrew’s Google reviewsHow long does it take to sell a co-op?
That depends on the cooperative. As a broad estimate, I normally tell a seller to expect approximately three to four months from accepted offer to closing, but I do not present that as a promise.
A building that reviews applications or interviews purchasers more than once a month may move faster. If the board meets only once a month and the application misses that meeting, the transaction may wait for the next cycle. An all-cash purchase removes mortgage underwriting, but it does not remove the application, document review, interview or board schedule.
The cooperative's fee schedule belongs in the seller's net estimate.
Co-op transactions can include charges that do not appear in a typical house sale. Depending on the cooperative, there may be a flip tax, managing-agent or processing fees, application charges, move-in or move-out deposits, stock-transfer charges or a fee for replacing missing documents.
I do not want to publish a blanket rule saying that the seller always pays one charge and the purchaser always pays another. The cooperative's documents, its current fee schedule and the terms negotiated in the contract determine how the transaction is structured. A deposit should also be distinguished from an actual expense because some deposits may be refundable when the cooperative's requirements are satisfied.
The seller may also have the ordinary expenses connected with a New York sale, including the brokerage commission, attorney's fee and applicable transfer taxes. A Queens co-op sale may involve New York City charges that would not apply to a co-op located elsewhere on Long Island. The seller's attorney should confirm the legal and tax charges for the particular transaction.
Before the seller relies on an estimated net amount, I want to collect the available fee information and work from the actual numbers instead of making assumptions.
Questions sellers commonly ask me.
I normally request the current sales application, house rules, two recent annual financial statements, a maintenance statement, information about any current assessment and the building's current purchase requirements. If the seller has the offering plan, I collect that as well so it is available to the attorneys.
I begin with apartments that sold in the same building or development during the previous three to six months. I compare the size, layout, condition, photographs and final sale prices. If there are not enough useful sales there, I expand the comparison to other nearby co-ops and account for differences between the buildings.
No. Cash removes mortgage-financing risk, but the purchaser may still have to satisfy the cooperative's requirements for documented income, credit, debt-to-income ratio, liquidity and the application. The strongest offer is one that works financially for the seller and has a realistic path through the building's process.
Yes. A co-op does not have to be renovated before it can be sold. I compare the likely as-is value with renovated sales and the probable cost and time involved in doing the work. Then the seller can decide whether renovating, making a few practical improvements or selling in the current condition makes the most sense.
The seller should contact management and follow the cooperative's replacement process. That commonly requires additional paperwork and a fee, but the exact requirements depend on the building. I ask about the stock certificate early so a missing document does not become a surprise later.
That depends on the cooperative. I generally tell sellers to expect approximately three to four months from accepted offer to closing, but the board's meeting schedule, application review, interview, financing and other transaction conditions can make the process shorter or longer.
No. The board makes its own decision. I can collect the building's stated requirements, review the financial information voluntarily supplied by the purchaser and advise the seller whether the offer appears to have a realistic path forward. That reduces avoidable risk, but it cannot guarantee approval.
That depends on the cooperative's documents and the terms of the transaction. Some buildings assign particular charges to one party, while other terms may be negotiated in the contract. I collect the available fee information, and the seller's attorney confirms the seller's legal obligations and final closing figures.
Thinking about selling a co-op?
Tell me where the apartment is located, what building documents you have and what you are trying to accomplish. I will review the real-estate side with you, explain what information I believe we should collect and help you understand the options before you make a decision.
Andrew Ragusa
Licensed New York Real Estate Broker
Broker of Record, REMI Realty
Phone
516-858-9434Continue your research.
The Long Island Home Seller’s Playbook
The broader strategy I use to price, prepare, market and evaluate offers for a Long Island home.
Bayside, Queens Home Seller Guide
Local market information, co-op experience and documented transactions across Bayside and Oakland Gardens.
Andrew Ragusa’s Real Estate Playbook
Buyer and seller guides explaining how I approach real-estate decisions and transaction problems.