Weddingbee boards

Well, technically it's an apartment. But still, I am so excited and I feel like I've done the impossible! It's a coop so there was board approval to worry about on top of the mortgage process. It took almost 3 months from start to finish and that was even considering that we were 'rushed' through the process.

Hooray for me!! Anyone else in the process of buying a home??

Thanks everyone!! Yes, buying an apartment in NYC was no easy task. I should write a book about it, lol! I won't have pictures for a few weeks unfortunately since we have yet to move in, but I will share then!

Trust me, there's not much to be jealous about - it's a pretty small 2 bedroom apartment. Most people would feel claustrophobic in it, lol! But it's ours, so I am super happy and cannot wait for us to move in :)

@CanadianMermaid: I know, lol!! At least with a coop, the maintenance we pay goes towards any kind of major home repairs. For example, there was water damage in the interior wall of our 2nd bedroom. It was coming from the windows in the units above ours, we had been gettting slammed with rain for weeks on end and the bricks were laid in a way that allowed water to come in. The management company fixed the exterior problem AND the interior problem in my unit (including replacing the drywall and painting) at no cost to us. We weren't assessed or anything. But appliances of course we will have to pay for, but luckily they were all replaced in the last few years! :)

@hotchildinthecity: Thanks, that means so much to me!! If it makes you feel any better, we had to take a major downgrade in order to buy. In NYC it's actually pretty economical to rent because the down payment plus liquidity requirements are ridiculously steep. We definitely could not have afforded to buy our current rental apartment, that would have been probably double our price range!

@Sasha2011: Yes, well it's hard in NYC because of the dp and liquidity requirements and of course the board approval!

@mink: In french, wow! We definitely would have been rejected, although I do have my hs french to fall back on! Our board interview was intense. They grilled us for about an hour and asked us questions I didn't even know the answers to, thank goodness DH had a binder with ALL of our financial information in it so we could reference it. Then of course they required info that wasn't in the board package, just because we are first time home buyers, ugh! But we got approved which is all that matters!! :)

@moonadea: That is a good question, lol!! It doesn't sound like it makes sense, does it? Well the main reason is because we wanted to stop paying rent and 'invest' our money in a home. But there were many other reasons, rental buildings in general are not as nice to live in as coop buildings because the renters have less interest in keeping things nice than the owners do. Even though we are moving from an amazing rental building, it was still tough with people moving in and out constantly, no quiet hours, people not cleaning up after thier dogs, etc. At this point in our lives we are ready to become part of a community with other people just like us, who own because they love the building and the area so much and want an improved quality of life.

ETA: And just so you know, coops can reject people for any reason whatsoever. So if they didn't like the outfit I wore to the interview, they could reject me. Which sounds horrible, but to us we see it as more of an advantage. The board has no incentive to make sure any of the apartments sell so they only accept the best people, personally and financially.

@MissAsB: Awesome, congrats!! We are new home owner buddies!! :)