Open House Sunday

Today I decided to view a number of units (actually 12) around my area in the Lower East Side. I did bother to tell every broker/agent that I was an agent. It was amazing. Very few of them knew the board requirements. I even what as far as asking for the price of the Offering Plan and was told "What's that?" The agents of my strong competitors where the most informed of the bunch, however did miss a few details regarding the board requirements. At this point you may be asking what questions I needed answered. Coops normally permit 80% financing. That means you need to come to the table with 20% of the purchase price. A bank may finance the buyer for up to 45% however some Boards want your income-to-debt ratio to be lower, sometimes as low as 25-30%. So (here is the key) if the Board requires a 25-30% debt-to-income ratio then the buy WILL have to bring a larger cash amount to the table. And i don't mean the closing table. The buyer(s) will meet and be reviewed by the board before scheduling a closing.