Are you enticed by the mortgage interest lowest rates in decades? If so you’re not alone, but they are often out of borrowers’ reach. Lenders base their rates on perceived risk. Only if you can show you’re low-risk would you qualify for a rate that matches those seen in headlines.

If you’re looking for the lowest available rates consider these basic factors:

• Credit Score: The ideal FICO score is around 740 or higher. This will put you in the best place for pricing.
• Points: 1% of the loan amount is a point, and by paying points you can reduce your mortgage rate. Be sure to ask for a zero point quote as well to compare the two rates.
• Property Types: Such property types as duplexes, condominiums in newer buildings or with lower down payments, commercial properties or non-owner occupied properties come with higher rates.
• Down Payment: Experts say putting down at least 25% could lead to more attractive pricing. Lenders offer different breaks on rates if equity is higher.
• Loan Length: ARM and 15-year loans are often lower than those on the 30-year loan. Consider how long you plan to live in the property and weigh your options.
• Other considerations:
• Lock-in: You may receive a lower rate for a shorter lock period 30-45 days rather than the usual 60 days
• Additional ownership costs, taxes, insurance and maintenance.

 Inspired by New York Times Article by Vickie Elmer published January 12, 201

Buyers need to be concerned about the fee as a direct impact on the property value, not just because of the cash going out every month.  The maintenance fee covers operating costs:  Staff Salaries, management fees, heat, water and sewer and other items.  In co-ops, the real estate tax bill and underlying mortgages on the entire building is part of the maintenance fee, and is proportional to the number of shares you own in the co-op corporation.

Condos are different. The common charges still cover the operating costs the same as co-ops, but the property tax bill goes directly to the owner because of the different ownership type.  Condos may have more amenities but lower common charges due to this distinction.

According to the Council of New York Tax Cooperatives and Condominiums, the fees have skyrocketed over the last decade.  For example, the median maintenance fee for co-ops on the West Side of Manhattan rose by 59% between 2000 and 2009, while condo common charges increased by 38% city-wide for the same period.

Increasing Real Estate Taxes are the main reason for the rise in co-op fees.  Both the tax rate and the assessment of property values have increased in recent years.  On the West Side, co-op median real estate taxes increased by 116% between 2000 and 2009.   On the East Side in 2000, 23% of the maintenance paid was attributed to taxes; by 2009, that figure had risen to 33.3%, indicating that taxes were a larger portion of the maintenance fees.

Land Leases are another issue for increased maintenance fees for some co-ops.  As a number of co-ops do not own the land their building sits upon, rather rents the land.  Some of those leases are coming up for renewal soon, and the experts predict there will be a huge jump in cost.

Finding savings to offset the increases is difficult.  Most costs are fixed, including salaries, taxes, insurance, upkeep and utilities.  Several co-ops have hired consultants to check for water leaks, while others are switching to natural gas from oil heat.  Still others are metering each apartment’s utilities separately.

Many co-ops are refinancing their underlying mortgages to take advantage of low interest rates.  Others are generating income by imposing or increasing fees for using the bike room, moving in or out or renting a unit.

Reviewing a building’s financials will give a buyer an understanding of how a building spends its money.  If you disagree with how a building spends the fees, there’s little point in moving there.   See our Series on reviewing building financials starting with  ‘Tis the Season: Many Manhattan Coop Financial Statements Are Released In May.

Inspired by New York Times Article on Jan 15, 2012 by Jim Rendon.

“Tight mortgage credit conditions continued to drive rental prices and activity higher.”

• The median net effective rent (face rent less landlord concessions) jumped 9.5% from $2,950 to $3,121 in the same period last year. The year-over-year-gains were consistent across all rental price indicators.
• The 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom markets outpaced their smaller counterparts,increasing 14% and 18.1% respectively over the same period.
• New rental activity (excluding lease renewals) was up 10% from 7,217 to 7,942 in the same quarter last year.
• About 7.4% of new leases had some form of landlord concession compared to the 40.5% in the prior year quarter. For those leases with concessions, the average amount was the equivalent of 1.2 months of free rent.
• Days on market—the number of days from original list date to lease signing—was at its second fastest pace of 37 days in 15 years, which is when we began tracking this metric.

“After a year of mixed economic news, the Manhattan housing market, while continuing to experience overall price stability, closed out the year with a slower pace of sales.”

•  Median sales price was $855,000, a modest 1.2% increase from $845,000 in the prior year quarter. Price per square foot increased 5.6% to $1,117 from $1,058 over the same period.
• There were 2,011 sales in the fourth quarter, 12.4% less than 2,295 in the prior year quarter. The fourth quarter had the lowest number of sales since the same period six years ago, perhaps related to the unusual surge in sales in the prior quarter. Pending sales were also below the prior year level.
• There were 7,221 active listings at the end of the fourth quarter, essentially unchanged from the same period last year, but 2.6% less than the ten-year quarterly average of 7,412.
• Days on market—the number of days from the last price change if any to the contract date—saw a modest 5 day increase to 130 days from 125 days, still consistent with the 132 day average for the prior decade.
• Listing discount—the percent difference between the list price at time of sale to the sales price—fell to 4.9% from 8% in the same period last year.

Maintenance fees  usually cover debt service for the underlying mortgage, property taxes, maintenance, personnel and other items.  These fees are usually apportioned per share of stock in the corporation, and are in addition to the owner’s individual mortage (if any).  A review of a co-op’s financial documents will give you the breakdown on the expenses.

What’s behind this increase?

• Property Taxes:  New York City Property Tax revenue increased 9.68% in 2009 according to the NYC Department of Finance.
• Utility costs:  Natural Gas and heating oil costs continue to increase. Water costs are up slightly.
• Building Staff. Salary and benefits, usually renegotiated under union contracts every two to 3 years. 
• Insurance Costs:  Varies by building and location, usually covering liability and disaster damages
• Building upkeep, including major repairs to plumbing, electrical, heating and the roof.

What can the Board do?

• Cancel or delay discretionary projects
• Request several estimates for upcoming projects.
• Refinance underlying mortgages.
• Impliment a flip tax.

When faced with rising costs, there is little a co-op board can do but pass the costs throught to the shareholders as either increased maintenance fees or temporary (or permenant) assessments.  The decision to raise maintenance fees ultimately rests with the co-op boards.

Inspired by Smart Money article by Annamaria Androitis.

The restoration of the limits only apples to FHA mortgages, not Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which also expired at the end of September.  The conforming loan limit for these two secondary mortgage market companies will remain at a maximum of $625,500.

While this may be good news for many markets, in Manhattan, where over 70% of the apartments for sale are Co-ops, it probably won’t make much difference.  Most co-op boards require 20-50% down payments and higher income to debt rations (25-30% maximum debt to income).   Lenders for most condos are asking for at least 20% down payment to qualify for a loan.

Excerpts from Daily Real Estate News, November 18, 2011

“Sales noticeably increased, as all price indicators edged higher, and listing inventory remained stable.”

• There were 2,219 sales in the third quarter, 18.1% more than 1,879 sales in the prior year quarter, and the second highest quarterly total in three years.
• Median sales price increased 5% to $510,000 from the prior year quarter, reaching its highest level in three years, and tying the 2008 third quarter level.
• Listing inventory edged 0.9% higher to 6,688 in the third quarter from the prior year quarter. With the rise in sales outpacing the increase in inventory, the absorption rate fell to 9 months from 10.6 months over the same period.
• Days on market expanded by nearly a month over the same period to 149 days from 109 days in the prior year quarter, as stable inventory, and higher sales resulted in an increase in sales from older listings.
• The listing discount—the difference between the listing price at time of contract and the contract price—was 3% in the third quarter, down from 5% over the same period last year.

• Housing prices in Manhattan continue to remain stable. The median sales price of a Manhattan apartment was $911,333 in the third quarter, essentially unchanged from $914,000 in the prior year quarter and up 7.2% from $850,000 in the prior quarter.
• Although year-over-year co-op sales activity was unchanged, the increase in condo activity resulted in a 16.7% year-over-year increase in overall sales activity. An increase in demand from foreign buyers due to the weak US dollar is likely a key factor for the gain.
• There were 7,726 active listings at the end of the third quarter, 4.9% fewer than 8,123 listings in the same period last year and 4.3% less than 8,070 listings in the prior quarter.
• Consistent with the decline in inventory, the time to sell an apartment and the discount from list price have also declined. Days on market fell to 119 days from 125 days and the discount from the list price at time of sale slipped to 4.4% from 5.8%, both from the same period last year.