After a while, we still continue house searching to buy.
We focus on the Midtown East and look around several
properties.
At a small, cozy apartment like a boutique hotel the
agent says,
“ Here, there are some working people.” but I don’t get
the point.
She means that in this building, there are many people
who don’t have to work with plenty of money, or even that some of them, the
unit is only a second home, and they don’t usually live here.
This is not a surprising story here in Manhattan.
Actually I see a
lady and a Maltese, both with glossy curling white hair.They look so elegant
and wealthy.
It seems as if it’s
not easy, or even impossible to interact with neighbors.
Anyway this is not
our home…Pass.
At another place, we like the location and the beautiful interior.
However, on the
training machine at the gym a man, may be in his 70’s is running bent forward.
The agent says in this building, many older people live quietly, so it’s very
peaceful.
Yes, I can feel
the very silent atmosphere; even think nobody is in here.
If the turnover of
the residents is not so high, the maintenance fee may increasing, and I would hesitate
to invite friends with kids to this apartment.
Again, this is not
our home.
After that, we look at ten or so apartments.
My husband suddenly says, “ I want to buy here.”
Oh, Come on!
We always have this time lag.
Once
we decided to get married, we had only three months before the wedding.
Once he decided to
go to America, he had only two months to get ready.
“
What? Isn’t it too big a hurry? “ I’m always surprised at his speed.
Nowadays, I
thought I’d get used to it, but I haven’t.
This
time, I thought we would take time maybe a year.
I can’t keep up
with him.
“Are
you sure? This is only the beginning. You want to make a decision so fast?”
My voice is
getting loud.
Husband:
“ Why? You don’t like it? Do you have any concerns?”
Me : ” No, nothing…but
isn’t it too soon?”
Husband: “ If you don’t have concerns, it might be fine. Everything
is in the timing.”
Me : “ But, if we see something, we like
better.”
Husband: “ Hey, do you really think we can find something
better than that?
According to
my calculations, the price of one sq ft is rarely reasonable in
Manhattan. The maintenance
fee is also reasonable and the common
space is very well maintained. I don’t think we can easily find
such
a good one around that area.
Maybe
someday in the future, but who knows when?"
Me : "Well, maybe you’re right, but....."
( I don’t
have a better excuse against his logical explanation…)
So, again, I was
stunned by his speed.
We decided to make
an offer on the apartment.
I had
expected to look at more units carefully and to discuss them over and over.
To wait until the time
is ripe, if we could finally find our dream house, to say
“ This is what we
want!” and then, make an offer.
That was my
scenario, so I was disappointed.
However, we don’t know if the seller would accept our price.
We also don’t know
if another buyer could pay cash or make a higher offer.
So, it
should be fine if we only make an offer.
We
make an offer $100,000 less than the asking price and think the seller’s
agent will
answer,
“ Are
you making fun of us?” No, he doesn’t, but he says
“If you can pay a
little bit more, the owner wants to accept your offer.”
The
counter offer is really the maximum that we can pay.
“ Then, we should
go for it.” My husband said.
About this time,
my husband is not easygoing, but his eyes are very serious
when he researched
of the property history, doing financial projections repeatedly.
After thoughtful
research on the property, we finally agree to accept the counter offer.
Once we decided to
proceed, we need to follow the necessary procedure.
Even if we don’t
know whether we can buy or not, there is lot’s of paperwork.
And some people
said it takes about six months to close the deal.
Anyway, if we want
to buy an apartment in New York City, the choice is either
Condo or Co-op.
And most of the
time, if foreigners want to buy as an investment, they get Condos.
However,
we are trying to buy a Co-op, more reasonable and more abundant on
the market
than Condos. So the procedure is very complicated and different from Condos.
Here
is how website of Douglas Elliman, real estate defines of Co-op.
（cf: “New York City Buyers Guide” by Douglas Elliman）
Cooperatives are owned by an apartment corporation.
Individual tenants do not actually "own" their apartments as they
would in the case of "real" property. Owners, (shareholders) of co-op
apartments, actually own "shares" in the corporation which entitles
them to a long-term "proprietary lease." The corporation pays the
total amount of the building's mortgage (importantly, a cooperative may have an
underlying mortgage on the entire building, whereas a condominium
building must be
owned outright), real estate taxes, employee salaries, and other expenses for
the upkeep of the building. The tenant-owner, in turn, pays a portion of these
expenses as determined by the number of shares the tenant owns in the
corporation. Share amounts are dictated by apartment size and floor level.
So….Buying a co-op seems very hard to us.
First
of all, our agent said we should hire a lawyer.
To buy a home, we
need to hire a lawyer….
Even if we don’t
know weather we can buy, we need to spend more then $3,000…
It hurts..
And we
have already gotten pre-approval letter from the bank to get the mortgage,
but some
other complicated procedures are needed.
For example, there
are strict rules that we need to have certain amount of
US dollars as assets.
When my husband
had to exchange his assets in Japan to move here,
the yen was suddenly low
against the dollar.
If he delayed one
day, we might have lost millions of yen..
He was utterly exhausted.
One after another,
we got many contracts and documents in English
( in very tiny letters..), I
look through them with a dictionary, fill them out,
sign them and got the
additional necessary documents.
If any corrections
or additional documents are needed, we urgently modify them
and sign them at my
husband’s office.
It is very busy
time to us.
For
the reference letters, we need to get three for each.
To buy a home, it
is necessary to get total of six reference letters…
We are so little
trusted.
Moreover, we proceed this point and one day we were so
confused when we got
the news that we couldn’t buy a co-op without a Green Card.
And then we got letter from the bank that we couldn’t get
a mortgage.
But in the end, all are needless fear.
Sigh….
It’s not so easy to buy a home in New York City.
My husband finished this heavy paperwork within 1 month on
his time table and
completed the three very thick files of the documents.
After such a
labor, we could finally be “ In Contract”, but it doesn’t mean we could buy.
If the document
passes to the Co-op board, we go to the interview with board
members and if we can get the mortgage approval, everything will be
done.
That’s a long
process….
For the moment, all we have
to do is wait for the board interview.
Where will it all end?
