When you buy a condominium apartment, you are buying real estate. Your condo is a separate tax lot. You actually own the apartment, a long with a percentage of the building's common areas. Condominiums have homeowner's associations, which are much like the boards of co-op corporations but with one major difference. A homeowner's association is primarily concerned with overseeing the common areas of the building and does not have much authority over the individual units. A co-op board oversees both the common areas and the individual units.

Most lenders' rates and guidelines on condominiums are similar to those found on single-family homes. That being said, a condo, like a co-op, is one of many apartments in a building. However, unlike a co-op, some lenders have programs that do not require a condominium project review. This simply means that the lender will not examine the building to see how many units are sold or how many units are owner occupied. The end result is the ability to obtain financing for a condo unit in a building with low owner occupancy. At Trachtman & Bach, we know which lenders have condominium loan programs that do not require a project review, a major advantage when it comes time to finance your prospective condominium purchase.

Condos have monthly common charges which cover the costs of building-wide services like management fees, door staff, utilities, common areas, etc. These charges are usually lower than the maintenance on a similar priced co-op because there is no underlying mortgage on a condo and no real estate taxes added in to the payment. You will pay real estate taxes separately on your individual condominium apartment as you would on a house.

Closing costs on a condominium are usually similar to those on a 1 family home. A quick guide to use is that your closing costs, excluding your attorney, will total approximately 3% of your mortgage amount. In New York State, the fees that make up the bulk of the costs are New York State mortgage tax and title insurance. These two fees can range into the thousands of dollars depending on your purchase price and/or mortgage amount. When you are purchasing a condo unit from the original developer or builder you may have additional charges, some of which are normally paid by the seller. These costs vary depending on the condo project, but the largest fees, which can range upwards of 1% of your purchase price, are New York City and New York State Transfer Taxes. Please see our closing costs page for more details.