Sublet
My husband I have just closed on a Brownstone and move in next wk. Our excitement is also mixed with dread as we have not sold our co-op apartment in Clinton Hill. Our solution is to sublet the Clinton Hill pad during the summer, hoping to off set the mortgage and still show it on…
My husband I have just closed on a Brownstone and move in next wk. Our excitement is also mixed with dread as we have not sold our co-op apartment in Clinton Hill.
Our solution is to sublet the Clinton Hill pad during the summer, hoping to off set the mortgage and still show it on an appointment basis.
Have heard that people do sublets on the sly and don’t notify the board, especially if it is just for a couple of months. Not being from NY would love any advice and if you do notify the co-op are they generally cool with this kind of thing?
As a co-op board member, this would annoy me to no end, someone flouting the rules, then wanting quick service from the board on their sale. Sometime the closing length has something to do with the board. In my case on recent sales, it might have been because I was making copies and fedexing co-op documents that I has already copied and provided to the sellers’ broker. So in this situation, I doubt I would want to sure during my 14 hour workday that these documents got out for someone who broke the rules.
As someone who is hoouse shopping right now, walking into a house that is not spotless is unbelievable to me. I am drawn to the fact that the seller couldn’t bother to clean up instead of concentrating on the house. Those details don’t mean that the house won’t sell, but they will affect how quickly it sells. I doubt your subtenant will provide that and be reasonable about access.
We just narrowly avoided a similar situation. I’m sure your coop has subletting rules. I also think, that unless you need every penny, price your co-op to sell asap. As you know, with a co-op it can take 3 or 4 months to get to closing.
DO NOT piss off your co-op board, because they have to approve your buyer. They can make your life miserable.
The last poster has a very good point, in that if/when the board members figure out you’ve been subletting on the sly, you’re going to reap some very ill will when it comes to them approving your buyer. You are at their mercy on this point (I’ve sold two coops, and even if you have an immaculately qualified buyer, you can still get screwed…for example, if they refuse to set an interview for six months, say.)
NOT smart to piss off people whose favor you are about to need.
Most co-ops allow subletting… check your Proprietary lease.
I would advise being upfront with the board about your desire to sublet… illegal sublets can result in a termination of your Proprietary lease, and tons of bad will… not a nice way to go out the door.
Good luck in your new home.
You are about to enter one of the slowest periods of the year for real estate activity. (The only slower time than summer is the period from Thanksgiving to the Superbowl.)
I would sell the Co-Op as soon as possible, and I would avoid having someone other than you living in the Co-Op while you try to sell it. (Plus I would not be a happy tenant if I was renting your co-op for 3 months and you were always having realtors and potential buyers coming by.)
my suggestion would be that you rent out the house until you sell the co-op, painful as that may be.
Yep, the sublet might be more hassle than it’s worth. It’s very short term, you have to have a tenant that’ll clean to the Nth degree for every showing and you’ll need the co-op board’s OK – or a tenant that’s very understanding should a problem with the board arise.
And enjoy your new pad!!
Why are you renting the apartment, why don’t you just sell it?
And what do you mean by subletting it? Don’t you own it? Aren’t you the landlord?
Hang in there. Don’t panic. I know that people sublet on the down low, but you may want the coop board’s support. Most coops allow subletting – don’t you know the policy? Find out. Maybe you need to rethink your sales strategy too. If you have a subtenant who is under the radar and short term, how much do you think that they will care about presenting your place attractively to potential buyers. When you sell a place, you want to have as much control as possible, don’t you? Why not sit down with the broker and make sure that the place is priced correctly. It is much better to get the place in great shape, price it right and get rid of it fast rather than dragging out the process with a sublet.
Good luck.