Manhattan Condo Living: December 2008

Glossary of Terms New York City Terminology

Familiarize yourself with the following terminology. It's almost all unique to New York City. It's also important to know that we speak in "number of rooms," as well as using the definitions below. A room in Manhattan must be at least 100 square feet and have a window...except in the case of a kitchen. Most kitchens are considered rooms, unless they are Pullman types, which would be found as part of the living room. And we don't count baths as rooms. So, a Three Room Apartment would be comprised of a Living Room, a Kitchen and a Bedroom. A Four Room Apartment would have a Living Room, a Kitchen, Two Bedrooms, or One Bedroom and a Dining Room. You'll hear the term Half of a Room, e.g., Three And A Half Rooms. This means that the Living Room has an alcove adjacent to it which is not quite the size of a true room, or in some cases it may mean a foyer large enough for dining. Review the list below, and check with your agent for further clarification.

STUDIO One or two rooms with combined living and sleeping area. If the studio is one room, the kitchen will be of the Pullman variety. If it is two rooms, the kitchen will be separate.

ALCOVE Alcove is an area adjoining the living room space of an apartment. It is generally less than 100 square feet and is not considered a full room, but often called a half room. It can be used as a "dining alcove" or "sleeping alcove". Depending upon size, it may actually be "walled off" to create an additional bedroom.

ALCOVE STUDIO - This is either a one and a half or two room apartment with a separate alcove, often L-shaped, which can be used as a sleeping area.

JUNIOR OR CONVERTIBLE This is an apartment with an alcove off of the living room which can be converted into a bedroom or used for dining. A Junior 4, for instance, would be a three room apartment (living room, kitchen and bedroom) which has the potential to be four rooms by using the alcove space to create an additional room.

DUPLEX In New York this means an apartment with two floors or levels, not two apartment units.

LOFT AREA This is an additional space created in apartments with very high ceilings. The loft area is constructed above the traditional living area, accessed by a staircase or ladder, and used for extra storage, sleeping or living space (e.g., a mezzanine).

CLASSIC The word "classic" is usually followed by a number indicating the number of rooms in an apartment. It is generally associated with pre-war apartments that meet a criteria of room numbers and design for buildings of that period. However, a "classic" can exist in a post-war building, assuming it follows the same guidelines. As an example, a "classic six" is comprised of a living room, dining room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and a maid's room.

Glossary of Terms Types of Buildings

Brownstones or Townhouses These are typically 4 to 6 story buildings built in the 1800's through the early 1900's. They are either single family houses or have been converted over the years into multiple apartments. As a single family home, a townhouse or brownstone offers buyers privacy and the ability to purchase without the cooperative board process. Some apartments in townhouses can have grand living spaces and, therefore, will be quite expensive. Generally, these buildings afford more "charm", with features such as gardens, fireplaces, beautiful floors and ornamental wood moldings. In almost all cases these buildings will not have a doorman. One can also purchase a coop or condo unit in a townhouse building. The term "brownstone" refers to the type of material used as facing on the front of the structure.

Pre-War Buildings Prewar buildings are those built before World War II. These buildings are usually ten to twenty stories, provide spacious apartment lay-outs, gracious architectural amenities with features such as larger rooms, fireplaces, hardwood parquet floors and higher ceilings. These can be doorman or non-doorman buildings.

Post War Buildings These buildings were built between the late 1940's through the 1970's. They are generally hi-rise and are constructed of white, red or brown brick. Most will have doormen. Postwar apartments may actually afford more living space than their prewar counterparts in studio, one and two bedroom sizes. They have ample closets, live-in superintendent and laundry facilities.

Hi Rise Full Service Buildings These are generally associated with new construction or are apartment buildings that were built from the 1980's through the present. They are typically condominiums, twenty to forty or more stories with doorman and concierge services. Other amenities often include: health clubs and swimming pools, valet services and parking garages

Elevator Buildings This description is usually reserved for a non-doorman building that is six to twenty stories tall. There is usually an intercom security system, and some may have video security. These buildings could fall into either the pre-war or the post-war category.

Loft Buildings These buildings either were previously built for commercial or manufacturing purposes and are now used for residential living spaces or are newly constructed as loft buildingsThe spaces typically offer higher ceilings (9 feet-20 feet), open spaces and original details such as supporting columns, tin ceilings, etc. They are usually found in Greenwich Village, SoHo, TriBeCa, Chelsea, Flatiron, Nolita, and lower Manhattan and often do not have the services of a doorman.

Walk-Up Buildings This is the least expensive type of housing, and the quality can vary widely. Usually these are 4 to 5 story buildings with no elevator, hence the term "walk-up." They were originally constructed as multi-family housing and lack the charm and elegance of traditional brownstones or townhouses.

Part 3 - KNOW THE FINANCIAL REPORT OF THE BUILDING:

Whether you are a first time buyer or a seasoned investor buying a New York City Condo, Co-Op, Condop, or Townhouse it is important to understand the full financial picture of the building. When you are buying an apartment, besides buying the single apartment unit in the multi-dwelling complex you are also buying into a building. Having a financially sound building can help avoid any future unexpected costs.  A number of common questions usually asked by prospective buyers are does this building have any upcoming assessment, what is the underlying mortgage, if so how much, and what is the tax deductibility in this building.   Your attorney as part of their due diligence will go over the buildings financial documents, but here is an overview of the major areas that you as a buyer should be aware of. 

A building's financial statements are made up of three different areas: Income, Expenses, and Assets. The amount of cash and/or reserve fund that is held by the co-op or the condominium makes up the asset portion of the financial statement. The cash on hand is the amount of liquid assets held by co-op or the condominium. The reserve fund typically refers to the money that is used to make improvements or repairs that occur throughout the year.

When the building decides to make improvements or when major repairs occur such as, boiler change, elevator upgrades, updating the hallways or lobby the buildings reserve funds are tapped into to finance these expenditures. How much money should be in the reserve fund? Typically the reserve fund should be equal to one-third of the annual maintenance income of the building.  So that number can fluctuate depending on the size of the building, what major improvements or repairs have been made and a number of different factors.  So what happens when the reserve funds are depleted?  Some co-ops replenish the reserve funds by receiving income from a "flip tax." Flip tax is a bit misleading, it's not a "tax" but rather a charge imposed when a unit is sold.  It is important to ask to see if the building you are considering has a flip tax. This flip tax can be the seller's responsibility, or possibly the buyers and sometimes will be split between the two parties.  The flip tax is very important to consider.

Next, look at the section on the income and expenses for the building. This section will indicate whether or not the maintenance or common charge payments cover the operating expenses. If it does, the result will be a cash surplus to the building. If it does not, the result will be a deficit. If there is a deficit, the money received from flip taxes, sublet fees, commercial rents, laundry income or any other revenue source will be used to cover the shortfall.  If there is still not enough income there could be a maintenance increase or a special assessment to cover the shortfall. 

The Underlying Mortgage and Sponsor-Owned Shares

The status of a co-op building's underlying mortgage is extremely important to understand and investigate before you purchase.  Many of the co-op buildings will have a mortgage like any other real property.  The buyer's attorney will review as part of their due diligence what type of mortgage exists, how many mortgages there are and how long is the mortgage for. 

A condominium does not have an underlying mortgage on the building because each individual unit is real property. However, it's important to know how many units the sponsor owns in the building.  The reason being is that the sponsor has to pay real estate taxes, common charges and any possible mortgage they have for the units.  If for some reason the sponsor is unable to pay for all those expenses, the building as a whole will be affected.  This information is usually disclosed in an amendment to the offering plan and will be a part of the due diligence of your attorney to examine.

The financial statement will supply a lot of insight for the building but you need to consider other areas as well.  The following areas to consider are whether there have been assessments, is there a tax abatement and when will it expire, is the property on a land-lease, the common charge or maintenance history, how many apartments are investor owned, is there a flip tax, are any major upgrades or repairs in the near future, any pending litigation, and if there are commercial leases that bring income to the building and when are those leases expiring.

Hiring an attorney that is an expert with New York City apartments is such a crucial step for any buyer especially first time apartment buyer.  Your attorney will have the expertise in understanding the financial documents and will be able to discover the inner workings of the building you are looking to purchase into through their due diligence.  As an educated and informed first time buyer you should always team up with a Real Estate professional to assist you navigate through this complex process to ensure you make the right decision.

 This is part three in a series centered on first time buyers in New York City, our next post will focus on the next step in your process, WHO MANAGES THE BUILDING!

 If you are first time homebuyer or investor and would like to receive more free reports and information about New York City go to  www.nycaptinfo.com

 New York City First Time Home Buyer Series:

• NEW YORK CITY FIRST TIME HOME BUYER:  KNOW YOUR PRODUCT - PART 1 OF 5

• NEW YORK CITY FIRST TIME HOME BUYER: KNOW YOUR BUYING POWER - PART 2 OF 5

• NEW YORK CITY FIRST TIME HOME BUYER: KNOW THE FINANCIAL REPORT OF THE BUILDING - PART 3 OF 5

• NEW YORK CITY FIRST TIME HOME BUYER: WHO MANAGES THE BUILDING - PART 4 OF 5

• NEW YORK CITY FIRST TIME HOME BUYER: BUYING WITH YOUR HEAD AND YOUR HEART - PART 5 OF 5

For more information, please contact Morgan Evans or call 917-837-8869

Disclaimer: All information in this post is subject to change without notice. Subject matter: is an opinion, is not guaranteed, may be time sensitive, and may be based on information collected from several sources which may or may not be reliable at the time of sourcing.