The New York Co-op Bible: Everything You Need to Know About Co-ops and Condos: Getting In, Staying In, Surviving, Thriving

She is very organized and a great writer. She is probably a great lawyer - she anticipates what the reader would want to know.My one problem with her is she should have added a chapter on representing yourself as a seller or buyer. There is nothing to it, if you have better than average reading skills and healthy amount of common sense.However, the New York real estate attorneys are into self promotion. THey insist on everyone hiring a real estate attorney. It's an industry wide racket: Some brokers will falsely tell you you have to hire one. It's a total lie don't believe them. These lawyers don't even do anything lawyerly, they just make phone calls for you. They are for lazy people who don't want to understand basic contract principles.There could be a Nolo type guide on this subject. Then lots of people could save a bundle, $2,000 or more. Probably the author who proposes this book will be mysteriously found dead.

I own a co-op in Brooklyn, New York. My property manager is a jerk. A do nothing. The super does nothing unless you're holding a $20.00 bill and then may be? And is also unavailable most of the time, the board of directors is a nonfunctional body with the exception of the co-op president who is the most knowledgeable. The maintenance is high for this area. All the conflicts between the tenant/shareholders falls under the Landlord-Tenant law. In New York State the courts don't play around with this law.The book by Sylvia Shapiro is comprehensive and is the only source of information on the subject. Anyone considering buying or selling a co-op or a condo should consider this book a must.DSBrooklyn, NY

Nice book with the ins and outs that comes with co-op ownership. The book provides excellent advice on qualifying buyers. You don't for example want to approve buyers who have the cash to purchase a unit, but then go on the live on a shoe string. It has tips on what to do if the co-op board is not doing its job, for example one can report all sorts of issues (like water leaks, broken locks, broken mailboxes, broken lights, broken intercom) that the board doesn't want correct to the Department of Housing and Preservation or to the Building's Department.

This book provides a helpful overview for anyone looking to dive into the swamps of NYC real estate. The only issue I had with the book was it's financial and geographic focus. Most of the discussion centers around the issues facing buyers of half a million plus co-ops in Manhattan or Brooklyn. It is unclear whether buyers in other boroughs will face the same hurdles, but if anything this book will leave you over prepared.

Just submitted my package to the co-op board for review. This book is very helpful with plenty of information to help you understand how co-op’s work. The process can get very stressful at times and it’s better to be prepared and have an understanding how the entire process works. Don’t depend on your buyers broker.

I am a NYC resident and this book informed me of the difference between a condo and coop with a New York City perspective. I loved the many examples/real life situations that were applied to prove the author's point. I also found out the most important items for me at least: how much are closing costs and what and who you pay, life in a coop, what are the powers of the coop board and condo board.

As the cover states, this book was written by a coop board president. To a large extent it treats the coop apartment owner's concerns with contempt or does not cover them adequately. It does not cover the rules that protect the individual owner or how they are enforced. This is a difficult subject to cover but there's really no attempt.For example the book seems to suggest that because the owner is a shareholder in the coop, s/he cannot sue the coop because it would be the same as suing themselves. This is a nice theory (for the coop board president), however I think its more likely that coop boards and managers are required by law to discharge certain responsibilities.In a coop there are different communities of interests. For example those who have large apartments might have different priorities than people with small ones. The sponsor has different interests because they want to improve the building, but probably don't live there. In fact, the sponsor may be a corporation rather than a person. There have to be resources, and having bought the book trying to find out what they are, I was very disappointed.

I'm in real estate and co-ops are my specialty for years and this book still taught me alot about the ins and outs of co-ops and comparing to condos as well. Very informative books if you are looking to buy especially, there's alot of great information to help you decide if a co-op is right for you. Also for someone like me in real estate I can give tons of information to my clients and answer any question and concern they may have.