New York Times
By KATHLEEN HUGHES
Buying an apartment in a New York co-op building can seem like such a great idea — at first. But just wait. There is often a steep learning curve that runs from happy optimism to weary cynicism.
This is one such story, as I remember it.
As most New Yorkers know all too well, when you buy a co-op, you don’t technically own the apartment itself, unlike a condominium. Instead, you are buying shares in a corporation with a group of strangers, and then you sign a lease.
And while co-op is short for cooperative, that can be a misnomer. Some buildings should be called un-co-ops, as in uncooperative, when it comes to dealing with any kind of change or building project.
The learning curve, by the way, gets even steeper if you also volunteer to join the board of directors and become its president.
