The Pros And Cons Of Buying A Co-Op Home In Maryland | The Real ...

When looking to buy a home, you have a number of options. You can buy a detached home with plenty of room for lawns, gardens, and a child?s play area; or you can buy a condo, which has little or no ?green? space. Other alternatives include townhouses that, when it comes to ?green space?, sit between a detached home and a condo. One option that has appealed to buyers over the years is to buy into a cooperative housing estate. This is a different form of ownership as you don?t own the home. You own a share in the cooperative and the rights to live in a particular home in that co-op.

There are a lot of positives to this style of living. There is a real community style of living, the maintenance costs of the surrounds are covered by the cooperative, and you get to have a say in the running of the community. One of the oldest cooperative housing communities in the country is the Greenbelt Co-Op in Maryland. This is a community of 1600 homes ranging in size from 1 to 4 bedrooms ? it includes town houses and detached homes and is a real community.

While this form of living suits many, there are several downsides to living in a co-op. Mortgage finance can be difficult since you are not buying a brick-and-mortar building ? you are buying a share of the whole establishment.? If you do get mortgage financing, getting home equity financing down the track is almost impossible ? I say almost since most lenders will not even look at you unless you have at least 25% equity.

Other considerations include living to a set of rules, even though those rules have been introduced by the community, and having to meet certain eligibility criteria before the community will let you buy. Having said all that, in an area like Greenbelt, if you can get in, and the home suits your needs, you will most likely not regret the decision. Just be sure to go into a co-op home purchase with your eyes wide open. This is definitely a different form of real estate investment than your standard suburban home.

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  4. Financing for Buying into a Condo in Maryland
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Source: http://www.realestatebriefings.com/home-buying/proscons-buyingcoop-maryland/

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