Making an offer on a co-oprequires more information because the listing agent needs to be confident that you will meet the board's financial requirements. A REBNY financial statement must be submitted in addition to the actual offer and mortgage pre-approval. This gives you a quick overview of your financial situation.

If the listing agent or seller has any questions, you must respond. They must have faith that any offer they accept will be approved by the board. When a listing agent asked why they had such a high income but few assets, one of our clients became irritated. We could see where both sides were coming from. The client thought the question was intrusive, but the listing agent knew the board would. Simply put, co-op applications are not for everyone.

Remember that any information requested at this stage will be included in the board application, which the listing agentwill review.