Upgrades, repairs, maintenance and replacement of your building's structure and systems can be internally or externally funded, though ultimately all costs are passed on to owners.

Owners make monthly payments for shared expenses for items like heating, staff, and elevators. In a co-op, the monthly payment is known as maintenance, or maintenance fees; in a condo, the owner pays what is called common charges (often abbreviated CC).

Transfer fees, or sales fees, are fees commonly imposed on buyers or sellers in New York City co-ops and condos upon sale of an apartment. These fees are an alternative means to raise capital for capital projects and maintenance repairs, thus alleviating the need for assessments. The amounts of transfer fees, their structure, and how they can be changed are generally determined by the bylaws.

Here are some ways that the transfer fees can be structured:

Transfer fees are colloquially referred to as “flip taxes.” However, they are not taxes, since they are imposed by the co-op or condo, not by the government. But the catchy name has stuck.

While only a minority of NYC buildings have the luxury of owning unsold apartments (these are the apartments where the resident chose to continue renting as opposed to buying when the building converted to co-op or condo), the ones that do often sell those apartments when renters move out.

Some bylaws require the proceeds from the unsold apartments to be specifically used for capital improvements.

For a co-op, refinancing the existing underlying mortgage and increasing the loan amount is a viable option, especially during times when interest rates are low.

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loan is a type of financing available to make energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy improvements on a commercial or residential property. Because co-op underlying lenders often restrict additional lending, PACE loans are not always available to co-ops.