If you plan on financing your purchase, find out from your lender if they would finance co-ops in NJ. The last time I was interested in 135 Montgomery, there weren't many lenders willing to finance.

425 is a bit pricey for that building though.

Saw something pop up on zillow here the other day, 2 bedroom co-op for 425k. Worth?
Experiences?

Hi All. I'm looking to move into Jersey City and have been doing the real estate run around for the past several weeks. I've seen a few listings pop up at 135 Montgomery Street. I haven't been able to find much info/ comments (good, bad or other) online about the place. I know it's a coop.

I'd appreciate some insight to this building. Please chime in.

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Worth checking with the office in Metropolis Towers in person -- they don't always advertise what's available. And people occasionally post listings on the laundry room bulletin board there for by-owner rentals. Rents can vary widely since you can rent from both individual co-op owners and the companies that run the building.

I think rental units are much less common in Montgomery Towers because it's mostly a co-op.

I am a JC newcomer. Anything 1Br for rent in either bldg? What is the rent like?

I used to live in Montgomery for 2 years, and now I am on my second year in Metropolis. I disagree that Montgomery is a nicer building, I had a roach infestation from hell there and the exterminators management hired were very poor. Also getting anything fixed took forever (like the a.c) , because the one guy that did anything was impossible to get ahold of, as well as the building only having 2 elevators and them breaking down every other week.

270 and 280 marin blvd are metropolis tower.

135 montgomery is the montgomery tower which is a nicer building and a more relaxed rental policy, but it is still a coop.

there was a treasury auction last year if i remember for about ~15 units in 270/280, a studio went for around 170-200k.

Back when they were built as the Gregory (as someone mentioned) the two towers on the South side of the street had nice large apartments...much more than 650 square feet as previously mentioned if my memory serves.

The South side of the street had some sort of "senior" or "middle income" or some such appellation, no terraces and the apartments, which I think were remodelled, were miniscule with concrete pillars in the weirdest places. It seemed apparent that the South side building was built to get federal and state financing of some sort. (At one point HUD actually foreclosed on the complex.)

In the '90's the South side went up for auction on many units and seemed to be split off from the other buildings but they really were awful layouts.

Which of these is now the aforementioned Montgomery Towers and which is Metropolis Towers? I haven't been keeping track for a long time.

A number of the posts in this thread apparently confuse Montgomery Towers (montgomerytowers.com) with Metropolis Towers (no web-site as of this writing). Montgomery Towers is largely owner-occupied, has no board approval process (for renting or buying) and is a very nice place. Metropolis Towers is largely tenant-occupied, has an approval process and is not so nice. The reason some people confuse the two is that the complexes are located directly across Montgomery Street from each other and look somewhat similar.

This link might be of interest.

http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/ ... ty-Montgomery-Towers.html

Anyone that has lived or known others that have lived in Montgomery Towers can you offer any opinions good or bad about the building and the area?

Thanks.

Check the financials of the building, how much is in the reserve fund, and how is it funded, if its low watch out, the fund for the monthly operating expenses, condition of the buildings infrastructure, water pipes, electrical system, elevators, roof, I think it has brick as part of the exterior facing, when was the last time it was repointed?
Percentage of investors to owner occupied units, if there is a higher percentage of investors you will have a hard time getting a mortgage. There are lots of things to watch out for in an older buiding especially one that started as lower income rental housing.

Ok, what would be the argument against buying at Montgomery Towers.
Someone there wants around 300K for a very small 1BR (around 600 square feet). What do you think about this?

I am also very interested to hear the answer to the above questions. Also, does anyone have an idea what would be the reasonable price to pay for a 650 square feet 1BR with a view in Montgomery tower?

I used to have a friend that lived at Metropolis Towers, (gregory park). Lets all remember that our dear friend George "The Beacon" Filopolis bought this place about 5 years ago. He came through will all these promises to fix it up and make it luxury housing and build a 3rd tower and a tower for parking. Never happened. His work was a lick and a prayer. All the renovation was sub-par and quickly starting falling apart again. Its a real shame, cause the location really cant be beat.

Rachel,

That's really interesting. I actually made a tenetive deal to purchase one of the the units in montgomery towers. The unit was redone, everything is new, its a good size and has a great view. However this all hinges on my ability to get a mortgage for the place. If I can't secure financing the deal will definately fall through. I had a mortgage co lined up when I was planning on buying a condo, but that california based lender won't work with co-ops.

I have a feeling that Montgomery Towers is in a bit better shape then the Metropolis towers, based on my conversations with the guy selling the unit. But who knows. They had a couple units for sale, all of them renovated. They didn't ask me if I could pay cash, although we did do a credit check. I would hope the owners might mention if it had to be a cash only deal, or if financing would be difficult. But who knows...its crazy world...

My understanding about these coops is that they are owned primarily by their "coop board." I had a client get as far into the procedure of buying one as going to a coop board meeting. Turns out the Metropolis Towers are less than 30% owner/occupied. The other 70% of units are owned by this "coop board." Thus, more than 70% of the building is tenant occupied. Banks will lend on a minimum of 50% owner occupancy.

Coops are becoming obsolete and are not being established anymore. At Metroplolis Towers, the board is pushing for the building to be condoed. Then they can sell their units off, whatever the occupancy ratio. Right now, in these buildings, units can only be purchased with cash. It's too bad. The ammenities and views are nice.

Rachel, Weichert Realtors
(201) 780-7031

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What you are talking about? although those two buildings are crap, the area is one of the best(or rather most convenient) around downtown.

So yes most sane people would rather live in a crappy building but in a good area than a good building but in a crap area, although with all the dorks buying into The Beacon, i am not sure anymore.

Besides you can always rennovate the entire apartment, so the hallway/lobby is not well down... shrug....

The more serious issue as i said, is their financial, this is especially important for a coop. When i was buying earlier this year, i was shown a couple units in there for 170k each, around 900 sqf. Was very tempted, but no bank will issue mortgage and the more i looked into their finanacial the more it sounded like a bad idea.

So just keep that in mind if they are asking 400k for the same units now...

Ha!!! The mole on the neck comment was right on - Walter the doorman had a Yugo on his neck.

We rented at Montgomery Towers and lived there for 2 years from 2000-2002. Our landlord was great in that he had the place painted to our liking and put in a lot of new upgrades.

When we finally decided to buy somewhere (we bought on Bright Street) we looked in Montgomery Towers and the DUMP across the street. We were amazed at the condition of the places for sale, plus rumor was that they were bankrupt and couldn't get any funding for renovations.

Just had to put my two cents in about Walter - he was classic!

Okay, so $100,000 for the coop-condo difference. How much for the inflated quarter size mole?

But seriously, do people think the value of those apartments will rise because of the two large projects going up on the north side of Newark/Columbus? I have seen apartments in The Gregory (not the current name) and they were very nice, but the place stunk. I imagine Montgomery Tower is similar. Also, I thought another building was going up on the Gregory's grounds where the swimming pool building is - is that still on the books?

These places were rentals no more than 3 years ago and they were chitholes, serious chitholes. I have since moved to manhattan before was living in Paulus Hook. I love Paulus hook and have a new construction unit closer to exchange place. I couldnt believe when I saw these were condos now I actually laughed about it. You should have seen the people that use to live in the rentals I dont know if anyone there in the 30 floors even had a full time job and the door man had a mole on his neck that was the size of an inflated quarter.

I honestly cannot believe these are condos. They were basically projects 3 years ago as rentals.

go through their financials VERY carefully. Those two coops (montgomery and the one across) had major financial problems to the point where no bank will issue a mortgage. The situation is improving though(i think).

if condo is 400k, coop for 300k is fair. Although it depends a lot on the building and maintainence fee etc. I know a couple coops in forest hills that's much more expensive than the condo next door.

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/rfs/113199093.html

What do people think of Montgomery Towers?

There are some co-ops for sale there, and if anyone has an opionion about the place I would love to here it.

Also what do people feel is a good discount for a Co-op vs a condo, ie if a condo costs 400k the same apartment as a co-op should cost what.......