Well, it sure took long enough. About 10 weeks since I first made my offer until the closing which happened today. But now, after signing and initialling approximately nine thousand documents, I now own my very own apartment in Brooklyn! (Actually I own 491 shares in the corporation that owns the building the apartment is in, because it’s a co-op.)
So, like, wahoo, and stuff.
I’m a tool of The Man no longer.
Congradulations. I imagine it’s the biggest and most satisfying purchase most of us will ever make… except for a second vacation home. 
Can you breifly explain though the “shares” concept of a coop? Are the number you buy dependant on the purchase price? Do they increase or decrease in value differently from other’s shares based on improvements?
Congratulations, friedo.
But you still have your man-tool, no? Or did ya have to give it up to make the down payment?
Welcome to the club, homo!
Homowner…
Homeowner.
The number of shares you buy is determined by the co-op when they set up the corporation, each apartment being worth such-and-such a fraction of the total value of the building. So a big 3-bedroom might be 1500 shares; mine is just a studio. They’re just ordinary shares of stock in a private corporation, with a certificate with a spiffy gold seal on it and everything.
Once you own the shares, they entitle you to lease or sublet the apartment from the corporation. (The “rent” as it is, is just a small maintenance fee for managing the building. My mortgage payments plus maintenance and taxes will actually be a little less than the rent I’m paying now.)
Of course, as a shareholder, you’re entitled to elect the building’s board of directors and vote on important matters of domestic policy, like whether or not to extend the hours of the laundry room or declare war against the snooty condo across the street.
Of course I still have my–err, oh. I guess it turns out my penis is now entangled in a complex lease-back arrangement with the management company’s hot receptionist.
Congratulations on the new home purchase. The first thing I did when I got my new place was buy paint and start painting it. Now that it is yours, you are no longer tied to whatever cheap dull paint that the landlord has decided. If you want to paint it red, you can.
Time share!
Cool, thanks friedo. Oh, and I meant “Congratulations” but then you knew that already.
Wishing you joy and luck in your new home.
You’re a tool of The Bank! Welcome to the club!
Congrats, man!
So, we invited to the house-warming party? 
<Does a little dance. Gets tossed out for stupid dance>
Congratulations!
Welcome to the wonderful world of tenant-shareholderdom.