# I am friedo, Homeowner! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 14, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360 "2006-03-14T20:46:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360/1 "2006-03-14T20:46:14Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360/2 "2006-03-14T21:03:14Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360/3 "2006-03-14T22:04:37Z")
Congratulations, friedo. > [@](#): > > I’m a tool of The Man no longer. But you still have your man-tool, no? Or did ya have to give it up to make the down payment? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360/4 "2006-03-14T22:07:33Z")
Welcome to the club, homo! Homowner… Homeowner. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360/5 "2006-03-14T22:38:48Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] 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? [/QUOTE] 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. > [@UncleBeer](#): > > But you still have your man-tool, no? Or did ya have to give it up to make the down payment? 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. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360/6 "2006-03-15T12:58:10Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360/7 "2006-03-15T14:24:42Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > 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. Time share! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360/8 "2006-03-15T14:32:11Z")
Cool, thanks **friedo**. Oh, and I meant “Congra **t** ulations” but then you knew that already. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360/9 "2006-03-15T14:38:25Z")
Wishing you joy and luck in your new home. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360/10 "2006-03-15T15:16:41Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] I’m a tool of The Man no longer. [/QUOTE] You’re a tool of The Bank! Welcome to the club! ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360/11 "2006-03-15T16:00:02Z")
Congrats, man! ---
**Author:** ![FWorld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FWorld](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FWorld)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360/12 "2006-03-15T16:33:50Z")
So, we invited to the house-warming party? 🆒 \<_Does a little dance. Gets tossed out for stupid dance_\> ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360/13 "2006-03-15T17:20:48Z")
Congratulations! ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-friedo-homeowner/348360/14 "2006-03-15T19:02:40Z")
Welcome to the wonderful world of tenant-shareholderdom.