co-op switch

Does anyone know whether it's legal for co-op shareholders to switch apartments? There's a unit for sale in my building that's comparable to my own, but in a slightly better location. The owner and I have talked about simply switching units and she can sell mine instead. Anyone know if this is legal?

Of course it is legal, it is just a matter of logistics. You will both still have to pay closing costs and transfers though and if one or both of you have loans then the lien is on that specific unit. You should get a good real estate attorney to help with this, maybe sublet from each other and figure out who is going to pay what costs and get it all in writing!

Subject: Complicated i'd rather say

It will be a very complicated process i'd say as I've been a Board Member in the Co-op for a while and I know how it works.You can't just switch. Each Co-op unit has a certificate of shares. Your certificate would have to be changed to the other person's name. And his would have to be changed to yours. On top of that each apartment has a title. This would have to be updated also. I'd also recommend performing lien search if you still want to proceed. You don't want to end up with something that has liens. Now if you think about it, is it worth the pain?

Why would your neighbor want to sell an apartment in a worse location? Seems like a lose lose for them. First they have to go through all the work to change apartments (which I agree will be complicated), then they have to sell an apartment in a bad location in the building.

Why not rent to each other?

you'll need to deal with the banks that hold the mortgages too, most banks have enough trouble doing a simple refinancing, I'd expect a lot of headaches, time and money will be involved if you've both got mortgages, if not then its prettty simple in theory, just hope your co-op has a good lawyer