Combined Coop Units

Does anyone know how the typical Coop/Bank operates when it comes to financing for 2 combined units? Here's the situation: I'm looking to combine my existing 2 br/2 ba unit with the next door neighbor's 2 br/2 ba unit. I have a mortgage on the current apartment. When we initially purchased our unit 2 years back, we bought for $1.3M (with 25% down), and have put another $200k into the unit for... [more]

Does anyone know how the typical Coop/Bank operates when it comes to financing for 2 combined units? Here's the situation: I'm looking to combine my existing 2 br/2 ba unit with the next door neighbor's 2 br/2 ba unit. I have a mortgage on the current apartment. When we initially purchased our unit 2 years back, we bought for $1.3M (with 25% down), and have put another $200k into the unit for renovations (new custom kitchen, windows, floors, heating/cooling units). Without actually listing it on the market to sell, we are estimating with broker we could sell for $2M+/- now. So value has certainly increased with renos. My questions: 1) How does the process work with the bank if we buy the second unit? Will they come in and re-assess our current unit as part of appraisal? Or will that only happen after we've gone through the sale process for the second unit as a single unit, and then further taken steps to combine the 2 & refinance the combined place? 2) How does a typical Coop look at finances for a 2nd unit purchased in the building? If you intend for the 2nd unit to be your primary living space, but need to renovate to make that happen, is there any leniency at all on the debt to income ratio? 3) Any other major things I should be thinking about before venturing down this path? Thanks! [less]