North Jersey, NJ
March 22 2015

Woman’s love for tennis influences Fort Lee co-op purchase

March 22, 2015
By DONNA ROLANDO

Since the age of 7, when she took up tennis in her native Armenia,
Arletta Asatrian has found her life shaped by the game, right down to
her recent real estate purchase in Fort Lee.

>From the balcony of her Mediterranean Towers West co-op, which she
purchased in late February, the 44-year-old Asatrian shows why this
purchase fit her lifestyle so perfectly: Within sight are the tennis
courts, one of many amenities at the 507-unit complex on North Avenue.

For a tennis player who competed for the Armenian national team and
has coached around the world for the International Tennis Federation,
the proximity to these courts spoke to her like a dream. It was
something she only imagined when she first came to New Jersey 12 years
ago and worked directly across from Mediterranean Towers West at the
Fort Lee Racquet Club.

“It was such a huge building,” she said, “and so many people living here.”

But her real estate journey in the United States started in Tenafly,
where she bought a home and then sold it in 2014, moving to Florham
Park in Morris County as a coach-in-residence for a tennis program.

“When I moved to Florham Park, I knew I was going to come back,”
Asatrian said. What was important to her about Fort Lee was that it’s
just 20 minutes by car to see her older daughter at college in New
York City. In addition, she has tennis students in the Bergen County
area.

When she felt it was time to pursue her own home again, Asatrian
looked at co-ops and condos, but she found condo prices steeper than
Mediterranean Towers West’s, as is often the case with co-ops. She
also relished having so many amenities under one roof at the Towers,
like the playroom for 4-year-old daughter Nina, the swimming pool and
fitness center, doorman security, a mini market and a hair salon.

First, though, Asatrian had to be approved by the co-op board — a
feat, she said, would never have been realized without the help of her
sales agent, Frances Kosier of Century 21 Calabrese Realty in
Englewood Cliffs.

“The thing people don’t understand is that just because they’re
willing to pay cash doesn’t mean they can buy a co-op. They still need
co-op board approval, and there’s an application,” Kosier said.

Applicants must demonstrate through financial documentation
significant income to not only buy the co-op but also to pay a monthly
maintenance fee, Kosier said.

The board makes sure upfront that each buyer’s income is four times
what his or her expenses will be, she said, including the monthly
maintenance charge that varies by unit. For Asatrian, she said, that
came to slightly more than $1,200.

As a result of the process, there are very few co-op foreclosures.

This maintenance fee is higher than that charged at most condos, but
that’s because it includes property taxes, all utilities (except for
cable and telephone), and any home repairs that might be needed, said
Kosier, who also lives at Mediterranean Towers West and has walked a
number of buyers through the co-op board process.

“If something breaks, I tell them in the morning and I come home and
it’s fixed,” Kosier said.

Asatrian’s application package received approval in three to four
weeks for a Feb. 25 closing on a two-bedroom home she purchased for
$160,000.

“The [application] package is the big thing,” Kosier said. “Every
single thing they have to show.”

When dealing with a co-op, Asatrian said, it’s important to get a
sales agent who understands the application process.

“I thought I would never be able to get in,” said Asatrian, happy to
be able to offer her daughters such a complete lifestyle.