AKRON, Ohio, March 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- It's very rare to find a cooperative community in the Akron area of Ohio, or really anywhere in Ohio for that matter. Perhaps that's why owners at the Enclave Cooperative, which became a 104-unit co-op in 2004, decided on a change. They have just converted their units to condominiums and have already felt the benefits.
"With common charges over $1,000 per month, some shareholders struggled to make payments. Others tried unsuccessfully to sell their units. Ultimately, some had no choice but to default on their loan and abandon their home and investment. The remaining shareholders were left to pick up the slack. We had only one choice...convert to condominiums," according to Dianne Onesti, the president of the Board of Directors at The Enclave.
The Board contacted Jack H. Boyajian of The Hutton Group, the national experts in converting co-ops to condominiums. According to Mr. Boyajian, "By converting to condominiums, the owners were able to pay off an $8 million mortgage with loans that are at about half of the 8% rate they were paying. More importantly, these units as condos are now marketable with Fannie Mae financing available to qualified purchasers. Before the conversion, no one would finance these units as co-ops."
For now, it looks like the unit owners agree that converting to condominiums was the right thing to do. "Monthly housing costs for most of our owners who converted have declined substantially, in some cases by more than 40%," according to Jackie Hughes, the Board Treasurer.
Hutton has helped other co-ops in the Midwest make the jump over to condominium ownership, including nearly 1000 units in nearby Ann Arbor, Michigan at Geddes Lake, Pittsfield Village and Maple Village Condominiums. "Nationwide we have converted thousands of units to condominiums, but The Enclave represented a unique opportunity to rescue a relatively new co-op community in financial distress. We think we have helped to give the community another chance to flourish and the owners to regain their equity back," said Jack Boyajian.
The Hutton Group manage all aspects of the conversion of co-op communities to condominiums throughout the country. Since 1992, they have been responsible for converting thousands of units in New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Florida, Michigan, California, Ohio and Illinois.
SOURCE The Hutton Group
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