You’re in the home-buying process and looking for potential properties in your price range. For the average New York family, that means your budget would be around $799,999. As you scroll through the list of available properties in your area, you find a sun-soaked one-bedroom with updated fixtures and generous closet space. It’s everything you’re looking for, and somehow the asking price is $150,000. You’ve found a hidden gem!
Come to find out, this unit resides in Carnegie House, a land-lease building. What does that mean for you as a homeowner?
What Is A Land-Lease Agreement?
Land-lease agreements, also referred to as ground–lease agreements, are situations in which you own the property on a piece of land that you do not own and instead lease from the land owner. While this type of ownership is common for commercial real estate, it’s less common for residential buildings. Typically, a prospective buyer purchases a unit or share of the building from the owner or cooperative board, and that owner or board owns the land underneath.
Some residential units have land-lease arrangements. A popular example is a mobile home in a trailer park, where owners lease their land from someone who owns the entire plot of land and then owns their individual manufactured home.
There are two kinds of land-lease agreements: government and private. In a government land lease, a government agency owns the land, and property owners do not pay property taxes. They make “PILOT” payments that go toward neighborhood development. Private land leases apply to every other situation, where a private owner negotiates the terms of their lease with the building and then charges the individual unit owners monthly ground-lease payments. The remainder of this article discusses private land lease agreements.
NYC Land-Lease Buildings
Some homes in New York City are part of land-lease buildings. When you purchase these units, you will have lower mortgage payments but higher than normal monthly fees. The land’s monthly rent gets divided by all unit owners in the building, and you pay that on top of any other building fees. See below for a list of all the buildings in Manhattan that RealtyHop knows have land leases.
Land Negotiations
Since someone else owns the land, the building has a rental agreement with the owner. The land and building owners must negotiate the terms of their rental agreement, just as a renter would with their landlord. Most building and land owners renegotiate their agreement every 50 to 99 years.
After a negotiation, your monthly fees could increase due to a higher land rental price. If you consider purchasing a land-lease property, make sure to inquire about when the lease term expires, as you will not have control over how much your fee increases.
How Owning Property in a Land-Lease Building Affects Your Monthly Payments
There are a fair amount of land-lease buildings in New York City, with most consolidated in Manhattan. The Excelsior is another example of a land-lease building, and we can see how your monthly expenditures compare to that of a non land-lease building by looking at the listing pages and monthly cost breakdown.
The monthly mortgage payment comes from our mortgage calculator, assuming that a homebuyer spends 20% on their down payment and has a 6% interest rate on their mortgage.
| Building | Excelsior, 303 E 57th St | Connaught Tower, 300 E 54th St |
| Unit | #9F | #28G |
| Purchase Price | $450,000 | $695,000 |
| Monthly Mortgage Payment | $2,158.38 | $3,333.50 |
| Maintenance & HOA | $3,611 | $1,461 |
| Total monthly payment | $5,769.38 | $4,794.50 |
Considering the above table, we can see that the total amount you will pay each month living at The Excelsior costs $5,769.38 while living at the non land-lease building, Connaught Tower, costs $4,794.50. That $974.88 difference costs you an extra $11,698.56 per year, and that could increase should your building’s lease expire.
*Photo Contribution: RealtyHop, Connaught Tower
Benefits of Land-Lease Purchases
The following situations may be to your benefit should you decide to make this kind of purchase.
Lower mortgage payments
Your mortgage payments will be lower thanks to a low purchase price. This means you can potentially buy a piece of property that you could not if it was under a regular ownership agreement. You may be able to afford a property with an extra bedroom, outdoor space, amenities, nicer finishes, etc.
Additionally, you may be able to purchase a property in an area you could not previously afford.
No property taxes
You will not pay property taxes as you don’t actually own the land. This will save you money that you can put toward the other costs of owning property. If you live in an area with high property taxes, you avoid this relatively high charge.
Drawbacks to Land-Lease Purchases
You should consider the following characteristics of this kind of purchase and ask for more information from your agent and the building.
High Monthly Fees
You will likely pay high monthly/HOA fees in addition to your mortgage payments. The fees help pay for renting the land that the building resides on. Oftentimes, owning a unit in a land lease building means you’ll pay more each month than you will for a standard ownership situation.
Lease Renewal Means Higher Payment
If you purchase a property close to the end of the building’s lease term, you will have to pay higher monthly fees after the lease renewal. These fees could increase by such a large amount that you can no longer afford to live in your home. Unfortunately, owning property in the building does not mean you will have a say in how much the entity that owns the land will increase its rent.
Lease Expiration Means Moving Out
While having to increase your monthly payments to match a higher rental price, some building and land owners may not renegotiate at all. If your building does not renew its land lease, you can no longer live in the building. Even though you own a unit on the property, land leases come with surrender clauses that give them the right to force you to evacuate.
The surrender clause is one of the most important clauses to read and understand if you decide to purchase a land lease building. If the land lease for your building expires in the near future, consider how this could potentially affect your finances or your living situation.
Hard to Sell
Once you own your unit in a land-lease building, you may find it difficult to sell the property down the line. Many buyers may not opt to purchase in a land-lease building and may not consider the unit at all. Additionally, as your building’s lease with land owners grows closer to expiration, it becomes even more difficult to sell your property as buyers will not want to acquire a new home and immediately pay more or have to find a new home.
Land-Lease Buildings in Manhattan
The following lists consists of potential land-lease buildings in Manhattan. Should you decide to pursue purchasing a unit in any of these buildings, we recommend inquiring with your agent to see if they are still under a land-lease.
Conclusion
Purchasing a property in a land-lease building means you will likely pay a low monthly mortgage cost, offset by high monthly fees. Should this type of purchase appeal to you, we recommend moving forward by asking questions about all the above factors to ensure you have as much protection as possible. Consult with professionals before conducting any purchase activity, and you may just get a good deal on a new home.
