Housing co-op allows tenants to make a profit
Monthly payments on Figueroa Arms apartments go toward ownership.
Kyla Segalia
Issue date: 3/12/08 Section: News
By KYLA SEGALA
Daily Trojan
As students make final decisions about housing choices for next year and rent prices continue to climb, another alternative - Figueroa Arms - the oldest co-op in Los Angeles, gives students the chance to be their own landlords.
Figueroa Arms, built in 1925, allows students to buy an apartment for an average of $200,000, either up front or in regular installments. While living there, students pay monthly dues of approximately $318 per month for the apartment, which includes gas, taxes, security and cable services.
When they move out, students can sell the apartment and earn interest.
A co-op is different from a typical apartment because the tenants own the property. Students and other residents are on the co-op board, so when they want repairs made, they don't have to rely on a landlord.
"It's cheaper than paying a landlord and being at the whims of the landlord," said Maria Stallings, the mother of a student who lives at Figueroa Arms. "It gives parents another alternative."
When Farrah Farzaneh, a graduate student in the construction management program at Viterbi and a real estate agent, transferred to the Marshall School of Business as an undergraduate student, she leased an apartment through Conquest student housing.
"It was a nightmare," she said. "I thought, 'I could own a home for the money I am paying here.' [Paying that rent] was against everything I was learning at Marshall about the value of money."
As a real estate agent, Farzaneh recommends students use their money to pay mortgages rather than rent, so they can get the money back when they graduate. She said paying rent is essentially throwing money away.
Farzaneh now lives at Figueroa Arms and said that when she graduates, she will be able to sell her place for a profit and either buy another home or start a business.
Despite the attractiveness of owning and the relatively low cost, students say there are several drawbacks to living at Figueroa Arms.
Daily Trojan
As students make final decisions about housing choices for next year and rent prices continue to climb, another alternative - Figueroa Arms - the oldest co-op in Los Angeles, gives students the chance to be their own landlords.
Figueroa Arms, built in 1925, allows students to buy an apartment for an average of $200,000, either up front or in regular installments. While living there, students pay monthly dues of approximately $318 per month for the apartment, which includes gas, taxes, security and cable services.
When they move out, students can sell the apartment and earn interest.
A co-op is different from a typical apartment because the tenants own the property. Students and other residents are on the co-op board, so when they want repairs made, they don't have to rely on a landlord.
"It's cheaper than paying a landlord and being at the whims of the landlord," said Maria Stallings, the mother of a student who lives at Figueroa Arms. "It gives parents another alternative."
When Farrah Farzaneh, a graduate student in the construction management program at Viterbi and a real estate agent, transferred to the Marshall School of Business as an undergraduate student, she leased an apartment through Conquest student housing.
"It was a nightmare," she said. "I thought, 'I could own a home for the money I am paying here.' [Paying that rent] was against everything I was learning at Marshall about the value of money."
As a real estate agent, Farzaneh recommends students use their money to pay mortgages rather than rent, so they can get the money back when they graduate. She said paying rent is essentially throwing money away.
Farzaneh now lives at Figueroa Arms and said that when she graduates, she will be able to sell her place for a profit and either buy another home or start a business.
Despite the attractiveness of owning and the relatively low cost, students say there are several drawbacks to living at Figueroa Arms.
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