anonymous Manhattan co-op buyer

I am from France and still own an apartment there where I am on the board.  I lived in New York for eight years as a renter before looking for an apartment to buy early this year.

It took four months to find a one-bedroom I liked enough, a prewar co-op below W. 30th Street near Lexington Avenue.

I didn't know that co-op boards are said to be biased against foreigners.

I only knew that the apartment wasn't like most of the modern, shoebox ones I saw where you cannot even walk around with your bed in the room.

After living in rentals in Forest Hills and the Upper East Side for years, I was in contract to buy a studio with an eat-in kitchen on the Lower East Side. The co-op was in a large complex comprised of four buildings and 1,700 apartments.

I was a first-time buyer, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I was buying the apartment on my own after years of working as a writer/magazine editor. My broker had assured me it was an easy board, but it was still a nerve-wracking experience.

I was 31, buying an apartment as a single woman, and I had gotten into trouble with credit cards in my early 20s.

Most of the debt was paid off by then, and I had a good job that paid plenty of money for my mortgage and maintenance.   But the board had already asked for my parents to cosign anyway, which I refused to do.

When the interview came around, I was so nervous. I felt like Jesus Christ walking into my crucifixion.

My co-op board interview took place in one of the larger, more intimidating apartments in the Upper West Side building where I was in contract to buy a one-bedroom.

There were two couches opposite each other. I was seated on one, and the four board members sat across from me.

They asked what I did for a living, how long I’d been working, where I was from, what schools I went to, do I like to have parties at home, do I have pets.