Small co-ops and condos face a special set of challenges relative to controlling expenses. The building has to be heated, the real estate taxes paid, and the halls cleaned. Unlike in larger buildings, the cost isn’t shared by dozens or pe…
Even the most established, well-run board can benefit from some new energy and fresh ideas. Here, management pros give their thoughts on how to encourage residents to get involved with their board.
Imagine if you can actually buy a co-op in New York City and not have to be in front of the building's dreaded board for approval. Well, there is an option for buyers to consider in the form of a sponsor unit. It's a term that you've probab…
According to a story in the New York Daily News on August 18, a construction worker died after apparently hanging himself from a fifth-floor window at a Queens condominium complex. By any estimation, this event was tragic, and surel…
In a city like New York, no one—including co-op and condo owners—is immune from the sounds of noisy construction work. With such things as loud jackhammers and buzzing saws going on, it's enough to drive anyone mad. Whether the construction…
Q. I am a unit owner in a condominium association containing 189 units. We manage ourselves and wouldn’t ever want to have a management company manage our property. However, the question has often been asked as to what happens when a mana…
Few people in the New York City area—be they renters, buyers, or even just commuters—have managed to navigate the daily grind without coming eye-to-eye or face-to-face with pests such as ants, bees, mice, rats or roaches. Stumbling upon the…
With rising awareness among everyday people about climate change, global warming, and the ever-more-pressing need to be smarter and more conservation-minded when it comes to energy and the environment has come some exciting innovations in l…
As Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., once said, taxes are the price we pay for civilization. While that may be true, its truth doesn't make a hefty tax bill any easier to swallow, especially when it comes to city and state property taxes. There…
When it comes to multi-family communities with shared accommodations, failing to plan for a rainy day could mean that when the rains do eventually come—and they will—bailing out will be much harder, and more costly, than it might have been …