For most people, few things are as stressful—or exciting—as buying a new home. That can be especially true for buyers and residential unit owners who sign up to be among the first residents in a newly renovated or constructed condo or c…

Last December, The William Beaver House, located at the heart of New York’s Financial District, sat with 209 of its 320 units unsold—units priced from $900,000 to well over $2 million each. Unfortunately, while sales had gone well for th…

In an urban environment, people can feel isolated, though they live close to each other. While high-rise residential buildings put families near one another, living close doesn’t turn a group of neighbors into a community and that’s und…

Every co-op and condo association has its own house rules—rules and regulations (hopefully) based on common sense and aimed at protecting residents' safety and quality of life without undue disruption or inconvenience. Most un…

 Are you looking for a new management company or financial advisor? Does your  lobby need an extra splash of color? Is your co-op looking for replacement  windows or facade repairs due to Local Law 11 work?    Help is available at T…

hroom sink. But he did so by taking it from our SCRIE-DRIE-STAR credit  checks from the New York City Department of Finance. According to our bylaws  and proprietary lease, he is not supposed to charge for this service. What can  I do about…

Q I live in a co-op in Manhattan and have a neighbor who enjoys smoking pot. The  problem is he does a horrible job containing the smell. He smokes out the  window and around the apartment. The smell comes into my apartment (which is  dir…

 Many times, cooperatives and condominiums have commercial retail spaces  connected to or below their building. These are immensely valuable as a result of the income generated by these stores  and restaurants. Ergo, the importance of a ne…

 No, your steam lines are not supposed to be noisy. The Beatles are considered to be among the best musicians of all time. But the cacophony you get from noisy steam lines is far from considered music at  all.    So what is causing …

 The economy cratered—to use a term in popular parlance at that time—in September, 2008, with the collapse of too-big-to-fail Lehman Brothers. While the measures undertaken by the federal government and the Federal Reserve  averted complet…