Q From downstairs at times I can hear the kids who live in the apartment above me jumping around. The owner has a rug down sometimes, but not at others. The board president has hardwood floors, even though it says in the bylaws that …
When a client hires a general contractor to build or renovate property, that company is legally responsible for completing all of that work. The contractor may go out and hire different companies or subcontractors to help execute that wo…
One of the most confusing subjects of property management is maintenance. Engineers make it such with fancy names to various types of maintenance, such as "Reliability Maintenance," "Routine Maintenance," "Predictive Maintenance" and "To…
Everyone's heard the old saying about how "They don't make 'em like they used to" applied to everything from cars to appliances. But does the same hold true for residential buildings? A spirited debate surrounds the issue of whether toda…
In a cramped city crawling with cars, a parking lot or garage is a gold-plated amenity for a New York City co-op or condo. Just as we need a place to lay our heads, we also need a place to stable our precious sedans and SUVs. Adequate pa…
Over the past 15 years, freelance photographer Simon Russell and his wife, Ann Delilkan, worked hard to make a home out of their small basement-level apartment on MacDougal Street. When "Men in Black" filmed in their neighborhood, R…
You know that old adage, "It's not what you know but who you know that makes the difference." By joining trade organizations, you have an opportunity to get to know more people and network, and you can become an invaluable source of info…
New York City is known as the city that never sleeps��and for good reason: the city noise can be enough to keep anyone awake 24/7. In a city packed with millions of people, who often live in tight quarters, New York City residents experienc…
Say that you and your neighbors have been living a quiet, peaceful life on your tree-lined city block for years and years. Suddenly, you see construction workers digging in that vacant lot next to your condo or co-op building. So you go dow…
Every property manager has a horror story or two—or three, or four, or forty-seven—about the sub-zero winter night when the boiler in a 400-unit high-rise went kaput, or what happened when the sprinkler system decided to turn on for no disc…