Category: Finance

A little over four years ago, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was signed into law. The most significant provision was Section 404, which requires corporations to conduct an annual assessment and report on the effectiveness of their internal…

Some of the world’s most valuable real estate exists in New York City, and the wealth doesn’t end with residential buildings and office space. In a city with so many people and so little space, a place to park your car can be priceless…

They’re the smallest pieces of the co-op puzzle. The one item without which the whole endeavor could not function. Just like in a Fortune 500 corporation, the shares in a co-op reflect value, and can be highly sought-after prizes—depen…

With all the luxury condos going up in New York City today, many people still maintain a soft spot for the city’s prewar apartment buildings. You’ll see them all around town—on Central Park West and Fort Washington Avenue in Manhattan;…

The dreaded phrase “maintenance increase” is two words that most co-op owners may not want to hear, but sometimes it is necessary for a building’s board to make the unpopular decision of raising fees. With rising operating costs, fuel …

Like most companies, co-ops and condos have two important, yet distinct budgets which allow boards and owners to manage the day-to-day and long-term financial requirements of their buildings. The operating budget includes recurring exp…

As a financial professional who has served metropolitan New York's cooperative community for over 25 years, I must say that this is probably the most challenging time in recent history. Everywhere we turn, rapidly escalating costs coupled w…

Any transfer of ownership of a cooperative unit will require the cooperative corporation to cancel the old stock certificate and issue a new one. Many see this step as a simple clerical task, and often it is the managing agents that keep th…

Everybody complains about money. It doesn't matter if you're a millionaire or just getting by from paycheck to paycheck--everyone is on the lookout for money saving possibilities. The same holds true for co-op and condo owners and share…

While there's certainly no shortage of affluent co-op and condo buildings in New York City, it's a fact that a significant proportion of buildings are home to residents of more modest means--buildings for whom large capital improvement proj…