Category: Finance

Last summer, a financially beleaguered 47-unit cooperative at 30 West 90th Street in Manhattan made news when it converted to condominium status. That was not the first time a co-op converted to condo. A Teaneck, New Jersey co-op underwent …

Thinking about your co-op or condo as a financial entity doesn't produce the same warm feeling as thinking about it as a home; but the fact remains that it is a financial entity in which you and your fellow shareholders or unit owners hav…

It seems as though everyone is talking about refinancing these days. With interest rates at an all-time low, more and more homeowners are taking advantage of the opportunity to reduce their monthly mortgage payments and/or take more equit…

Wouldn't it be nice to save your building thousands of dollars without doing any work? Well, there is a way it can be done. Although many co-op and condo boards may not know it, utility audit companies have been around for years, finding …

What a time to be shopping for a new underlying mortgage! Interest rates are again nearing a 30-year bottom and several dozen lenders are scrambling to fill their portfolios. Spreadsthe incremental amount that a lender adds to an index (s…

Co-ops and condos operate on significant budgets, usually in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes well into the millions, and it falls to those who serve on these properties' boards to control all that money. One way they do it…

You live in a condo, and the building has come of age. The facade needs a little work here and there, and the windows should be replaced. Up until recently you would have had only three optionsall of which were sure to be unpopular with u…

As the year draws to a close, many Americans are still trying to grasp all the revisions in the tax law that went into effect last summer as part of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. One of the changes that has the most impact on homeowner…

In June 1996 the New York State legislature addressed the long-acknowledged inequity in real estate taxation between co-ops and condos and single-family homes when it passed a bill authorizing tax abatements for eligible New York City own…

For most people, buying a home is the biggest investment they will ever make. But in order to make sure it doesn't become the biggest mistake they ever make, home buyers should do their homework before making a purchase. Following is an e…