Private homeowners can do pretty much whatever they want in their own homes, as long as it’s not illegal and doesn’t put other people or private property at risk. These same rights are not always afforded to co-op owners, however, and in s…
While the era of massive, NASA-sized satellite dishes is long past (unless you’re in a very old building, or have held on to an antique dish out of nostalgia), the advent of smaller apparatus—as well as rooftop cell phone towers—has brough…
Community living' in the context of a co-op or condo building means abiding by a set of rules and regulations designed to serve the community’s best interests and maintain property values. The building board makes the rules, and the reside…
Of all the stages of co-op life, the initial application and approval process, especially the interview, is certainly the most harrowing. Many people are in fear that just one wrong word will mean the difference between acceptance and reje…
Serving on the board is not all fun and games, glamor and glory. There’s also some paperwork involved. In fact, the flow of paperwork is the lifeblood of the community. The Articles of Incorporation, proprietary lease and bylaws in a…
It only takes a few minutes of a web search to uncover the traits that make a successful person or business owner. For example, Entrepreneur magazine’s Steven Key wrote the article, “5 Qualities of Successful Persons,” which included such …
The goal of any property developer is to sell units, but until that objective is reached they have to assume all the day-to-day responsibilities to ensure smooth operations and continued sales. This requires wearing many hats—manager, boar…
The word community, like many words in the English language, has more than one interpretation. A community can be identified as a geographical location—a physical infrastructure of streets, parks and buildings, defined by tangible brick an…
The Expo, now in its 27th year of providing information and networking to board members, property managers and real estate professionals will return to the New York Hilton on April 8, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Not only is this on…
According to a well-worn truism, "You can't fight City Hall." In the old days, that was true—particularly when it came to public works projects. If the city wanted to do it, there was no one to say 'no,' except at the ballot box, when it w…