From time to time, every co-op or condo community has to undertake big capital improvement projects—perhaps a total window replacement, roof repairs, an elevator overhaul, or major exterior renovations. The laws and regulations that deal …
If you think about it, a multifamily building isn’t that much different than the human body. Both house important complex operating systems and organ-like pieces of vital equipment; both take in fuel and produce waste; and both require regu…
There are plenty of reasons why a co-op shareholder or condo owner might want to make changes to their unit. Maybe it’s a new owner who wants to do major renovations to make the unit a better fit; perhaps it’s a long-time resident who buys …
All you have to do is turn on the TV these days to know how popular kitchen and bathroom renovations have become. Backsplashes, stainless steel appliances, subway tiles, granite countertops, glass-enclosed showers, soaking tubs—the list of …
The experience of condo and co-op board members can often feel like a juggling act. There are varied interests in the community that want different things. There's legal counsel, financial advisers, and managers who try to offer the best pr…
Q I live in a 47-unit building and many of my neighbors have two or three children living with either one or two parents in the one-bedroom apartments. I believe that those apartments should be paying additional maintenance to cover th…
As New York City—and the entire nation—confronts an epic housing crisis, everyone from lawmakers to activists to the private sector is struggling to figure out viable and equitable solutions. History shows us that in other tumultuous times,…
People often say, “If these walls could talk...”, when considering the variety of experiences that a room has absorbed over the years and would now relate if it only could. But while talking walls are a purely hypothetical construct, prope…
Seward Park Cooperative on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (where this author has lived for the last 15 years, and has served on its board of directors for the last six) is a remarkably diverse community of 5,000 or so New Yorkers that pri…
Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat, oh my! Today, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t use some form of social media to communicate with friends, family, and colleagues. Whether they are posting updates on their daily life, sha…
Seward Park Cooperative on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (where this author has lived for the last 15 years, and has served on its board of directors for the last six) is a remarkably diverse community of 5,000 or so New Yorkers that pri…
Seward Park Cooperative on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (where this author has lived for the last 15 years, and has served on its board of directors for the last six) is a remarkably diverse community of 5,000 or so New Yorkers that pri…
Back in the late ‘80s, pop stars Milli Vanilli once had a hit song called “Blame It on the Rain.” And while ‘it’ for the singing duo was about heartache and lost love, the rain can bring a very different kind of pain to the board and resid…
Before embarking on a real estate hunt, most prospective buyers craft lists. The “must have” list (square footage, operational plumbing, windows), the “would love list” (lots of natural light, Jacuzzi bathtub, doorman) and then the “probabl…
Winter in New York can be brutal—piles of slushy gray snow to wade through and frigid winds that keep you inside. So you curl up with a good book, sip a cup of tea and watch the flurries through the window. As the flakes fall, you might fin…
Q Our cooperative building, for many years, carried a high mortgage. During those years, I did serve on the board. The interest on the mortgage was included in our monthly maintenance fee and was noted yearly for our share for IRS …
As the last few years have demonstrated, winter can be an unpredictable time in New York City. Some years, temperatures remain fairly mild and we barely get any snow, while other years are bitterly cold, with howling winds and epic sno…
The key to proper financial management of a co-op begins with the presence of a strategic plan. This plan should include, at a minimum, a projection of necessary capital improvements; and a forecast of revenue and expenses over a ch…
Taking care of a condo or co-op building’s budget and finances is a big job. Handling such large sums of money is an important responsibility, and not every shareholder or unit owner has the expertise to do the job well. Sure, most people k…
Any New York building of significant size needs a professional building manager in order to function from day-to-day, and even smaller buildings often need some help from a management company. Before any management company is hired, howeve…