Does your building’s board make decisions independently or do you rely on the property manager for decisions, advice, and authority?

Property management is an essential part of most residential buildings.

From day-to-day operations, monthly billing and collections, resident questions, complaints and other administrative tasks, property management is a necessary piece of your functioning puzzle. However, this should not stop a condo or coop board from taking an active, and pro-active, position regarding their building and its operations.

Think of it this way: your coop or condo building is really a business and should be run like a business. You are the part-owner. READ MORE=>>

Read More

How to go from wanting to fire the super to making them a hero

So, you want to fire your super, handyman, or doorman? Think again. Coop and condo board members and residents often ask us about their staff. They frequently have a list of opinions ranging from laziness to mistrust, overtime and mismanagement. However, it is not often that they can pinpoint any precise examples. This leads us to ask some follow-up questions, to which most coop and condo owners and boards often do not have an answer.

To turn this around, we put together some ideas that might assist coop and condo boards help the staff, including the super, to run a better building, making them the heroes =>>>

Read More

Many of us have been there. Face down after stumbling on an uneven or slippery sidewalk. We are not talking on the way home from a happy hour. We are talking about broad daylight when going to the store or the subway. That begs for the question, who is responsible for the sidewalks? Read HERE=>>

Read More

ALL of a coop’s or condo’s policies and procedures should be reviewed every few years. This is to see if they are up to date, or if they have fallen out of compliance either with New York City building regulations or the owner’s wishes and best interests. Here are our tips on what to consider when reviewing or creating a Pet Policy for your building. More=>>>

Read More

Local Law 97 Untangled

Have you ever wanted to own and live in a coop or condo building that is green and sustainable? A building that does not have a poor Energy Efficiency Rating, which does not risk being fined as part of NYC’s Local Law 97, also known as the Climate Mobilization Act? More here=>>

Read More

Top Tips on Creating a Green Team

Whether you are a Greta Thunberg fan or not, we can all agree that sustainability is a hot topic. Just like politics and religion, some of us prefer that the topic is avoided at the Thanksgiving table. No matter what your opinion is, more and more states are mandating stricter carbon output legislation. This has certainly created an added set of complications for coop and condo boards as well as residents and buyers.

Read More

Who decides the staff’s bonuses?

What’s better than the holiday season? It’s the season of joy and the season to give. We all know that the feeling of giving far supersedes the feeling of receiving. It’s an adrenaline rush when we can hand that $100 bill, check, or gift card to someone who did not expect it. Plus, who wants to be a Scrooge? Read our bonus guide here =>>

Read More

Why accept status quo?

Inflation is not just the increased price of milk or a gallon of gas, it is something that affects virtually every aspect of our (economic) lives. This obviously also relates to coop and condominium living.

We are currently in an environment where inflation is at a 30-year high, due in no small part to a Keynesian economic approach of massive government spending and intervention. While we hopefully will not return to the days of 18% mortgages, we all must do everything we can to protect property values by reigning in expenses wherever possible. MORE=>>>

Read More

Is your co-op or condo board guilty?

So, you live in a New York City apartment building and you have a problem in your apartment (or building), what do you do?

Of course, it may depend on whether you live in a rental building, a cooperative or condominium, or live in a sponsor unit. In some cases and depending on the issue at hand, a call to the super or the property management firm, or the sponsor should suffice. MORE=>>>

Read More

No Quarters Asked, No Quarters Given

In apartment buildings, including coops and condos, the leasing income that we see most frequently is for leasing out the laundry room. A majority of the services in a multifamily building are owned by the housing corporation, but the laundry room is typically handled by a third-party laundry company that renews every few years. We bring in alternative laundry service providers to increase the lease income to the coop while providing a better service experience. Read our top 5 tips for coop and condo boards to keep in mind when reviewing your coop or condo’s laundry lease MORE=>>>

Read More