January 2010 Vol. 30 No. 1
The January 2010 issue of The Cooperator newspaper focuses on Management/Board Relations.
In this issue, you can read about real life stories of property managers, residential concierge, managed or self managed?, and managing distressed properties.
Visit our archives to see other articles that were published in 2009.
News Briefs
- 01.31.10 The new Burj Khalifa in Dubai, at 160 stories and 2,717 feet high, makes the 102-story Empire State Building into a pipsqueak, and indeed the urge to build the tallest structure in the world is an infectious one. [NY Times]
- 01.28.10 As the residential real estate market in New York City continues to emerge from its deep freeze, sales at new condominium developments are starting to pick up. [NY Times]
- 01.27.10 A construction management company was indicted Wednesday on charges that it stole nearly $7 million from five condominium and office projects in Manhattan and elsewhere as part of a scheme involving fake invoices and kickbacks from electrical and other subcontractors. [NY Times]
- 01.25.10 The owners of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, the iconic middle-class housing complexes overlooking the East River in Manhattan, have decided to turn over the properties to creditors, officials said Monday morning. [NY Times]
- 01.21.10 Scores of stalled construction projects can be found scattered around New York City, but one category of building that doesn’t seem to have been sidetracked by the recession is the luxury apartment rental. [NY Times]
- 01.19.10 The FHA, which is supporting the housing market by insuring thousands of new mortgages every day, is expected to announce on Wednesday that it is tightening standards. [NY Times]
- 12.30.09 In the middle of Chelsea, an area known historically for artists and more recently for luxury condominiums, there is something unexpected: an active theological seminary that’s been in the neighborhood since the 1820s. [The NY Times]
- 12.30.09 With the real estate market in a slump, Mr. Scott told Mr. Anders that he wanted to buy a place that had the best potential for a profit when it came time to sell. [NY Times]
- 12.30.09 According to the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island, there are 32 homes on the market, ranging in price from $275,000, for a four-bedroom Cape on Peninsula Boulevard, to $1.3 million for a five-bedroom colonial with an in-ground pool on a cul-de-sac. [NY Times]
Featured Articles
Managing Distressed Properties
Almost any veteran property manager can tell tales of buildings that have fallen
on rough times thanks to the economic meltdown of the last few years. Some have
been beset by multiple unit foreclosures, others are dealing with defaulting
sponsors, and more and more are struggling with budget shortfalls thanks to
missing maintenance and common charge payments.
Read More
To Be Managed - or Self-Managed?
While the majority of co-op and condo communities in New York hire professional
management firms to handle their day-to-day operations, many others choose to
go the self-managed route, which can include hiring on-site staff or having
residents themselves handle the tasks usually carried out by hired help. Their
reasons for doing so are as varied as the buildings themselves, but ultimately,
it’s about finding the best fit for unit owners and boards alike.
Read More
Service with a Smile
At one point or another, we’ve all felt like this:
I gotta go to the dry cleaners, get the computer fixed, pick up groceries after the ballet recital, wait, a client meeting just popped up, oh, and I have to make reservations for mom’s birthday dinner, still need to get the carpet cleaned. The sink’s broken now? Where did I put my keys?
Read MoreMake My Day
Managing a portfolio of co-ops and condos can be an adventure, no matter how
small the buildings or how civil and well-mannered the shareholders and owners.
Problems inevitably arise, and when they do, the managing agent can often wind
up feeling a little like Dirty Harry. They solve the problems nobody else wants—or is qualified—to handle, and they must often do so in innovative ways. And while most days
their adventures involve disputes about noise and heating temperatures and
cooking smells rather than chasing serial killers across co-op rooftops…it is New York, so you never know. As one manager remarked when told of this
piece’s focus, “There’s just so much crap that goes on.”
Read More
