2010 Jan

The Cooperator's Co-op & Condo Expo

 The Cooperator magazine and Yale Robbins, Inc. are pleased to invite all  property managers, board members, shareholders and unit owners to the 23rd  annual Co-op & Condo Expo, a one-day trade show event on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 from 9 a.m.  to 5 p.m. The 2010 Expo will again occupy three floors of the Hilton New York  at 1335 Avenue of the Americas at 53rd Street with booths, seminars, and  demonstrations all day long.   Read More

Make 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

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?

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

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

From Boom to Bust

 A short distance away from this writer’s “regular,” non-Cooperator job in Downtown Brooklyn is a large, empty edifice, a former  industrial building. A year or so ago, the conversion of this building to  condos was a big deal—a sales office was opened, colorful signs were put up, and construction workers  were seen on the site every day.   Read More

Federal Stimulus Helps Housing

 In early 2009, at the urging of President Barack Obama, Congress passed the  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) with a view toward easing the  blow dealt to the economy by what some are calling the Great Recession. The  ARRA had a tall order to fill: create new jobs while saving existing ones,  cultivate economic activity in both the short- and long-term—and in the words of the official Recovery.gov website, do it all with “unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending.” Read More

Fraud Detection for Co-ops and Condos

 Criminals like Bernard Madoff and other so-called “white collar” lawbreakers have made headlines recently with their financial double-dealings,  but unfortunately, fiscal mismanagement and fraud also happen in co-op and  condo communities. The scale is much different obviously, but an apartment is a  major investment, and residents of a building trust their board members and  managing agents to uphold their fiduciary responsibilities and be good  custodians of that investment. Read More

Pet Problems

 Just take a walk around the streets and parks of the city, and it’s easy to see that New Yorkers love their pets. But not everyone loves animals,  of course—and this can be problematic when it comes to a board deciding if pets should be  permitted in their building.   Read More

Q&A: No Quorum?

 Is there a law allowing us to conduct a meeting without a quorum reached? We  need more than 50 percent of the vote and certain shareholders refuse to attend  the meetings. We don’t have a co-op board and can not elect one. The old board members, still in  place, have moved out of state, and we can not hold elections. Housing court  ruled that we were to get a new board in place by the beginning of the year. Read More

Estate Planning

 Planning for what happens to your estate upon your death is never a pleasant  chore, but if you own property of any kind, that planning is an vital  responsibility. While there are many aspects and legal mechanisms that can be  considered during your estate planning process, the issue discussed in this  column is that of trusts. There are two basic types of trusts which can be used  to achieve your own estate planning objectives. Read More

Q&A: Right to the Deceases's Estate

“If a unit owner is deceased, what are the inheritance rights of a relative, for example, let's say, siblings, to moving in and taking possession of an apartment?” Read More