New York City law will phase out the burning of Number 6 fuel oil in the near future. Should you wait until the last minute until making the switch to cleaner fuel oil in your own building? Does it make sense to do it now, or …
Category: Board Operations
Election season typically starts around Labor Day, when we start to be bombarded with reminders to cast our ballots to choose who we want to be in charge of our city, town, state and country. It ends on Election Day in November, when th…
If the board of directors is the Barnum & Bailey of the cooperative or condominium, the manager is the ringmaster. The board finances the show and books the talent, but all eyes are on the manager. “Everything falls on you,” sa…
Whether you are dipping your toe in the real-estate buying pool for the first time, or you’re soaking in it after purchasing numerous properties, the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) is an organization to take note of. …
When you’re decorating your home, there are two things you want to bear in mind if you have children. You want to keep the design functional, but safe. After all, anyone who’s ever had, or just looked after, a baby or toddler, can tell …
The main source of any co-op or condo building’s revenue comes from maintenance charges. That seems self-evident. But sometimes a building or development may suddenly need to undergo emergency repairs or fund large capital impr…
Birds in flight may be beautiful, but their departure sometimes leaves the nest unprotected. And when that nest is in a condominium or cooperative community, property managers and boards must do their best to compensate. This …
What happens at a co-op or condo community’s annual meeting should be strictly business, though these gatherings also can be a place where resident shareholders and unit owners kvetch about their concerns regarding the building or commu…
Regardless of whether they’re self-managed or employ a management company, a co-op or condominium board of directors will at some point have to make decisions about how and from whom the building gets its supplies and services. …
This in an anxious time in which to sit on the board of directors. With defaults and foreclosures accounting for some 20 percent or more of the units at some condominiums, frustration among board and association members is off the char…