2010 April
Focus on... Real Estate Market/Expo

Real Estate Trends New Decade, a New, New York
2010 April New Decade, a New, New York

 At the beginning of 2009, the New York real estate market was as frozen as the  ice at the Rockefeller Plaza skating rink. The collapse of Bear Stearns and  bankruptcy by Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008—a day still mentioned in hush…

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Real Estate Trends The Fate of New Constuction
2010 April The Fate of New Constuction

It seems like only yesterday when “condo-mania” was sweeping many neighborhoods, and developers couldn’t wait to build one condo development after another. Every other week or so, another open house was held, and developers competed to a…

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Real Estate Trends Game Changer
2010 April Game Changer

 For years, people talked about how the housing market in New York City was “recession-proof;” how buyers' desire to live in New York City would always trump any housing  problems the rest of the country was experiencing. But as the calend…

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Real Estate Trends Buying High, Selling High?
2010 April Buying High, Selling High?

New York City's real estate market has certainly seen its bumps and bruises over the last couple of years, but according to sales agents in the Manhattan luxury market, buyers are still buying – but their faces have changed, and they're…

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Real Estate Trends Your Building's Counsel
2010 April Your Building's Counsel

Abraham Lincoln once said: “Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. As a peacemaker, the lawyer has superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough.” Certain…

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Real Estate Trends Help Me Help You
2010 April Help Me Help You

The investment represented by your co-op or condo unit is likely your greatest asset—and protecting and cultivating that asset is important, especially in the current turbulent economic times. So why are so many shareholders and unit o…

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Real Estate Trends The (Really) Big Apple
2010 April The (Really) Big Apple

 If you lived in New York in the summer of 2003, chances are you know exactly  what you were doing on Thursday, August 14th, at 4:15 in the afternoon. That’s when the ripple effects of the failure of an Ohio power plant caused most of  the…

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Real Estate Trends Living Side By Side
2010 April Living Side By Side

In today’s difficult economic times, more and more co-op and condo owners and boards are constantly on the lookout for new ways to improve their bottom line. It’s one of the many reasons that more and more renters are moving into co-op a…

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Real Estate Trends Compassionate Management
2010 April Compassionate Management

Home may be where the heart is, but these days, it’s also the source of enormous anxiety and concern for a great many co-op and condo owners. With the economy mired in recession and unemployment still hovering near the 10 percent mark, …

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Real Estate Trends Collecting Common Charges
2010 April Collecting Common Charges

Condominium boards and managers are often frustrated by unpaid common charges. Once a unit owner falls more than 60 days behind in his or her common charge payments, it is recommended that this problem be turned over to the condominium …

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Real Estate Trends Members Only
2010 April Members Only

New York City takes understandable pride in the many beautiful parks studding the concrete rigidity of its urban grid. This makes it somewhat ironic that one of the lovliest of these green spaces is locked up—accessible only to those lu…

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Organizations Making a Good Impression
2010 April Making a Good Impression

They're the reason you feel safe entering your office or apartment building, the reason you can see across all of New York City out a shiny Empire State Building window, and the reason you receive that package of important papers on ti…

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Real Estate Trends From the Court to the Board
2010 April From the Court to the Board

Every day, New York's court system hands down verdicts and decisions that impact the day-to-day operation of co-op and condo buildings. Some decisions are far-reaching, precedent-setting game-changers; others affect building administra…

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Q&A Q&A: Security Bars Barred?
2010 April Q&A: Security Bars Barred?

Q I live in a neighborhood where there’s an association. When we first moved to the area it was still under construction. There was only one security company for 250 homes, and there were a lot of robberies. We live on a house with …

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Q&A Q&A: Who is Responsible for Mold Removal?
2010 April Q&A: Who is Responsible for Mold Removal?

Q I am a shareholder of a co-op apartment building. I have a mold problem, which stems from water damage coming through the outside bricks. I had a mold assessment company take air samples and material samples. It was determined th…

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Q&A Q&A: Right to Anonymity
2010 April Q&A: Right to Anonymity

Q When a management agent of a condominium in New York City receives a complaint from a unit owner about another unit owner, is he or she allowed to tell the other party the name of the complainant. Is this ethical and is there a re…

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Q&A Q&A: Evicting Disruptive Neighbors
2010 April Q&A: Evicting Disruptive Neighbors

Q I own a co-op. A husband and wife live in a neighboring unit that is owned by their son. Many years went by without incident. But in the last couple of years, the woman has started verbally abusing me to the point that I have had …

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Q&A Q&A: Naming a Spouse On Stock Certificate
2010 April Q&A: Naming a Spouse On Stock Certificate

Q What is required to add my wife's name to my residential co-op stock certificate if I still have a mortgage on the unit in just my name? I am not trying to re-finance, but to just add my wife's name to the stock certificate. …

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