Whether you live in a towering mid-block high-rise or a sprawling suburban development, landscaping not only helps a co-op, condo or HOA increase and retain property values, but has a positive impact on residents themselves—beautiful, f…
Every time someone enters or leaves a building, they travel through at least one of the common areas. Multiply that times the number of units in a building and you can get a rough idea of how much faster these areas may wear out than an…
If you want to make a good impression, nothing quite says luxury and elegance like a vast expanse of polished marble—particularly in the lobby of an upscale condominium or co-op building. Marble has been used in palaces, temples, and ho…
As the old saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and for co-op and condo homebuyers, that first impression is almost always the view from the street. No matter how deluxe the accommodations inside, if th…
It’s hard—if not impossible—to plan a budget for your building and stick to it if maintenance problems and structural crises are constantly taking you by surprise and depleting your community’s bank account. Capital budgets are the long…
Along with big-ticket items like boilers, HVAC systems, and the like, residential buildings also have to purchase lots of little, everyday things like cleaning supplies, light bulbs, and paper products to keep up with day-to-day maintena…
Most board members are volunteers—some may have experience with certain aspects of running a building, but most come to the job relatively green, armed only with a sense of responsibility and a desire to serve their building community. S…
New York City is filled with exciting and inventive architectural styles. There are many different schools of thought represented in the dense mix of office, residential, and commercial buildings on the island of Manhattan and throu…
Few things inspire more disgust in an apartment owner than an infestation, be it bugs, rodents, or other vermin. Unfortunately, pests are often part-and-parcel of life in a sprawling metropolitan area. Roaches, mice, rats, ants, bedbugs …