2014 October
Focus on... Board Operations

Board Operations The Call of Duty
2014 October The Call of Duty

When electing board members to serve on behalf of your condo or co-op community, you expect them to act as crusaders for prosperity, considering the needs of the building and the people who live there to be paramount when making their deci…

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Board Operations Called to Serve
2014 October Called to Serve

In a dense urban or sprawling suburban environment, people can still feel isolated. While high-rise residential buildings and suburban subdivisions put many people and families in very close proximity to one another, living side-by-side do…

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When Boards Don’t Play by the Rules
2014 October When Boards Don’t Play by the Rules

Many if not most boards get along famously. There are boards that have had the same members for decades and run their communities without a hitch. We frequently get calls from readers who are troubled when they find that their board …

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Board Operations The Dream Team
2014 October The Dream Team

The “Dream Team” label is often used to describe a perfect combination of highly-skilled people drawn together for a particular purpose. The 1992 U.S. mens' Olympic basketball team is probably the most famous example, but 'dream teams' hav…

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Real Estate Trends Fashionably Green
2014 October Fashionably Green

Tastes and styles change with the decades (and sometimes with just the seasons), and what is considered fashionable now may seem hopelessly dated in just a few years. This applies not only to clothing and interior design, but to architectu…

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Management Going it Alone
2014 October Going it Alone

While the majority of co-op and condo buildings and HOA communities choose to partner with professional management firms to provide guidance and counseling and oversee day-to-day operations, other boards take the reins themselves and choos…

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Law & Legislation Going Overboard
2014 October Going Overboard

Condos and homeowner associations have made headlines over the years for passing all kinds of overreaching and downright silly rules and regulations—everything from forbidding the flying of the American flag to having prohibitions about ha…

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Management The Sporting Life
2014 October The Sporting Life

Gone are the days when a treadmill and a set of dumbbells in a fluorescent-lit basement room passed for athletic amenities in condo buildings and HOAs. Today, the size and scope of sporty offerings—be it basketball courts, pools or saunas–…

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Law & Legislation Neighborly Neglect
2014 October Neighborly Neglect

Bad neighbors are something that everyone living with shared walls fears—and not without cause; co-op or condo, small or large, chances are there's at least one chronically objectionable person who seems to do his or her level best to anno…

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Management Managing Commercial Tenants
2014 October Managing Commercial Tenants

While having goods and services like retail stores, banks and dry cleaners on-site can be convenient and viewed as a positive by co-op or condo unit owners and neighbors, not every commercial tenant is a good fit for every community or HOA…

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Real Estate Trends Loud & Clear
2014 October Loud & Clear

It's a truism that's been phrased many ways by many wise people: “A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity.” That's the case in any number of situations, but it's especially applicable to the administration…

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Design Wall Treatments and Wall Coverings
2014 October Wall Treatments and Wall Coverings

Some of us will never forget the ultimate question posed by Paris Hilton on the reality show The Simple Life. The overly coiffed, highly-manicured Hilton was “roughing it” by bunking with a working-class family in middle America and when a…

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Q&A Q&A: It’s in the STAR’s
2014 October Q&A: It’s in the STAR’s

Q I've heard a lot about the STAR abatement and other tax breaks for apartment owners, but I'm confused as to who gets what, and how those refunds are distributed among residents in multifamily buildings. Could you please clarify the most…

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Q&A Q&A: Liability for Lobby Paintings
2014 October Q&A: Liability for Lobby Paintings

Valuable paintings will be hung in our newly renovated lobby which is a common area of our co-op building. What if they are stolen or damaged? The owner who has loaned them has personal insurance but since the paintings are in our common ar…

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Q&A Q&A: Convincing Board to Accept a Living Trust
2014 October Q&A: Convincing Board to Accept a Living Trust

I would like to establish a revocable living trust and place my co-op apartment in the trust. This will avoid probate for my heirs. My co-op board is unwilling to agree to my request. I have not been given a reason for this. How can I convi…

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