We live in a world of add-ons. Ever since the term supersize was coined by the fast food industry back in 1994, the idea and its implications have spread to many aspects of the American lifestyle. We've become accustomed to 'value added ele…
Whether you're an executive of a multinational corporation or a cashier at the local supermarket, you probably receive a performance evaluation that assesses how well you're doing your job. Many property management companies may also do reg…
Maybe it was a bad day at work, the dog had an accident on the carpet or a disgruntled call was received from the school principal; whatever the reason, there are times when the last thing a condo board member or resident wants to do is att…
No one likes to feel left out or ignored. Sometimes that is how co-op and condo residents may feel if they believe their board or managers are not responding to their requests for information or sharing enough up front. What they may not re…
What is the prognosis of today’s real estate market, especially when it comes to condos? Last year, realtors and real estate experts interviewed by The Cooperator pointed to robust increases in sales and prices as well as increasing buyer c…
Home is the place where you come to escape all the sounds, smells and people that you may encounter outside of your own closed doors. Home is a refuge—at least until that day when you can’t escape the sound of a dog barking next door, the n…
Though the practice may have slowed slightly since the apex of the housing market a couple of years back, condo (and to a lesser degree, co-op) owners still sometimes look to expand their own living space by combining two apartments into on…
With the economy moving back toward a more robust state, building administrators are still looking for ways to save money in an increasingly competitive real estate market. It’s no surprise to hear that co-op and condo boards sometimes feel…
Managing a co-op or condo association can be a challenge. If you’re new to the board of directors or are an old hand at association leadership, you need to know what it takes to keep your community running smoothly. In any type of economic …
Winter in New York can be brutal—piles of slushy gray snow to wade through and frigid winds that keep you inside. So you curl up with a good book, sip a cup of tea and watch the flurries through the window. As the flakes fall, you might fin…
Imagine buying a timeshare vacation place. Next…picture sharing it with everyone in your building. Finally, visualize the place you choose cannot be changed, at all, for the next twenty years. Now, where do you look? In Florida? The Hampt…
Whereas certain issues are easy to delegate and oversee, such as snow and ice removal and replacing light bulbs, there are more difficult maintenance concerns. And while these problems (i.e. roof inspection, HVAC upkeep) are critical to smo…
Q. I’ve been noticing that there is heavy traffic of people that come and go to a particular cooperative apartment near mine in Flushing. I’m assuming that there is alleged gambling going on with card games, basically every day and defini…