As the clock ticked down on December 31, 1999, the world could not help but watch with at least a little trepidation. But when the ball dropped in Times Square and the new year officially arrived, nothing happened except a huge celebration.…
In many co-ops and condos it is the managing agent's responsibility to work with the board, superintendent and maintenance staff, vendors and other building professionals to create a safe and satisfying living environment for shareholders. …
Back in 1995 I barely knew what the Internet was. No one knew that it would do more than anything to change homebuying process since the classified ad. Our little website experiment called corcoran.com has grown bigger than The Corcoran Gro…
New York City is in a constant state of flux. At no time was this better illustrated than during the recent New Year’s Eve celebrations. Photographs of Times Square celebrations past were constantly flashed across television screens, but wh…
So, it’s the holiday season again and everyone is feeling generous, even you. You seem to have gotten past your Scrooge-stage and feel like splurging on someone else for a change. You don’t mind going the extra mile for your neighbor or run…
Nearly 100 percent of New York City co-ops have an underlying mortgage of anywhere from a few thousand dollars to millions of dollars. If you own a co-op, having an additional multi-million dollar mortgage hanging over your head might sound…
The board of a co-op is required to perform an ongoing balancing act, weighing both the needs of the individual shareholders and the good of the whole. Nowhere is this more apparent than the controversial issue of subletting. While owners f…
To paraphrase Sy Syms, "an educated board member is a lender’s best borrower!" That concept underlies all of the articles I have written about co-op financing. Since my last article for The Cooperator ("Dial ‘M’ for Mortgage," December/Janu…
About ten years ago, Doug Anderson, the board president of 1125 Park Avenue, and some of his fellow board members walked though their building’s basement and saw a wall which, according to Anderson, "didn’t make sense." The inquisitive coop…
Never before have there been so many ways to become "wired" in The Big Apple. Innovative companies are readying New York City’s co-ops and condos for the new millennium by making state-of-the-art electronic amenities a mere click away from …