Category: Community Living

When applying for co-op financing, our buyers and clients may be approved for a mortgage―but the co-op that they are buying into may not be. Since most lenders sell their notes to the Federal National Mortgage Association (F…

From attorneys to contractors, every building has a list of various professionals to work with to keep things running smoothly. One of the most important of these professionals is the building’s accountant. One wrong calculation or miss…

Unit owners attempting to sell their apartments may find that prospective purchasers are encountering difficulty in obtaining a mortgage if their property is not approved by Fannie Mae. When these unit owners have difficulty selling th…

There’s nothing worse than dealing with someone who has let their power go to their head, and when you’re talking about a co-op or condo board member who starts to act above everyone in the building, huge problems can arise. J…

 New York City’s Department of Buildings wields great influence over how structures in the city  are built and maintained, presiding over everything from building inspections  to permits, building codes and materials. While that area of go…

Almost a century ago, if you lived in The Ansonia, a residential hotel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, you had access to a variety of very interesting amenities, including a menagerie on the roof that included a huge flock of chickens a…

When co-op developments throughout Eastern Queens received their assessment valuations this past January—the values upon which property taxes are based— many were in for a rude shock. According to Bob Friedrich, president of Gl…

For many, the idea of getting a new mortgage on a home or apartment is enough to cause even the heartiest soul to break out in a light sweat. Now imagine refinancing a mortgage for a multimillion-dollar co-op building, and the light sw…

Buying an apartment in New York can be a smooth process—or as smooth as smooth can be when the number of attorneys present at the closing are enough to field a N.Y. Urban Professionals Basketball League team—or it can be a harrowing roll…

Employment figures may be up, and the economy may be showing signs of life after the long winter of the Great Recession, but the real estate market is still shaking off the chill. New York City in 2010 saw few building permits issued, …