Category: Finance

There has been a recent push by federal, state and local legislators to get reverse mortgages or Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM) approved for New York cooperatives. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (…

Mayor Bill de Blasio, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and members of the City Council reached an historic agreement for an on-time and balanced New York City budget for Fiscal Year 2017, marking completion of the earliest budget deal …

While it's pretty much impossible for a co-op or condo board or employee to commit fraud on the scale of a Bernie Madoff or any one of the herd of shysters who have tromped through the news in recent years, building boards and managers cert…

The majority of co-op and condo residents pay their monthly maintenance fees on time and in full with no problem. The recent recession, however, changed the picture drastically for residents who found themselves laid off, under-employed, or…

The first of the month rolls around and it’s time to pay the bills that keep your building operational. Repairs might need to be made, staff salaries paid, maintenance done to keep all the common elements running, and supplies reordered. Th…

Industry professionals talk about capital planning and budgeting for your community. 

In this challenging economy, many co-op and condo buildings are struggling to pay their bills while planning for future needs. Still, most building boards are loathe to raise maintenance fees or levy special assessments on their residents u…

Amenities can be a major selling point for any co-op or condo. You don't have to be Jillian Michaels these days to have a spa or full gym at home. Naturally, they add to the property value of the building as a whole, as well as to the indiv…

In the context of multifamily communities, there are two kinds of budgets: a capital, or reserve budget, and an operating budget. Capital budgets apply to long-term, big-ticket projects like new roofs or an HVAC overhaul. By contrast, the o…

When finances get tight—the last recession period comes to mind—boards and managing agents often look for ways to increase revenues or decrease expenditures. In some cases, the answer is a flip tax, a “transfer fee” that is paid to the co-o…