Every year, co-ops and condos spend serious time and energy compiling their operating budgets. The process can start as early as September, with an evaluation of the first eight months of expenses for the past year–the primary purpose of wh…
Since 9/11, terrorism has become a palpable new threat against the lives and property of American citizens. Not only has our peace of mind been compromised, but the attack on the WTC has affected lives in other, less obvious ways. Cons…
By their nature, co-ops and condos are about ownership, common interests and camaraderie. They are also predicated upon the sharing of costs–both of the day-to-day maintenance of the property, as well as periodic capital expenditures. As wi…
The prevailing economic climate has given rise to concerns for us all, especially co-op and condo boards currently in the process of budget preparation. The natural course of action would seem to be to review past budget-related decisions a…
As the future of the economy remains questionable, the matter of your building’s finances begs the question: Should your co-op or condo board reexamine how you invest your reserve fund? No doubt, this has already crossed your mind, but even…
When Irwin Cohen, president of Manhattan’s A. Michael Tyler Realty came on board in 1997 to manage a ten-unit co-op on the Upper East Side, the building was on the verge of bankruptcy. In addition to depleting their reserve fund to pay for …
Here in New York, where real estate values have risen to unprecedented levels, limited equity co-ops created under the Mitchell-Lama program are presented with the choice of either embracing their own dizzying market value by removing the r…
The well-known business guru Peter Drucker once said, "Long-range planning does not deal with future decisions, but with the future of present decisions." This is the basic philosophy professional financial planners use in guiding their …
If someone were to tell you that as a New York co-op or condominium owner you may be throwing away up to $1,000 a year on unnecessary taxes, you’d probably be pretty indignant, right? No matter who you are or what you do, a thousand bucks i…
Alan Greenspan and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve have received a lot of press coverage recently for their aggressive attempts to revive the economy and ward off a recession. Their unprecedented program of mostly half-poin…