INSIDE TRACK: PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

When doing repairs on your building requires access to your neighbor's property, you need a licensing agreement. But as Margaret McAdams, Director of Management at Buchbinder & Warren explains, that's often easier said than done.  The reasons why vary, but taking one bit of advice can help: Plan in advance.

Co-op and condo boards are caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to emotional support animals. They have to tread very carefully to not run afoul of anti-discrimination laws and at the same time deal with any unhappy residents who object to the pet. Alvin Wasserman, Senior Director of Asset Management at Fairfield Properties, explains the  perilous path emotional support animals can cause.

Given today's rising interest rates, it may be tempting for boards whose mortgage is coming due to put off refinancing until the last minute. But whether interest rates are up or down, procrastination is never a good idea. Dawn Dickstein, President of MD Squared Property Group, shares a story of one co-op who learned this lesson the hard way.

The compliance landscape has changed today, and many projects which used to be just a capital improvement now have to be viewed through a compliance lens. The question is, which budget bucket do you place it in , which projects can fill more than one bucket, which are the most impactful ones to do early and in what order should you do them? Chris Alker, Senior Vice President of Building Operations at Akam, offers a insight on how to chart this path.

Communication at co-ops is more than a two way street, not just between board directors, but between boards and shareholders. And sometimes management has to step in and act as a liaison between the board and the residents. In this episode, Eleni Magoulas, President of All Area Realty Services, presents a real-world example of when this works, and what it takes.

When a condo is making the transition from sponsor to board control serious structural issues are often uncovered. That's when management, says Drew Posner, Senior Vice President and Director of Client Services at Maxwell-Kates, turns to the bylaws and, most important, the Schedule B.  

In the spring of 2022, New York mandated that for a co-op or condo to qualify for a property tax abatement, it had to pay its staff a prevailing wage. If a building was unionized, this didn't really have an impact. But for those buildings that had non-union employees, the impact has been significant. A.J. Rexhepi, Managing Partner at Century Management, explains the what boards need to weigh before making the wage decision.

As tempting as it is to hire a contractor to get the job done, it pays to have oversight from a licensed professional. Ira Meister, President of Matthew Adam Properties, shares a story about one of their clients who ran into trouble when a manufacturer installed electric HVAC system basically shut down.  Without a professional overseeing the project, or even a maintenance contract from a service provider,  the co-op  was left in bad straits when the cooling component of the system shut down,

Co-op and condo boards have to be focused on the value of apartments in their buildings and adopt policies that support this. But these policies need to reviewed regularly because sometimes what worked one year doesn't work the next. Neil Davidowitz, President of Orsid New York, speaks about three common building policies that often need a re-think.

Meeting the goals of New York's Carbon Mobilization Act can be a tall order for many buildings. In this episode, Fred Rudd, President of Rudd Realty, shares how one of his clients, the St. James Condominium, avoided a fine of $140,000 by investing $1.7 million dollars in energy and carbon reduction projects.