NEW YORK CITY

It's a new season, and that means brokers are taking a look at what direction the real estate market will take this autumn. A panel of experts offered DNAinfo five predictions of what potential buyers can expect in the next few months. "Many are doubtful that out-of-control bidding wars — which became commonplace this spring — will return, at least in Manhattan," reports DNAinfo. "But limited inventory will still be a thorn for many buyers, especially at the lower price points of the market, which nowadays many brokers consider to be under about $2 million." One of the five predictions is that the summer's dip in the stock market, which was the "first wave of real volatility since the 2008 credit crisis," may give buyers a little bit more leverage for the first time in years.

When it comes to dealing with hot-button issues in cooperatives and condominiums, many boards have realized that transparency and communication are essential. Today, we examine one very simple way a board can maintain harmony and make building residents feel that their voices matter: conduct a survey. 

When it comes to selling your apartment, you can use all the help you can get.

You've heard all the sayings: one is the loneliest number, it takes two to tango, there's no "I" in team, two brokers are better than one. Well, maybe you've never heard the last phrase, but as a board member and a potential seller of your apartment, you may want to consider it.

So what is a co-broker arrangement, and what can it do for you? 

When a Housing & Development Finance Corporation co-op on Manhattan's Upper West Side learned that its next-door neighbors planned to add three stories to its building — moving not only upward but also outward — the co-op board decided to bring in some heavy artillery. The board hired both a structural engineer and C. Jaye Berger, a Manhattan lawyer who specializes in co-op and condo construction law.

Smart move.

Once a building determines it qualifies, the New York State Homeowners Credit is then allocated among the shareholders or unit-owners of the building based on their ownership percentage. For example, if you have 20 shareholders in a co-op and each of them owns five percent of the shares in the corporation, then each of those individual shareholders would get an allocation of five percent of $200,000.

There is more to consider. 

The New York State Homeowners Credit is a law that became effective in 2009 and earns eligible tenant-shareholders and unit-owners of co-op and condo apartments tax credits for doing repairs to the exterior and interior of the building. When the homeowners tax credit was first being developed, Murray Gould, principal in Port City Preservation, a company that assists buildings in getting tax credits, was among those pushing to include co-ops and condos. "I felt they should have equal footing with the classic single-family historic house," he says now. Once it passed, the new law changed the definition of a historic home to include buildings that just happened to be condominiums or cooperatives. "In New York State, you earn a 20 percent credit for the work that is done: a dollar for dollar offset against [your] tax liability," says Gould.

Beware: when a buyer closes on an apartment sale at a co-op — technically the transfer of shares from one party to the other — some banks are overreaching. They're requesting that they be listed as "additional insured" on the co-op corporation's insurance. Not only is this wrong, it could also create problems for the housing co-op in the future.

A co-op board decided to auction off common area space to the highest bidder. When the bids came in, the board decided to have shareholders bid again. When those bids were received, the co-op re-evaluated, and decided it was better served if the board rented the space, as it had been doing. When the board announced that it would not sell, did the bidding shareholders have a cause of action? Did the answer change if one of the renters was a board member? What if the plaintiffs alleged they had an acrimonious relationship with the board? These were the issues addressed by the court in Newman v. 911 Alwyn Owners Corp. 

If, after all the considerations of legal, aesthetic, and other issues, a board decides that an enclosed balcony has to come down and not go back up — what then?

"The owner will scream and moan and say, 'How dare you?' and offer 17 reasons not to do it," Kenneth Jacobs, a partner in the law firm Smith, Buss & Jacobs warns. Among the arguments, he says: "It was there when I bought it. There's no alteration agreement, so how do you know the co-op/condo didn't install this? You're the one who has to make the structural repair" — which is true — "so, therefore, you've assumed all the responsibility for repairing and replacing anything I built" — which is not true except for something "like an earthquake, because that would be a casualty, and casualty losses differ from repair and maintenance."

The enclosures could jeopardize your floor area ratio. If an enclosure is a certified room it brings up a subtle issue boards must consider: does an enclosed balcony change your building's floor area ratio (FAR) (a measure of your building's maximum allowable use)?