NEW YORK CITY

Your board has done its homework, and there's nothing left to do except approve that capital project — that roof replacement, new boiler, or structural work on your façade. You want the best contractor you can find and at the right price. So what are the next steps? The first is preparing a bid request — a "request for proposal" (RFP) — to send to contractors. The second is analyzing the bids and choosing a vendor. Doing the two things correctly is the basis of all successful capital projects.

"The key to a board successfully managing a bid process is to craft the RFP so that you're getting back bids that are apples to apples," says Matthew Providente, director of operations and compliance for Akam Associates. "If there's no well-crafted RFP, you'll get bids back that are all over the place." 

There's a new Fannie Mae rule in town, and if not checked, it could throw a wrench in hundreds of co-op and condo apartment sales. "It's like one step forward, two steps back," laments Mitchell Unger, controller at the management company The Lovett Group. He found out the hard way about this new rule, which Fannie Mae, instituted on March 31. A broker handling a sale at Forest Hills South, a Queens co-op Lovett manages, "was working with Citibank, who notified the broker that the buyers were being turned down at this tremendously healthy building since [the cooperative corporation] had more than 15 percent of its income generated from non-shareholder revenue." Citibank also turned down buyers at another Lovett property, the tony Upper East Side's 49 E. 96th Street. The so-called "80/20 Rule" was relaxed in 2008, but co-ops and condos have been waiting until now for 30-year lease terms to expire so they can charge commercial tenants market-rate rents. Fannie Mae's new limit hits co-ops and condos just when their buildings finally stood to earn some serious money. Watch this space as we follow the story. 

Last week, we shined a spotlight on how to choose the right venue for your board meeting. This week we take a look at the presentation the board prepares for the annual meeting. The presentation allows the board to keep building residents abreast of what's happening in the building, such as the building's finances and planned capital improvements or projects. 

The treasurer of a co-op or condo board plays an important role in the financial health of the property: overseeing the budget, making sure the bills get paid in a timely manner, and finding ways to control costs and maximize income. Ordinary board members without extensive financial backgrounds may find the job daunting. Fear not, novice treasurers of the co-op and condo world: there are people who can help. Here's some advice on how to call for backup. 

Wanted: co-op seeks new board member. Must be willing and able to do a lot of work, invest a lot of time, cope with various personalities. Compensation is a smooth-running building. Interested? Last week, we shined a spotlight on how a board works — specifically elections and proxies — for those who have never served on a board before and are thinking about throwing their hat into the ring.

This week, we take a closer look at the venue. 

What to do when an insurance claim doesn't meet expectations? A solution is easier — and less stressful — than you may think. Say hello to the public adjuster, an independent evaluator who will investigate your insurance claim and advocate for an improved settlement with an insurance company. Ed Mackoul, president of insurance brokerage Mackoul & Associates, explains that estimates from insurance companies "are not always accurate and the insured is not always happy with the result that they get. The insured can hire public adjusters to represent their interests."

It can be a board's worst nightmare: lost documents, misrouted tax bills, misfiled mortgage statements. If your board has faced these types of scenarios, it may be time to make a change. But is it easy to switch management companies? Well, for starters, boards need to research various companies so they can find one that's the right fit. Then the hard part begins: the transition. Sometimes transitions don't go very smoothly at all, so here we will take a look at how to make the changeover go as painless as possible.

Is your building conserving water? Saving money in doing so? The answer in condos and co-ops tends to be a resounding no. The average apartment in New York City uses 52,000 gallons of water per year, or 142 gallons per day. But times have changed, and saving water is not only smart but also cheap, cost effective, and barely noticeable. We've looked at how new toilets and showerheads can help boards translate water savings into dollar savings. But did you know that leaks typically make up 10 to 25 percent of water use in the average residential and multifamily building?

A READER ASKS: I serve on the board of a midsize co-op in Westchester and two of my fellow board members are lawyers. We are trying to draft a proxy form, and there is disagreement about the wording. I realize that we need to make sure all our i's are dotted and t's are crossed, and I am not trying to question my fellow board member's legal expertise. But I think it's a mistake to make the form so cumbersome to get through or even understand. I think there's a way to still protect the building and make sure everything is legally sound in simple layman's terms. Am I being difficult? Should I just step back and let the two lawyers handle it? 

With all the new construction happening in New York City, including towering luxury condos made of glass and steel, it's easy for the more nostalgic among us to mourn how much and how fast the city is changing. Yes, all those shiny buildings may symbolize modernity, but it's transforming a city that was once so appealing, so unique — because of its beautiful, ornate architecture — into one that, at the end of the day, is just like any other big city. The Singer Building is long gone. The Drake Hotel is no more. We still have the Woolworth, thank goodness. It's not too homogenous yet: you can still walk around and see beautiful brickwork. And not all of the new buildings that are rising all over the city are all glass and steel, even if they are still very tall. The Sutton — a 30-story condominium rising at 959 First Avenue — may be too tall for some people's taste, but it is trying to fit in with nearby traditional walk-ups and the overall historic flavor of the neighborhood with its design. Or is it? The New York Times reports that the "building will be clad mostly in brick rather than in glass and steel, 'to be reflective of a lot of the buildings that were erected a century ago,' [according to] David Von Spreckelsen, the president of the New York City division of Toll Brothers City Living, the owner of the Sutton, which recently started selling its 113 apartments." Mostly clad in brick… but there's still a lot of glass; the rendering looks rather boxy and doesn't really evoke that gorgeous, old New York. 

Rendering of the Sutton from Toll Brothers City Living.