NEW YORK CITY

Board members who complain that meetings are too long are right to be annoyed. Although it's normal for a meeting about a major capital improvement or the annual budget to run long, there's no reason for them all to feel like endless marathons. If long meetings are causing qualified board members to quit, it can be a warning sign that something is very wrong. It can be a sign that someone on the board has become a problem or, more seriously, that the board can't make decisions or is working with professionals who fail to follow up. 

Don’t mention this to the kids but sometimes it does pay to watch television. As Peter Goldfinger — board president at Contello Towers 2 in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn — recalls, it was through TV commercials that residents were alerted about a way for their building to save money on heating bills.

Those TV ads – for subsidized heating oil from CITGO and Boston-based Citizens Energy — set off a chain reaction: shareholders informed the board, the board informed building management, and building management looked into the grant program.

Say you live in a rent-stabilized apartment, but you want to make an investment. Can you purchase share of a co-op elsewhere — with the intention of renovating and flipping it — without ticking off the landlord? That's the question Ronda Kaysen fields in this week's Ask Real Estate column in The New York Times. "Can the owner of the rent-stabilized apartment start eviction proceedings against me? Separately, am I permitted to own the co-op unit without actually living in it?" he asks. Kaysen explains that it's perfectly acceptable for tenants of rent-stabilized apartments to own property elsewhere — as long as that rent-stabilized unit is the primary residence. "Where you run into trouble is if you live in that second home for more than half the year," Kaysen explains. It should be no problem for this particular potential investor, since he has no intention of living in the co-op unit he's interested in purchasing. The actual pickle, of course, is that co-op boards tend to require shareholders to live in the units they purchase; that is, the purchased unit has to be the primary residence. "A board would not be likely to allow a purchase by a buyer who did not plan to live in the building," says Kaysen. So what's a guy to do? Try investing in a condo instead. Condo rules are typically more flexible.

A READER ASKS: I'm the board president of a large condo in Westchester. We had a pool, but we had to close it a few years ago, after it fell into disrepair. My fellow board members and I think we have enough money to make necessary repairs, and believe we can have the pool open by Memorial Day next year. One board member, however, raised a question we hadn't yet considered. Should we hire a pool manager, which can be expensive, or should we manage the pool ourselves, which can be very time-consuming? What are our options? Do you have any tips?  

Mayor Bill de Blasio is passionate about affordable housing, and — considering that even financially well-off folks are getting priced out of the likes of Brooklyn and "settling" for Manhattan — that's a good thing. But it goes to show that sometimes even those who have the best of intentions either don't think their plans all the way through. The New York Times reported that "when New York City planners unveiled maps charting a 73-block area in the Bronx to be developed with housing, they called it 'Cromwell-Jerome.' But no one in that area seemed to know where that was." Whoops. So is the mayor a little out of touch? Well, let's take a look: "The plan, which calls for 80,000 new apartments, mostly for households with annual income of less than $69,000, requires an extraordinary amount of diplomacy, even with the mayor's allies. Neighborhood groups and their City Council representatives, who must sign off on any rezoning, are anxious about taller buildings, more people and gentrification. Labor unions want assurances that they will have a bigger role in construction, even though it drives up costs." But some affordable-housing advocates are concerned that "new homes that are designated as affordable" will go to a mix of income levels, rather than to the poorest residents, which puts current residents at risk for being displaced "as people with higher incomes move into the neighborhood and make it more upscale." 

A roof deck can be a cherished amenity and a great way to reclaim some precious outdoor space from a dense urban landscape. But the roof is already one of the more delicate and damage-prone parts of a building. An improperly installed deck, compounding the roof's natural vulnerability to leaks, can quickly become a source of constant sorrow. Here's some advice on how to best create a recreational roofing surface, and how to install a deck safely, so you don't damage the roof. 

New York City's aging infrastructure can have costly consequences. It can spell bad news to co-ops and condos, particularly smaller buildings, which are trying to stay afloat in an increasingly expensive city. Unfortunately, emergencies can strike at any time, whether or not your building is financially ready for them. There are steps your board can take right now to save some money instead of being caught unawares.

Here are some creative ways your board can save money.

Finding mold is never fun. Where there's mold, there's probably a leak. And once a co-op or condo board is notified about the presence of mold, it needs to move quickly to not only eliminate the mold safely but also find and fix the cause. The board at one particular condo in Hudson Heights, Manhattan, doesn't want anyone's health to suffer, but it doesn't want to get fleeced by a contractor, either. "When mold companies inspect a building for mold, they have a vested interest in recommending mold remediation. Because of this, our condominium is having difficulty interpreting the test results, which seem in part to be a marketing ploy," the board writes to Ronda Kaysen in this week's "Ask Real Estate" column in The New York Times. Although the condo board's concern is a valid one — people have been fleeced before — Kaysen stresses the need to move quickly. "If a resident were to report the condition to 311 and a city inspector found mold, the condo association would receive a violation and be ordered to clean it up. If a unit owner was responsible for conditions that caused the mold to grow, the board could pass the costs onto the resident, but the board still has to do the work," she explains. Kaysen follows up the cautionary statement with some sound advice: "Consider hiring an industrial hygiene consultant to determine the scope of the problem. To avoid a conflict of interest, select a consultant who does not also do remediation." 

As in a cooperative or a condominium, membership in a homeowner's association (HOA) means there are rules, eliminating the risk that a next-door neighbor might decide to paint his home bright magenta or that another neighbor could create a public spectacle with elaborate year-round lawn ornaments. How those rules are applied — and whether they can be applied at all — is the question in Jasinski v. Hudson Pointe Homeowners Association.

Peter and Margaret Jasinski owned a home in the Hudson Pointe Homeowners Association in Queensbury, New York. They had placed a political sign by the road that bordered their home. The HOA objected and fined the Jasinskis for their display, alleging that the sign broke an HOA rule prohibiting the public portrayal of "advertisements and other signs." When the Jasinskis did not pay, the HOA filed a lien against their home. But there were complications. 

Last week, we took a look at how to prepare a bid request — or request for proposal — so your board can nab the best contractor for the best price. In this second of a multi-part series we will be taking a look at the bid proposals that come back from the companies you reach out to. Your architect or engineer will almost certainly include two things in the bid-proposal package: a "schedule of values" — a line-item breakdown of each phase of the work, for which the vendor will bid a price — and a "unit-price schedule" — the cost per unit of materials.