Ask Real Estate: When You Can, and Can't, Blame Your Landlord for Stolen Packages
In rental buildings, services all depend on precedents, which may not include security.
Budgets: Facing the Facts with Expert Daniel Wollman, CEO, Gumley Haft
Wollman discusses the risks of Boards hesitant to raise maintenance and common fees.
Risk or Reward: When should the Developer Also be Property Manager?
Examine the debate on whether developers should also serve as property managers.
Managing Aging Residents: Adapting to Changing Needs
Aging residents have special needs and challenges, which often require accommodation.
Everybody Hates Assessments: Handling the Inevitable
Faced with an expensive building project, an assessment is an option for Boards to fund it.
Intruder Alert! How Not to Deal with Unauthorized Visitors
Call the police is the procedure if someone enters the building and becomes a nuisance.
Assessing Buyer Applications: What Boards Should Look For
The board needs to understand the buyer’s finances and be diligent in asking for more information.
Does Curb Appeal Really Matter? Maximizing Aesthetics & Value
Curb appeal gives a first impression of a building, which should look great inside and out.
That's Super! The Role and Responsibilities of Your Superintendent
At the heart of every coop or condo is the person who makes it run: your superintendent.
Three Things to Ask Before Hiring a Live-in Super
Hiring a super becomes a decades-long decision and requires evaluation of more than just a skill set.
Hiring Professionals vs. Repairs In-House
There are some things a super can do, and times to hire outside professionals. Who does what and when?
Don't Put Off the Inevitable: Maintenance +
Boards have a responsibility to make decisions and take the necessary actions to maintain their building.
When Residents Are Away: Managing Empty Units
Residents away for extended periods pose challenges. No one can notice problems which may effect other units.
Is Your NYC Building Sitting On an Underground River?
Does the basement of your NYC building experience flooding without a burst pipe or weather event?
Green Walls, Water Features & More: Indoor Landscaping
Biophilic design brings aspects of nature into interiors, such as green walls, and is being seen more in common spaces.
What's Trending in Multifamily Amenities? No Place Like Home!
Post-pandemic, home has become workplace, gym, and entertainment space, as amenities build in one place.
When Renovation Violates a Board's Alteration Agreement
Stopping a job is very effective in correcting renovation violations that are found to be unauthorized.
Window Maintenance & Replacement: Crucial Building Systems
Windows top the list of most important systems to maintain, but are expensive to replace.
Hiring Building Staff & Professionals: It's About Chemistry
Hiring building staff and professionals often happens through word-of-mouth referrals.
Management Trials & Triumphs: Toughest Job You'll Ever Love
Managers gain self-satisfaction when finishing a job. Mistake? They will hear all about it.
Greener Cleaning: Choosing More Eco-Friendly Products
Green cleaning products are better for the environment, healthier for people and pets, and often more economical.
Can our co-op ban our super from doing routine jobs?
Whether a super can make a repair depends on your proprietary lease, plus what and where is the repair.
Multifamily Garbage Handling & Disposal: Taking Out the Trash
Urban garbage collection has many categories of refuse to organize with many different storage methods.
Recycle, Reuse, Reduce: How to Help Slow Climate Change
Residents of a community have to want to save the planet, or they won’t follow recycling rules.
New Board Members: Getting Newcomers Up To Speed
Should there be a formal process? Or should new board members learn on-the-job? Two views.
When Building Repairs Pay Off: Do Multiple Projects at Once
Fixing everything at once may sound expensive, but over time proves the most economical.
Co-ops, Condos & Social Media: A Useful Tool for Some
Social media may be absent from communication channels in the majority of NY co-ops and condos.
Orienting New Owners: Getting Smart in Condo & Co-op Life
New buyers may find living in a condo or co-op differs dramatically from a rental or a single-family home.
Energy Issues on the Horizon as Local Law 97 Looms
Efforts to reduce energy use in large buildings as per Local Law 97 is a growing burden. Benchmarking helps.
Co-ops, Condos & Social Media: To Tweet...or Not to Tweet?
Communications to residents runs from traditional paper to digital distribution. Is it time for social media, too?
Communications & Community: Clarity, Transparency & Respect
Open lines of communication between boards, managers, and owners are crucial to the community.
Boards, Managers, Landlords: Defining the Difference
Co-op and condo living is a hybrid. Owners should know their rights, and their responsibilities.
Hiring Staff: Finding, Vetting and Retaining Building Employees
For communities like co-ops and condos, hiring and retaining good people is the key to success.
Trends in Multifamily Building Technology: Building Systems Better
Building systems technology, or BMS, offers the latest advancements used in co-op and condo management.
The Bidding Process: Finding the Best People at the Best Price
Selecting a contractor is a process of research, bid solicitation, final selection, and awarding of contracts.
Budgeting: Keep it Real to Plan for Future Expenses
To create a working budget, there’s no such thing as too much planning. Reviewing expenditures monthly is standard.
Digital Documents: Balancing Safe Storage with Accessibility
Corporations must maintain many kinds of records, but today, digitized documents are advantageous.
Where Does it Go? The Problem of Financial Leakage
Co-ops and condos often find that expenses exceed projections. The question is, are there leaks?
Bloom Times: The Luxury and Value of Floral Arrangements
“It looks like a photo from a magazine!” is the exclamation many a manager, broker, potential buyer and board president…
A Day Late, a Dollar Short: The Dangers of Underfunding
In a world where the cost of services and goods are generally rising, even in the absence of any substantive inflation,
Brooklyn Heights Co-op Parks $1 Million on Garage Repairs
Shareholders were not assessed for renovation of the three-level garage in their 32-story co-op.
Things Nobody Tells you About Greenhouses: Costs & Labor
A greenhouse is an expensive perk, and needs approval in New York co-ops and condos.
Multifamily Property Management Takeaways from 2020
During the pandemic, property management changed and continues to evolve.
PPP Loan Application Sparks Confusion
Co-ops are now eligible for loans from the Payroll Protection Program but signing the application has risks, says Dan Wollman, CEO, Gumley Haft.
Management in Crisis: How the Pandemic Changed an Industry
Little could have prepared property managers for Covid19.
What New Board Members Need to Know
How to make sure new board members hit the ground running? Every building has a process.
The Price is...Right? Adjusting for Pandemic's Impact
Even before COVID-19, where real estate values were going was not great.
Can Dog Walkers and Nannies Come into my Co-Op Now?
New York City has begun the slow process of reopening, but reopening does not mean a return to normal.
How to Reopen Building Gyms and Pools?
When it comes to reopening gyms and pools in New York buildings, managers move with extreme caution.
NYC Apartment Renovations in Covid
Anyone in the middle of an apt. renovation in NYC found themselves in a serious jam.
Gumley Haft Takes Action for New York Co-ops and Condos
Daniel Wollman, CEO, has solved 1000s of problems for New York residents from uptown to downtown.
Managing Conflict: When Residents Take Sides
Inevitably, conflicts happen between neighbors next door in a co-op or condo.
The Evolution of Property Management
Property management has changed, but personal contact remains a priority.
Minding the Bottom Line: Add Up the Money
Managing the math keeps buildings out of the red. Here, an example.
Carnegie Hill Co-op Powered by Committees
At many NYC co-ops and condos, the board is led by a group of dedicated doers.
Elevators: When It's Time to Consider an Upgrade
Two new regulations require elevator upgrades to automatic mechanisms that don’t come cheap.
Hygiene in Shared Amenities
Is the spa as clean as you believe? Is the children’s playroom a real-life petri dish? Hygienic maintenance is a priority.
Capital Reserve Funds: How Much?
Buildings need adequate capital reserve funds, whether for repairs, replacements or emergencies.
Building Demolition: Minimizing Disruption
If construction happens next door, management negotiates for protection of the residence, and its residents.
Warranties and Service Agreements
Warranties and service agreements are put in place if something breaks down, gets damaged, or proves defective.
Coping with Delivery Overload
E-commerce has changed people’s shopping habits, making package storage a new problem for deliveries.
A Co-op Forgot to Send the Storage Bill.
If a co-op sends no bill for 8 years, does the shareholder still have to pay?
How to Keep Unwelcome Pigeons at Bay
Tell your superintendent if birds flock at your windows. Removal is not a DIY job.
When a Neighbor is Taking Your Newspaper
Newspaper missing? If a neighbor is swiping it, this could violate house rules.
The Expensive Surprises That Lurk Behind Walls
Leaks caused extensive water damage. How to fix the masonry without removing the windows? Aha!
Doormen vs. Security Guards: Who Loves Ya?
When choosing a doorman or a security guard, cost is not the main factor.