While having goods and services like retail stores, banks and dry cleaners on-site can be convenient and viewed as a positive by condo unit owners and neighbors, not every commercial tenant is a good fit for every condo community or HOA. L…
Whether they’re managing a small walk-up building in the city center or a sprawling development in a more suburban area, property managers handle a wide array of tasks, from physical stuff to administrative chores. While many of these jobs…
After this winter, a concrete walkway in our condo property was completely ruined. Several unit owners contend the property manager used rock salt instead of the usual calcium chloride. If we can establish that rock salt was indeed used as …
A quote often attributed to the Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck in the mid-1800s says something to the effect that laws are like sausages—it's better not to see either of them being made. It's a clever quip, and it's not entirely inac…
Even before the economic meltdown and the media storm swirling around the thievery of money men like Bernie Madoff, financial mismanagement and fraud were destructive problems for many co-op and condo owners. A co-op or condo is a ma…
This country was founded with a heavy dose of independence and a strong “Do-It-Yourself” attitude. The DIY mindset, with roots in Europe and European culture, crossed the Atlantic Ocean with the earliest immigrants and became part of the A…
Finding the right balance of involvement between homeowner associations, co-op boards, condo boards and residents can be like maintaining a healthy relationship with a significant other: you want to be compassionate, responsive and attenti…
Someone once said, "People who say that small things don't bother them have never tried to sleep in a room with a mosquito." The truth is that there are little irritations—otherwise known as pet peeves—about a job, relationship, or o…
A key to success and functionality in any relationship is clear and regular communication. In a residential community, part of achieving functionality is managing the information in the governing documents and records which detail the comm…
If you want to find out about the history of a town, region or country, head to a museum or look it up on the Internet. If you want to find out about your family’s history, look at your photo album, whether it’s in a book or online. And…