2011 May
2011 May Vol. 9 No. 5
Focus on...Community Building & Amenities
Plan Your Day at The New England Condo Expo, May 24, 2011
Are you ready for the Condo Expo? If you haven’t yet registered to attend this information-packed event on Tuesday, May 24, you’ll want to register soon — by visiting www.ne-expo.com. Along with the online registration, which will
save you time when you arrive at the Seaport World Trade Center, the Expo
website offers an up-to-date listing of Exhibitors, an interactive floor plan,
seminar schedule and other information that will help you plan your day.
Read More
Over and Under
These days, the over 55-community is looking a little younger. Faced with a
troubled real-estate market, developers around the U.S. are taking steps to
reduce age limits to 45 or, in some cases, to lift restrictions entirely.
Read More
Uncommon Spaces
Many professionals recommend a simple start for cost-conscious renovations,
changing things over a period of time, and then keeping up with maintenance—a sort of rolling renovation approach for staying up to date and functional.
Read More
Fitting In
Staying competitive in a growing condo marketplace can often mean attention to
detail. Second only to location, it is those little details—a property’s included amenities—that often sway the balance for a potential condo buyer. And as Americans of all
stripes grow increasingly health-conscious, experts say fitness-related
amenities can be key to the overall health of condo residents—and a condo community’s bottom line.
Read More
Soaking Up Savings
Years ago, when residents wanted to do their laundry, they grabbed their
baskets, a pocketful of quarters and perhaps a good book or their Walkman and
headed downstairs to the dark, dingy laundry room. A few hours later, they
would return back to their units, only to repeat the dreaded trip the following
week.
Read More
More Than Fish Tales
The fish you ate for dinner was likely pulled from the icy waters off
Gloucester, Massachusetts, before it was processed in a packing plant in the
picturesque Cape Ann community.
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Can We Go Green?
As gasoline prices rise with increasing summer demand, American thoughts focus
sharply on the cost of energy and ways to trim fat from their overall energy
budgets. Yet for the nation’s nearly sixty million condo dwellers, considering newer energy-saving options
can be a tricky proposition at best. While some condos or co-ops move rapidly to adopt the latest green technologies, many associations, still
governed by documents drafted decades in the past, may be burdened with legal
language that expressly prohibits their communities from making a variety of
environmentally-friendly updates.
Read More
Changing Times
Two important shifts in U.S. demographics are playing a role in planning the
future of condominium communities. First, the nation’s population, including that of New England, is becoming more racially and
ethnically diverse. Second, people are living longer, and many of those
individuals plan to stay in their homes as long as possible Read More
Q&A: Roofing Dilemma
I own an apartment in an eight-unit condo. The board is composed of all eight owners, of which there are four officers. My apartment is on the top floor, and over the past few years I have sustained over a dozen water leaks due to a faulty roof. In the past, the board repaired and installed flashing to prevent leaks but now it appears that there is serious buckling and a large portion of the roof needs replacing. The association lacks funds to repair it and the other owners are reluctant to vote for an assessment. It seems the board is making this my issue. Read More
