Realtors agree: Kitchens sell. In fact, homeowners returned 85.2 percent of their investment on minor kitchen remodels and 80.4 percent on major remodels, according to a 2006 Cost vs. Value report in Remodeling magazine, prepared in coop…

It's decision time at a meeting between a board and a property manager and the discussion takes an unexpected turn to a document that is back at the property manager's office. Missing from the discussion is an obscure line item from …

A s the housing slump continues throughout New England, developers in Rhode Island are adapting their projects to reflect the changing times. Some developers have opted to rent out their units as apartments instead of putting more produc…

During recent years, while the real estate industry was inflating with breathtaking speed, the mortgage industry blossomed right along with it. When the bubble burst, what resulted in the overblown mortgage industry could be summarized a…

You just got a notice from your condominium board of trustees that they need to spend $3,250,000 on major projects that have been put off for many years. In theory, everyone has agreed to put off the repairs in favor of "saving" on the m…

I often work with the boards of directors of not-for-profit associations. Most of these groups include very sophisticated individual members who have day jobs that range from vice presidents of human resources to corporate lawyers to cha…

Let your imagination run a little wild. The kids are creating a nuisance at the condo pool this summer, so wouldn't it be popular to create an adults-only swim time? Or better yet, why not pass a new rule banning teenagers from skate…

Much as the subprime mortgage market has dominated recent financial news, there is no readily agreed upon definition of the term. The most common description is the lender-given designation for borrowers with low credit scores (FICO scor…

In the fall of 1989, I delivered a presentation at the National Conference of Community Associations Institute in Dallas, Texas. My presentation was about why buildings leak. At that point in my career, I had been involved with thousands…

Imagine a perfect neighborhood: it's reminiscent of the neighborhoods of the 1950s. Warm, friendly faces, holiday parties, carpools, and unlocked doors are the norms. Such neighborhoods do exist today, but in modern times that perfect im…