Insurance is cyclical; there are hard markets and soft markets, and insurance companies typically make money in two ways: underwriting profit, and investment income. When the market is soft, insurance companies are looking for market share,…

One of the unique aspects of life in a co-op or condo is that a building or HOA is in many ways a microcosm of the larger world outside. It can suffer from the same factionalism and partisan bickering as any political entity, only on a much…

If a rental tenant defaults, persists in violating rules, or breaks the law, they can be evicted from their unit. It can certainly be a drawn-out, acrimonious process, but it’s more or less routine. While much more rare – and more complicat…

Q. We have a board that just doesn’t get along. I am the board president, and one of the other board members is a big bully. It’s really hard to deal with him, and I hear from contractors that he is nasty. He wants to run it all. No matte…

The boards that direct co-ops, condominiums, and HOAs across the country are made up of volunteers who donate time to help govern their communities. Among their duties is selecting vendors to provide goods or services for those communities—…

The importance of saving for a rainy day is a lesson we all learn as children. Just like we as individuals should put away a little something for that ‘just-in-case’ moment, co-op corporations and condominium associations must also keep res…

With few exceptions, most multifamily buildings or communities have at least one or two staff members (and sometimes many more) who maintain the safety, security, cleanliness, mechanical operations, and day-to-day functions that residents a…

In today’s world of high-tech property management and building security, there are more options than ever for managers and boards to choose from to keep their communities on the cutting edge. There are web- and device-based apps for everyth…

Like so many other sectors of the economy, residential real estate management has changed and evolved since the turn of the millennium—and like those other sectors, much of that evolution is directly linked to the development and adoption o…

Despite the best intentions of board members, residents, and even managers, co-op and condominium properties don’t always run like well-tuned machines. Sometimes they hit a bump in the road...and sometimes they break down completely. The re…