Like the automobile, the residential elevator is a mechanical marvel—and a fairly recent invention. If you’re a board member, a manager or just a unit owner of an urban or suburban co-op or condo development, chances are you probably use…
Keeping indoor air clean is critical to maintaining a healthy environment. The inner workings of a building’s operating system is often a mystery to the untrained person or board member. Since it’s easier to determine the cleanliness of…
The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife says that there are over 800 species of wildlife living in the Garden State, and while most of them will never been seen on association properties, it seems that others are showing up more t…
Condominium associations and their property managers have shown that, like owners of other types of buildings, they are eager to do their part to be good stewards of the health of the planet, as well as the health of the occupants of t…
Do you have an elephant in the living room? That is a way to describe something that everyone knows about, but nobody talks about because it is too awkward. Community association budgets, and particularly reserve contributions and disc…
As buildings age, small and large maintenance issues arise, and HOA boards are called upon to address these situations. The questions frequently revolve around whether to use in-house staff or to hire an outside company to fix the prob…
It’s hard—if not impossible—to plan a budget for your association and stick to it, especially if maintenance problems and structural crises are constantly taking you by surprise and depleting your community’s bank account. Capital budge…
You may have a roof over your head—but if that roof isn’t doing its job, you may as well be living on the cold, wet street. Roofs serve as the first line of defense against whatever the skies throw at your development, so it’s …
New York City is often called “the concrete jungle” thanks to the thousands of square miles of pavement of all descriptions that cover the city, but New Jersey has its own acres and acres of concrete, and caring for all that is a huge j…
Edgar Dworsky is the treasurer of a small condo complex in Somerville, Massachusetts that was built back in 1987. He loves where he lives except for one rather large problem. Water leaks have plagued the complex since it was built. Dur…