The harshness of winter can be challenging for all of us, but for cold-blooded insects, it's downright brutal. Yet every spring when temperatures rise, insects are once again crawling and buzzing around as though winter never happened.…
As recently as five years ago, traditional phone logs and Rolodexes were a common part of a property manager's daily communications arsenal. Yet, with recent advances in property management software, such anachronistic methods are larg…
Most buildings have emergency preparedness plans in case of fires, floods, or hurricanes. But there’s one form of crisis that very few have an organized response for: the public relations disaster. It could come in the form of a scandal…
Job losses. Bankruptcies. Foreclosures. These are tough times for everyone, but when homeowners fall on hard times, they are often late paying condo, townhome or co-op fees. Some can’t even afford to pay them at all. Add in to…
Drawing up a contract for management services looks at first glance like a simple task. Such contracts usually follow a particular format and outline services for condos, townhomes and co-ops regardless of size. But what about contract…
These are hardly the best of times for those who manage condo and homeowner association buildings, charged as they are with overseeing financial well-being, maintenance goals, legal issues and an almost unpredictable kaleidoscope of ot…
With the New Year under way, The New Jersey Cooperator’s 2011 Condo, HOA & Co-op Expo is quietly taking shape as this spring’s must-attend event for the Garden State’s property managers, board members and unit owners. Held at th…
In early 2009 at the urging of President Barack Obama, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) with a view toward easing the blow dealt to the economy by what some are calling the Great Recession. The ARRA had…
From 2002 to 2007 and beyond, condo construction in New Jersey reached heights never seen before. Much of it was in the “Gold Coast,” in towns like Hoboken and Jersey City and up into Bergen County. Indeed, a New York Times article by A…
When realtor Sean Carroll went out looking at homes with a prospective buyer not so many months ago, it didn't take long to find a property that fit exactly what the buyer was looking for. When Carroll put his client's offer in however,…