Spring beckons, with the promise of all those blossoms bursting with color from early flowering bulbs. If only it were that simple. All too often, spring also beckons with fungus on the lawns, dessicated trees with branches bent and br…
In a return engagement, The New Jersey Cooperator magazine and Yale Robbins, Inc. invite all property managers, HOA board members, and unit owners to the New Jersey Condo, HOA & Co-op Expo, a one-day trade show event on Wednesday, May 5…
The first robin appears. The sun stays out a little longer in the evenings, the tiniest nubs of crocus begin to break through the mud, and landscape crews begin mucking out flowerbeds. Just as sure as turning the calendar page to March…
What if your building’s boiler breaks down, or a hailstorm necessitates major emergency roof repairs for your association? Of course the first question that arises in these situations is whether your HOA’s reserve fund is adequate to co…
In this day and age of rising costs and uncertain economic climate, co-op and condo administrators have their work cut out for them when it comes to finding new ways to raise funds without drastically reducing services, raising mainten…
Like a chain, a building envelope is only as strong as its weakest link. Boards and managers often spend a lot of time and effort maintaining exterior elements like drainage, flashing, and so forth, only to neglect one of the most impo…
It sounds like an urban legend—something that supposedly happened to your cousin’s friend’s cousin. A little girl was at a barbecue party at a friend’s house, frolicking in the pool with friends. She swam to the drain at the bottom of th…
Years ago, when I babysat for a young boy, I watched him create a multi-story building out of empty cardboard boxes. The lad then ran around his proud creation, flexing his muscles and crowing, “My house is indy-structible!” (He then pr…
New Jersey’s condo communities and homeowner associations might vary in their architectural styles, but over time every exterior—from suburban vinyl siding to turn-of-the-century urban brick—experiences exterior wear due to the elements …
When condo-dwellers think “catastrophe,” it’s usually something dramatic, like a fire or huge storm laying waste to their HOA. There’s another, far more insidious enemy of urban and suburban condo buildings, however: H2O. Water damage m…