be careful to go with a company that has been around a long time. Many "roofing co's" change their name every few years so they dont have to honor warranties. Also, do NOT go to co's recommended by your managing agent - do your own research. Seriously, this is true.

I am Resident Manager, and at my previous when i was a working superintendent we had to have our flat roof redone. The cheapest way is not always the best way. I like (Synthetic Membranes). The use of synthetic membranes has just about eliminated the need for gravel on roofs. Why? Because many of these new roof membranes are glued down to the roof sheathing. Not only that, the new membranes contain materials that resist UV degradation. If you can install a new flat roof without gravel, do it!

We had a new roof installed about 4 years ago now - cold-rolled (synthetic membrane). Lots of protruding pipes. Process was smooth sailing and we have at least a 20-year warranty.

Be happy to give you more info if you're interested.

If you are employing an engineering company for the replacement, these are the individuals whose brains should be picked. Ask why they favor one type of roof over another, etc. Also, what you discuss initially with the engineer will probably drive to a great extent the selection of the roof. If someone is looking for a green roof, then the engineer will recommend the green roof or will tell you why he/she does not favor it for your specific structure. If you say, you do not have much money to spend on your roof, your deck may be overlooked to a great extent and he/she may try to get a second layer if possible at a lesser cost.

Again, engineers will do the recommendation based on the prelliminary study and based on your initial conversation to ensure that the work that they will finally sign off pleases the customer and the budget. No sense in designing a rolls royce if you can only pay for a chevy.

AdC

In my opinion, management companies, these days, appear to engage in many related businesses that enable them to increase revenue.

The Bible says something like you cannot serve two masters at the same time... Well, being a leasing broker and a building manager may not be compatible in a co-op. This may be okay for a rental, in which the leasing office may be under the property manager's scope. Again, a manager's role must be specified by the contract. Management companies may have their own real estate, commercial leasing brokers, etc, but you have to make sure that your manager provides the support to the property that you expect. Let other members of the same organization to run the leasing aspect if these departments are divided and you sign the contract to represent you.

AdC

how about the statement below? (from an article) and what would the current interest rate be?

Care must be given, however, to ensure that the proprietary lease authorizes those particular charges, otherwise the co-op opens itself up to counter-claims by the shareholder and for his or her legal fees, if the shareholder is successful.

The most common abuse by co-ops is the inclusion of cumulative late charges, such as $25 the first month, $50 the second month, $75 the third month and so on.

This type of late charge structure violates not only most proprietary leases (which provide that late fees can only be charged equal to the maximum legal rate of interest), but also violates usury laws. Since the purpose of the rent demand, or "Notice to Cure," is to afford the shareholder the opportunity to determine the claim’s accuracy, only those charges which are legal and permissible should be included in the notice.

Do you have staff that may be ready for promotion?

With a little help from your management company, a good porter/handy man that may have worked side by side with your previous super and had learned a lot about your particular building may be a good fit and would warrant a look.

Then you just need to replace the porter.

Thank you but no, we dont have anyone on staff that can fill this position.

This is a great job, its hard to believe that its so difficult to find qualified applicants.

HG

Here's a resource to explore http://www.nysupersclub.org/ for job postings at http://www.nysupersclub.org/jobssupers.htm.

Good luck!

I may be to help you out with some Superintendents. If you would like to call me at 212-319-8375 I can set you up with some resumes. I am presently the President of the Manhattan Resident Managers Club, Inc. and I always have members that are looking another position.

Mike MacGowan

I was featured in a habitat article last january The Super Man!

joeshkreli@yahoo.com is my e-mail address I have a great network of honest and Very handy people.I am a Resident Manager with great leads that can make you very happy. My last position when i left i made sure the board knew that they were not just hiring a new employee, but they were bringing a stranger into their home to live with them.So please contact me with any questions or concerns. I enjoy helping people.

Joe, Thank you for your response. We did hire a Super (refered by our prev Super) but I will keep your Emial address... The number of unqualified applicants was surprising. And our Mang Agent was of very little help..

Thank you HG

In my building the shareholder asks me (Resident Manager) and I put them on the waiting list. If their is a space available I assign them a hook number and then management charges them $10.00 per month on their maintenance.

we charge $4 a month. Keeping it affordable. IMPORTANT - you need some horizontle storage as not everyone can lift a heavy bike. we forgot to do this and then had to re-do it so th people with back problems did not have to lift their bike.

Our building uses vertical storage - you can get a lot more bikes hanging from hooks than in racks in the same space. Fees are monthly, charged on maintenance bill. Haven't run out of hooks yet...

Could you tell me how much you charge?

Be buy nothing but government securities with differing maturity dates as befits our fiduciary responsibility.

We never play craps with our shareholders funds.

Try contacting Ira Meister at Matthew Adam Properties, Inc. 127 East 59th Street NYC 10022 (212) 699-8900

Amazing -- I was just about to recommend Matthew Adam Properties myself. We've been with them a little over two years and we find them outstanding. They're total pros and very friendly people.

Naturally, every building is different, and if you're seriously thinking about changing management, you should get recommendations from a number of sources. Follow up in detail and be prepared to spend a lot of time on the search; it's an arduous process.

Try calling Greg Cohen or Stuart Halper at Impact Mgt. 718-898-0190. We are a community that is almost 30 years old and have been thru many, many management companies. We have recently renewed out contract with them.

The Argo Corporation.

Veritas Property Management 212-799-2365 ask for Carl Borenstein. They are the best out of all 3 management companies we went through over a 3 year period.

Pres.

I am a former Management Company Executive and perform this service on a consultancy basis. We will evaluate your management needs and prepare a Request for Proposal for you to send out to several management companies for evaluation. We will do all the leg work and narrow the field to a company that would be a good fit for you. Receiving recommendations from readers may be a good start but will leave your board with lots of leg work for you.Please email Jeff @ PJrealtyservices.com

Typically, the lease and even the by-laws stipulate the "fee" for failure to make payment in a timely manner.

We have felt, at times, we wish to increase the fee for each month "late", e.g.: $25, first month, $50 second month, etc., but our corporate counsel has indicated that we are thwarted by the wording of our proprietary lease.

By the way, our monthly arrears total rarely, if ever, exceeds 1.5% of our projected monthly income.

Yes, you're right on all points. Although a managing agent is certainly free to suggest a good lawyer or accountant, the final choice is the Board's. The lawyer/accountant is answerable only to the Board, though you may want to have your managing agent talk with them on occasion: "Please have our accountant take a look at the so-and-so problem."

On a related point, we changed our managing agent two years ago but kept both our lawyer and our accountant. No one squawked and everything has been fine.

Thanks so much for your response. That's what I thought.

And why is it a good practice to have those two entities (management on the one hand, counsel + accountant on the other hand) at a remove from each other?

Did you change management companies, or did you just get a different agent with the same company? What do you mean when you say that no one squawked?

Thanks again.

Keeping management, attorney, and accountant as three separate entities ensures that there is no hint of a conflict of interest. For example, if your attorney is your managing agent's brother, and your managing agent recommends a lengthy and costly consultation with his attorney-brother, that doesn't look so great -- even if everything is completely in order. You should avoid even the *appearance* of possible impropriety.

Yes, we did change management companies and not just agents. We've been very happy with the change. "No one squawked" in the sense that our new agent, old lawyer, and old accountant all made the transition very smoothly and professionally -- no problems and no complaints.

By the way, I like Bill S's comment about having an in-house lawyer. Our former Board president is a real-estate lawyer and he's a great first resource before we go to the coop's official lawyer.

Keeping management, attorney, and accountant as three separate entities ensures that there is no hint of a conflict of interest.
Yes. Exactly. Thank you.

You should avoid even the appearance of possible impropriety.
Exactly.

↑ Sorry, I was anonymous there.

We have a CPA firm that is just dynamite. We did employ one of the big name accounting firms, and we switched several years ago. The new firm specializes in co-op and condos and I see a night a day difference in knowledge and diligence.

We have a house counsel. In actuality it is an attorney who lives in the building and who handles the tasks such as closings and letters to those residents who violate rules or who are in arrears (very few and very low amount). Occasionally, this attorney will handle some litigious matters. For unusual cases, we may obtain the services of a specialty law firm, but not in all situations.