Over the last year and a half, the boards, managers, and residents of condos, HOAs, and other multifamily communities have relied heavily on their supers, porters, doorpeople, janitorial workers, handymen and -women, security personnel, mai…
The forward march of innovation is constantly changing the face of nearly every industry—including residential real estate. To keep co-ops, condominiums, and other multifamily communities functioning optimally, we need to keep abreast of th…
Of all the modern conveniences we take for granted, perhaps none is as profoundly basic —and indispensable—as indoor plumbing. Carrying fresh water into our homes and taking waste water away, the pipes in our condo or co-op buildings are t…
From the outside, the structure of a condo or co-op building may appear to be monolithic; just one big piece of brick and steel, punctuated with some glass here and there. That's an oversimplification, however. A multifamily building is pe…
This country was founded over two hundred years ago with a heavy dose of independence and a strong “Do-It-Yourself” attitude. The DIY mindset, with roots in Europe and European culture, crossed the Atlantic Ocean with the earliest immigran…
As readers of this publication surely know, well-run condo buildings and HOAs need to have adequate amounts of money in both their operating funds and their reserve funds. The operating fund covers most of the day-to-day costs of run…
Nothing lasts forever, and though you can’t predict the moment a piece of building equipment will break down, you can prepare for it. Even the toughest boiler, HVAC unit, or elevator will eventually tucker out and need major repairs, or ju…
How often should a multifamily apartment building in South Florida have its garbage chutes cleaned? That question depends on who lives in the building and how big it is, says Chet Ribner, president of Southern Chutes, Inc. in Hollywo…
If phones can be “smart,” why not buildings? With the ever-expanding array of consumer technology available today, it should come as no surprise that residential buildings are incorporating more and more cutting-edge technology into the…
Southern Florida's homeowner associations may not have to deal with much in the way of snow and ice when it comes to protecting and repairing their concrete and stucco surfaces, but they certainly aren't off the hook just because blizz…