6 Top Resources for New Co-op and Condo Board Members
This is Election Season for most NYC co-ops and condos. You have been recently elected to the board of your co-op or condo, your largest investment: now what do you do? You may be the best Attorney, CPA, Consultant, or Financial Advisor on the planet, but how much do you know about running a building?
A residential building is actually a very complex business and board members have a fiduciary responsibility to the other owners. You need a managing agent to help run the day-to-day operations, but what else is involved? You need to learn, and here are links to some of the very best resources to get you started:
CNYC: This is a membership organization that works to set policy and goals for co-ops and condos on a wide variety of issues. They host various free informational workshops throughout the year, and each November run their annual full-day housing conference and expo with seminars on all topics relevant to operating a building.
The Cooperator: A monthly consumer-trade publication filled with insightful editorial and informative content related to board operations, management, maintenance and finance. It is available online, but also as a free subscription. They also have an annual expo at the mid-town Hilton in the spring, hosting over 300 vendors and educational seminars on relevant topics.
Habitat Magazine: An independent publication with both paid subscriptions as well as numerous free online resources for board members providing articles, vendors and an open forum for fellow board members to connect and get their questions answered.
Brick Underground: This is your daily survival guide for buying, selling, renting and living in New York City. This online resource has useful ideas for making improvements to your building and also has helpful information in their article library about co-op/condo living.
Landlords NY: This is a social network exclusively for vetted landlords and property managers in New York. They provide online resource for NY landlords and managers consisting of free, unlimited access to a team of experts, virtual collaboration with their peers and a plethora of real estate services and resources. They also host the semi-annual LandlordsNY LIVE Property Management Symposium.
New York Times Real Estate: Find the latest open houses, price reductions and homes new to the market with guidance from experts who live in the area. They also have a weekly Ask Real Estate column where they answer relevant questions from residents.
Each of these is sure to help any board member learn more about the operations of the building that you, as a board member, now have fiduciary responsibility to the owners that you represent.
The Folson Group is a leading financial & efficiency expert for apartment building boards and mangers.