The date is fast approaching for The Chicagoland Cooperator’s first annual Chicagoland Condo, HOA, & Co-op Expo, to be held at Navy Pier Convention Center on Wednesday, November 16, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Along with the booths and n…
With the leafless trees and icy winds blowing along the shores of Lake Michigan, it is the perfect time for condo or co-op managers and building administrators to start thinking about repair and maintenance work for the upcoming spring.…
Q I am buying a condo. The developer wants me to waive the implied warranty of habitability? Is this normal? His reason being they rehabbed the building and didn't build it from scratch. Should I be alarmed? —Prospective Shopper …
Q A condo owner in my building added an extra room to her condo in our common basement—now the basement is getting smaller and her condo is getting bigger. Is it fraud or theft to the member association? What can we do? She has been add…
Q I live in a very small building and our condo board has turned over our building to a manager, who is running the condo as if unit owners work for her—not vice versa. The board likes not having to do anything. What recourse do unhappy …
“Sue“ is a retired professional who is well-to-do, rarely eats at home and has lived in her condo for decades. While everything seems perfect from the outside, Sue is the keeper of a dirty little secret. When the unit above he…
Living in a condominium community means working together. Cooperation and a spirit of volunteerism are visible every day in community gatherings, board meetings, even in the scheduling of time on the tennis courts. The men and women wh…
The key to achieving savings in your home is a whole-house energy efficiency plan. To take a whole-house approach, view your home as an energy system with interdependent parts. For example, your heating system is not just a furnace—it's…
While most people might catch the flu in the winter or suffer from allergies in the spring, a building’s immune system is continually being tested. An environment that appears “healthy” on the surface could be plagued by invisible, odorl…
Jena Ball couldn't sleep—the noise was deafening and keeping her awake night after night. The racket wasn't coming from the next door neighbors, but instead was emanating from inside her condo wall. "It was bizarre," says Ball. …