Real estate lore has its share of stories about merciless, if not downright unscrupulous, city inspectors popping in on unaware building owners, conducting unscheduled examinations of all types, and sometimes even demanding payoffs in excha…
Cities and suburbs can be dirty places – and unfortunately, getting that dirt off the façade of a building takes more than just a scrub-brush and a bottle of Mr. Clean. How a building is cleaned depends on two factors: what materials the bu…
A residential property could have triple-reinforced titanium steel walls, and it still wouldn’t be worth a darn without a sturdy roof. It’s through the roof and rooftop features that many problematic elements can enter a building, from wind…
They say that a stitch in time saves nine. But when dealing with exterior maintenance and repairs for your condominium, cooperative or homeowners’ association, that proverbial stitch can save nines – or tens – of thousands of dollars. Small…
Can you imagine living in a condo or HOA that doesn’t have a laundry room? These days, having on-site laundry facilities for residents isn’t an amenity – it’s a necessity, and keeping yours functional and well-maintained is just as importan…
Being a board member, manager, or maintenance staff member for a building or HOA obviously comes with numerous responsibilities. Chief among those is being ready and able to deal with risks, issues and hazards that pose potential threats to…
Many an apartment-dweller dreams of waking up, pulling back the drapes or raising the blinds, and gazing out their floor-to-ceiling windows toward the horizon, sunlight flooding the space around them. For the lucky few that’s not a fantasy…
Everyone loves the turning of the seasons, what with leaves changing, snow falling, pools opening and the like. But Mother Nature has little concern for the comfort of humans, so fluctuating temperatures bring the need for residential heati…
Whether because of convenience, the desire for autonomy, or a tight budget, some condo and HOA communities opt not to retain an outside management company or an agent to handle their respective day-to-day administrative and maintenance need…
Like people, buildings age. Even under the best of atmospheric conditions, dust, dirt and grime accumulate, changing a building’s appearance over time. Often it’s not until a building’s façade is cleaned that one notices how it was dirty to…