Coop Board Information Share?
Hi everyone… I am on the Board of a coop in Bay Ridge, and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction here… I am realizing that I have to take a lot of what the management company tells me at face value (it costs X dollars to do this or that……
Hi everyone…
I am on the Board of a coop in Bay Ridge, and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction here…
I am realizing that I have to take a lot of what the management company tells me at face value (it costs X dollars to do this or that… You dont need that much in the reserve account, etc).
It is not that I dont trust the management company, I would just like to speak to other folks on Board to hear of their experiences… I like to do my homework, I guess..
So I was wondering if there are any Board associations, or bulletin boards or anything like that where we might share war stories and also learn from one another…
Any help would be appreciated!
K
I will tell you this: I live in the norma Apartments in Brooklyn and I really do not trust the Management Company nor do I trust the Co-op Board. I know it is only a matter of time before their Sins will be found out. Sometimes when people have been getting away with Nefarious behaviours they think they are invincible. However, we only have to look at what happen at the Phillip Howard on Flatbush Ave near Brooklyn College. The Co-op board and the Management companies Sins were found out. They were both ousted!! People at the Phillip Howard had had enough. They were selling parking spaces under the table. paying phantom employees, etc…..you name it!!! Beware—- The boards of these co-ops and Management will lie right in your face…….meanwhile you may be paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars in maintenance you do not have too….all because some greedy people are cheating you so that they can live lavisly——- Bernie Madoff is not the only one lying and cheating innocent folk………………God help us all!! (innocent Shareholders)
Thanks, Kensingtonian! Great info!
Oh and that’s 20-25K a year
Yeah management company owned by a sponsor should be a red flag. Our building had the same thing and the sponsor used the building as a credit card for many years and balooned our mortgage because he didn’t want to increase maintenance along with rising costs to keep his own apartments at low maintenance and charge higher rents. To answer your questions:
1. The consensus is any healthy coop should have at least 6 months to a year worth of expenses in reserve. Of course, the higher the better.
2. When we refinanced, I don’t think we paid anything to the mgmt company. Maybe some printing and coop seal costs but not thousands at all.
3. I can tell you that I am in a 90 unit building in Kensington and the competitive quotes we got were somewhere between 20-25K.
If you want more info, feel free to email me at BKJester3 AT aol.com
Thanks all!
I have been devouring articles on cooperator.com all morning 🙂
I think my concerns at the moment are:
1) finding out average reserves fund size on comparable buildings in my area
2) is it normal to pay thousands of dollars to the management company for building mortgage refinancing paperwork?
3) what do management company fees average for comparable buildings in my area?
I have seen nothing to indicate impropriety by our management company, but it does concern me that they are owned by the sponsor…
cooperator.com is a good source. cnyc is a joke, sorry.
If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask here. A bunch of brownstoners, including myself, are on board of their coops and we might have some very useful insights. I know I helped a few people here with references to Tax lawyers to fight abatements, regular tenant/landlord lawyers, contractors, roofers, etc. Also learned a lot for posters here.
Good luck and don’t trust management company with everything relating to your building. It a job for them, it’s a place where you live and your investment for you.
Check out cnyc.org (Council of NY Coops & Condos). Lots of info on-line plus seminars for board members and other shareholders which can really help. It’s worth joining.
Have you looked at http://www.cooperator.com? Not sure if they have bulletin boards but it might be a start.