Management FAQ

MGRE is pleased to respond to your questions about professional residential management.

To submit a question to the MGRE Management F.A.Q.,
write to MGRE Vice President James Goldstick at: MGRE
1981 Marcus Avenue, Suite C131, Lake Success, New York 11042 or
fax to (516) 801- 6153 or e-mail to: jgoldstick@mgre.com

Question: What's the latest on the City's real estate tax abatement program for co-ops and condos?

Question: I am on the Board of my condominium association, which is not managed by MGRE. We hold Board meetings once a month, but they last forever - sometimes as long as four or five hours. Any advice on getting the work done and getting out of the meeting before the break of dawn?

Question: Our 225 unit co-op has bounced around from one management company to another and we've never been satisfied with the service we've received. One company even stole money from our Operating Account and now we're in litigation trying to get it back. We're thinking about self-management.
What do you think?

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Question: What's the latest on the City's real estate tax abatement program for co-ops and condos?

MGRE Chief Financial Officer and controller
Cynthia Dubensky responds:
That's a good question. As you may recall, in an effort to address the disparity in property taxes between private homes and co-ops and condos, in 1996 New York City introduced an amendment to the Real Property Tax Law that provided real estate tax abatements to most co-op shareholders and condo unit owners for a period of three years. In September 1999, when the initial three-year program expired, the City issued official notification that the program had been extended for a fourth year to cover the tax year 1999/2000. In the first quarter of 2000, MGRE received notification that the program had been extended again to cover the tax year 2000/2001. While ongoing paperwork is necessary to meet the program's filing requirements, and certain restrictions apply, most City shareholders and unit owners have benefitted from the program. As of this writing in January 2001, it is unclear whether or not the City will continue the abatement program indefinitely. As always, MGRE will keep the properties we manage appraised of any new developments, and we will continue to meet the City's filing deadlines in a timely and complete manner.

Question: I am on the Board of my condominium association, which is not managed by MGRE. We hold Board meetings once a month, but they last forever - sometimes as long as four or five hours. Any advice on getting the work done and getting out of the meeting before the break of dawn?

MGRE Director of Management Steven Greenbaum responds:
Volunteering to serve on your property's Board of Directors or Board of Managers should not be an endurance test. Unless a building has more than one or two significant issues that require re-hashing at every Board meeting, there is no reason why any Board meeting should last more than two hours tops. Here are four specific suggestions to help you and your fellow Board members be as productive as possible in as little time as possible.

 

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