Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 21st, 2012
As a large swath of very beautifully designed buildings head our way in New York City, a result of the re-awakening of new development construction that was dormant for several years, I want all ‘older/existing’ co-op’s and condo’s to acknowledge that soon they could be viewed as the ‘poorer cousins’ when compared to the newer buildings that will include exquisite common areas, lobbies and entrances. So if your building has not addressed the following yet, this is what I suggest should be the FIVE items no building should ignore:
1) FIRST IMPRESSIONS: By adding a touch of greenery to welcome you and your guests home, you are creating a good first drive-up-appeal impression, and you are benefitting your entire block. This is probably one of the most inexpensive upgrades for a building and worth every penny. In fact, if your building is too cheap or short-sighted to see the benefit of doing so, you or a small group may even want to pool together the $ 2,000.00 and but the two planters, potting soil and boxwoods. Remember to plant plants that are well suited to the light/shade/wind traffic conditions. Of course you can get more creative and group several planters, or more.
2) THE LOBBY: Whether you have a doorman or not, the lobby is the first interior impression of your building and sets the tone. A clean, renovated, up-to-date lobby is a wise investment. A gut renovation is not cheap. The alternative is minor fixes such as: painting or applying wallpaper to the walls in a chic coloration (surely someone in your building is, or knows a good interior designer to help with this selection?), changing out the lighting (no fluorecents!) or adding an appealing light fixture/chandelier, adding an orchid or fresh flowers. Maybe adding some artwork would help too: good, simple, not-too-taste-specific prints from such mass-but-tasteful stores such as Restoration Hardware or Room and Board will do the trick. Why not add an elegant bench or chairs with a side table and some books?
3) THE ELEVATORS: A tired elevator interior sends a message of tired apartments and their owners. Re-finishing an elevator interior is not cheap, but certainly well worth the $ 15k or so it takes.
4) THE HALLWAYS: When you step off the elevator, seeing some art on the walls is the quickest, easiest fix. Again, simple black and white photos are more than adequate. A good, clean carpet and clean painted or papered walls are better. Add some good, soft lighting: Fluorescent lights are always vile…..there are warmer, equally energy efficient LED lights these days. Make the hallways look like the elegantly designed hallway of a tasteful home and you have a winner.
5) GET OVER IT! Unless your building delivers on all fronts, don’t expect it to sell for some of the super-high prices of buildings that do. Upgrading your building common areas may indeed benefit those who are selling their homes: it benefits those who stay even more as they get to enjoy these elements longer AND benefit if indeed they ultimately sell. A higher sale price of your neighbor’s home makes your home worth more too whether selling, re-financing or simply knowing your home is improving in value. Building owners would work together quickly and simply to resolve the inevitable conflicts that arise from spending money. There are several ways to elegantly address those that simply cannot afford to contribute to building improvements. And to those that simply don’t want any change at all, put it to a vote: we live in a democracy after all.
Thank you for addressing the undertaxing of single family homes and townhouses and the overtaxing of condominium homes. It is completely unbalanced and unfair. The city needs to be held accountable.
The so-called “tenants rights” groups and their legislative kin need to held accountable for creating a system of rent control that reduce property tax income by more than $400 million. Spending is a factor, sure, but a good place to start is to have everyone pay their fair share.
Hey there! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I really enjoy reading your posts. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with the same subjects? Thanks a lot!
The methodolgy of Coop and Condo assessment was enacted at ta time where most buildings where rental buildings in the city and there was no point of reference of individual sales to determine the value of a unit or building except the “value of an asset that would return a certain profit based on a capitalization rate”. If you look at the tax rolls, the rental estimates are ALL wrong as they compare building with rent stabilized rent wih Coops, Condo and who knows what. This is total Insanity. The value determined by the city has nothing to do with the real markeatable value of apartments and the methodolgy leaves so much to desire that it is virtually impossible to have a fair system. We have enough points of reference sales (Condo AND Coops) to be able to determine a fair market value of apartments. Also how do you explain a coop that sell for the same price than a Condo and the same price than a single home end up with such different tax bill. The law and consitution of NY state states clearly that every one has to be treated equally. Our corrupt government has found a way to treat people inequally and is doing nothing to change it. This is just outrageous and lame of lazy politicians.
Look at the related link portion at thr right of the commentary, included curbed, the real deal etc. All good real estate related information.
Has anybody realized that right after Bloomberg became mayor (2002), 2 years later (2004) he changed the name of the notice of assessments to notice of property value and removed the total property tax from the notice to make it more difficult to find your total real estate tax for that year. If you look at your assessments there is no more tax total on the notice