Need help! Habitat Magazine writer working on new article

[Frank Lovece]

First, thank you for all your valuable help on my previous story. My name is Frank Lovece, and I'm a freelance writer for Newsday and other publications, including Habitat (http://habitatmag.com/), a 25-year-old magazine for co-op/ condo boards and others.

I've written several features for it, including cover stories. I'm working now on two, and need your help:

1) Tips on how a board can best communicate to residents how to read the annual financial statement. (Not an article on how to read a statement -- how best to teach residents how to read it), which I'm working on today; and

2) Anecdotes about how co-op / condo boards deal with water-bill issues. Sometimes bills don't show up, or the building doesn't get a credit for payment, or you suspect the bill's too high. What's happened in your building, and what's the best way of getting answers or taking care of things with the maze-like city water-bureaucracy?

I need both brief interviews with board-members, either on phone or via e-mail, and leads from anyone. You can post here, or e-mail franklovece@copper.net. Thanks again!

[Front_Porch]

Hi Frank --

In my experience, a huge problem with building financials is that they're so late -- so far after the fact.

We're in a world where corporations that end their fiscal year on Dec. 31st have to make their securities filings by Mar. 30, so you get their statements in late spring, when you still kinda remember what happened.

But board financials lag so much more badly than that -- I fairly recently got an amendment to my condo offering plan (I'm in the Vendome) and it's got financials attached that are essentially 3Q 2006.

I'm a working real estate agent, and I find the same lag with co-ops.

So what would be helpful would be a short narrative statement on the order of:

"attached are the financials for the first three quarters of 2006, you may notice that the building's largest expense is for payroll, which is a cost determined by a union settlement made in April 2006 -- in addition, you can see that professional costs have increased as a result of the legal issues we are having . . ."

In other words, a sort of chairman's letter.

Note that I think my board (which I don't serve on) would probably not actually do this, because in general, my board resists making narrative, guiding statements of any kind.

I can't tell if that's a style thing or if there are legal risks it would open the board up to, but I can say as a condo resident I would find it helpful.

best
ali
---
Alison Rogers
Licensed Salesperson
DG Neary Realty
57 W. 16th St.
NY, NY 10011

[Frank Lovece]

I'm furiously interviewing accountants, controllers and managing agents as we speak. If it's alright, I'd like to call DG Neary Realty for a 10- to 15-minute interview for the article; I imagine a real-estate agent (and co-op owner) has different insights unique to the profession, different from those of these other disciplines.

Thanks,
Frank

[Front_Porch]

let me just check with Dan or Gil -- my sponsoring brokers -- to make sure it's okay to talk on record, and then I'll PM you with my cell number.

ali

[Frank Lovece]

Cool. Thanks!

If it helps, you can tell them that among our interviewees so far we have CPA Mark Shernicoff of Zucker & Shernicoff -- treasurer of the NYC Council of Cooperatives and Condominiums, and president of the National Association of Housing Cooperatives. DGR will be in good company!

--Frank

[Front_Porch]

Sorry, have to run out, will get back to you around 2.

ali