Co-ops

DUDE! Get your managing agent's attention

Teri Rogers Headshot - Floral
By Teri Karush Rogers  |
May 21, 2009 - 2:04PM
182576_2685.jpg

Having had some experience being blown off by a managing agent (present company excluded), we decided to ask one for some tips on getting attention.

Generally, says Michael J. Wolfe, president of Midboro Management in Manhattan, calls before noon should be returned the same day.    With most managing agents carrying Blackberries these days, “email tends to work better than calling,” he notes. “But be very specific about your question—not just ‘call me.’"

Be persistent, not pestilent: Calling twice a day is okay—every half hour is annoying.

When comes to approval for renovations, Midboro agents respond in about two days for something small like a bathroom and in two weeks for a gut rehab.

Feeling ignored? You may get better results by contacting your agent's boss, rather than complaining to your board.  

“If I get a call from a board member saying one of my people didn’t call them back, it’s embarrassing,” says Wolfe, who will intervene personally when an owner complains.


How quickly does your managing agent respond? How do you speed things along?  

Teri Rogers Headshot - Floral

Teri Karush Rogers

Founder & Publisher

Founder and publisher Teri Karush Rogers launched Brick Underground in 2009. As a freelance journalist, she had previously covered New York City real estate for The New York Times. Teri has been featured as an expert on New York City residential real estate by The New York Times, New York Daily News, amNew York, NBC Nightly News, The Real Deal, Business Insider, the Huffington Post, and NY1 News, among others. Teri earned a BA in journalism and a law degree from New York University.

Brick Underground articles occasionally include the expertise of, or information about, advertising partners when relevant to the story. We will never promote an advertiser's product without making the relationship clear to our readers.

topics: