Low-tech co-op boards test online waters

Despite many a co-op board’s penchant for one-on-one interviews, tech savvy Skype users may be slowly edging into the arena, according to New York Magazine. The online interview trend is slowly gaining steam among co-ops — where face time prior to a move-in was once mandatory — due in part to a growing need to work with candidates from outside the city, according to Leslie Lalehzar, a broker with Warburg Realty. “It allows for amazing flexibility, especially in a tough market like this,” Lalehzar said. But not everyone is ready to jump online. Real estate attorney Stuart Saft, head of the Council of New York Cooperatives & Condominiums, noted that online interviews don’t necessarily give a co-op board the best read on a candidate. “Physically being with applicants and taking [them] out of the comfort zone, you’d probably get a better reading of what they’re like,” Saft said. [NYMag]

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