8 Ways Your Management Company Can Help You Enjoy the Holidays

This time of year is hectic for everyone! From Halloween to New Year’s Day, there are so many celebrations and events. If you’re an association board member, don't worry about taking on the heavy lifting for this holiday season! Your property management team can help! Below are 8 ways your management company can help you and your residents enjoy the holidays.
 

1. Package management

   - In the age of online shopping, package management has become critical for high-rise buildings and condo associations. Online orders aren't just during the holiday season anymore; they happen year-round due to the increasing volume of packages arriving daily. High-rise buildings are finding innovative ways to remodel and repurpose underused spaces to handle incoming packages from postal mail, UPS, FedEx, and even Instacart groceries.
    
   Joe Padron is a regional director for FirstService Residential and director of front desk operations. He trains our associates in front desk operations, including package management, for dozens of high-rise buildings and has done so for several years. "A heavy volume of packages is now pretty steady, all year long, thanks to buying habits and the direction society is going,” Padron says. “People want to make the most of their time, so they have more daily essentials delivered. “
    



2. Holiday Party Planning

   Hiring an outside vendor will make it easier for everyone to enjoy the holidays as they help reduce some of the seasonal setups. Your property manager should be able to provide suggestions or relationships with vendors in order to save you time during this busy period in your community!
   
   One key vendor is hiring a professional caterer. It’s even better if they have access to and knowledge of other party pros like musicians or DJs so you can focus on enjoying the event. When it comes down choosing between different catering companies “knowing them beforehand makes the whole process run smoother” says Christian Ortiz community association manager for FirstService Residential. “Working with vendors you know and trust, makes life a lot easier.”



3. Charity Drives

   The holiday season is a great time to give back and help others. Your management team can assist with communicating to residents about available community drives and explaining the donation process and deadlines.
    
   Need some ideas for your community association? Food and toy drives are always a wonderful idea and greatly appreciated, but there are other things your community association can do in your area. Consider adopting a family though the Salvation Army, Soldiers’ Angels, or a local women’s shelter. Don’t forget your four-legged friends! The Humane Society’s Fill the Bowl Project helps support local shelters by providing food, blankets, bowls, cat litter, and toys.



4. Seasonal communication

   With families flying home for the holidays, your management team should send out timely communications to remind residents of seasonal items such as winterizing their terraces and balconies, cleaning their HVAC units, and turning the heat down but never off when they travel. “Holiday times are notorious for frequent garbage disposal clogs, so the general communication I send out includes what should and shouldn’t go into the disposal to prevent problems. We also remind residents of policies on short-term rentals and other holiday matters,” explains Jaime Sikorski, general manager at FirstService Residential.
    
   This is a good time to set policy for holiday party booking of common spaces. “I recommend that the board black out the actual holiday dates for any events not held by the association,” says Eric Love, regional director at FirstService Residential. “It limits resident conflict over use of the spaces and limits the liability of outside guests in common spaces, especially if alcohol is involved.”



5. Extra security

   With the increase in guests and families in your community, it should be a standard practice in your community to have additional security onsite to assist with higher occupancy levels. This will ensure that the community’s rules are enforced while the board and management company prepare for the holiday season.



6. Fair enforcement of decorating policy

   Does your community have a holiday decorating policy? Your community may have rules about the size and types of displays you can put up and when they’re allowed to be lit or decorated. If your community has chosen to establish standards like these, count on your property management team to enforce them fairly and evenly.



7. Additional staff

   Remember that high-rise package scenario? That’s just one reason you might want extra hands-on deck during the holidays. The increase in volume of holiday guests means you might need an extra person to patrol the parking lot or garage to check space violations. If your management company is large enough, it will be able to help with providing temp workers so your holidays run smoothly.



8. Christmas tree removal

   Don’t know what to do with all those Christmas trees? If your municipality doesn’t have a designated day for Christmas tree pickup, see if your property management company can arrange that with your landscaper or a waste removal company. They may be able to recycle those trees instead of sending them to a landfill.

The holidays can be a busy time of year for association board members. With so many things going on, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Your professional property management company can ease that burden and help you enjoy the holiday season.
 
To learn more about how a professional property management company such as FirstService Residential can help your board year-round, contact us here.