Articles

Do you escape to warmer weather down south once there’s a chill in the air and the leaves start to turn? If you’re a snowbird (or Winter Texan!), you need to know how to protect your home up north while basking in the southern sunshine

Congratulations! You just bought a new home and it’s perfect for your family – just the right size and condition and in a location and neighborhood to meet your needs. Your new home is part of a homeowners’ association (HOA), so the landscaping, entrance and common areas always look beautiful and well-maintained.

Your association doesn’t function in a vacuum. It’s part of a larger community. Having members actively engaged in your town or city is good for the association and adds to residents’ sense of community. Find out what your board can do to encourage residents to get more involved in their larger community.

There’s a big difference between being a busybody and having a general awareness of your neighbors’ regular activities. Knowing their routines enables you to quickly realize when something is awry, especially for residents who live alone. And in a true emergency, that awareness could literally save a life.

Community committees are a great way to involve more residents in the activities of their homeowner association, help ensure the rules and regulations of the association are followed, and help lighten the workload of volunteer board members. Some common committees include beautification, architectural, landscaping and grievance committee. At their best, committees are finely tuned engines for getting things done in your community. When there is a breakdown or discord, they’re agents of confusion, wreaking havoc on progress and operating as the figurative wrecking balls for a few overbearing committee members.

Learn how your board can create a lifestyle program that your residents will want to come home to. A thriving lifestyle program will connect your residents and help build great relationships throughout the community.

Want your events to bring residents closer? Everyone loves a well-planned event, and the residents in your community association are no exception. Follow these tips for creating memorable events in your community association.

For a growing number of community associations across the United States and Canada, statute changes are making electronic voting a possibility for boards. If your state or province permits online voting – or will soon – does that mean that your board should make this option available to homeowners in your community?

Learning from other board members’ experiences is a great way to avoid making some of the more common mistakes. Here, we discuss four of the common mistakes that board members make and offer recommendations for handling the issues differently.

In many community associations, residents lack interest in getting involved. Getting residents to attend meetings, volunteer on committees or help run events can be like pulling teeth for many boards. Turn that around with these 5 simple steps.

Social media can be a phenomenal marketing and communications tool for your community association! It’s a great way to inform residents, keep them connected and strengthen their loyalty. But you need to put a strategy behind your community’s social media presence.

To be an effective board member you need the right training. Learn how to get the training you need to successfully govern your community association.