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Community association members sitting at a table in suits, looking at a laptop
Choosing the Right Banking Program for your Community Association
Aug 14, 2017As a community association board member, one of your chief responsibilities is to protect the financial interests of your association and your fellow residents. That includes making sure that the association’s reserve and operating funds are carefully managed, protected and invested. Smart decision-making and sound financial stewardship are critical to the association’s long-term financial stability and health. Unfortunately, even the best-intentioned board members may not have the experience or financial knowledge to choose the right banking programs and products to meet their community association’s needs. What should you look for when choosing the best banking program for your association? Read on… -
Close up of man's hand on a spreadsheet on a table
Five Steps You Can Take to Maintain Your HOA’s Financial Fitness
Aug 11, 2017The principles to fiscal fitness and physical fitness aren’t that different: Don’t overindulge. Make smart choices. Keeping your community association’s finances healthy requires care and exercising good judgment. Follow our tips to help you do that.
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Community association members sitting at a desk, socializing
Seven Essential Financial Best Practices for Your Community Association
Aug 11, 2017Community associations can be wonderful. They have amenities that otherwise might not be so close to home, like a community pool, fitness center, golf course or riding trails. Being part of a managed community often means having shared interests with your neighbors, imparting a sense of community that isn’t easy to achieve in an ever-transient world. It means that everyone abides by the same high aesthetic standards. But none of that happens without stable finances, including a balanced budget and a well-funded reserve.
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Is Your Community Staffed Adequately?
Is Your Community Staffed Adequately?
Aug 04, 2017Staffing your community association is both an art and a science. Your community’s culture and lifestyle are supported by the staff you choose, and it’s important to make sure that you’ve got the right people in the right positions, and enough of them. Properly staffing your community goes far beyond having people to answer the phone and handle packages or keep the pool clean and tidy. -
Easy Steps to Help Complete Your Next Association Budget
Easy Steps to Help Complete Your Next Association Budget
Aug 01, 2017Budgeting can be tough. It involves looking at priorities and the needs and wants of your community, the money coming in and going out and making it all balance. Crafting a responsible, effective budget is one of the primary ways that community association board members fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities to the community. Planning ahead and knowing what’s expected will help make the process painless and smooth! -
FirstService Residential L.E.A.D.S. 2017 event
Planning for L.E.A.D.S. 2017 is underway
Jul 14, 2017FirstService Residential is proud to announce L.E.A.D.S. 2017 will take place on Wednesday, September 27th at the Convention Hall in Asbury Park, New Jersey. We are excited to report that our biannual event is now taking place annually! Our educational, networking event is focused and shaped on the attributes of Learn, Evolve, Achieve, Deliver, and Succeed.
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Six Essential Tips For New HOA Board Members
Six Essential Tips For New HOA Board Members
Jun 19, 2017Congratulations are in order – you’ve just been elected to the board. So now the big question: What’s next? “The great thing about associations that are helmed by owners is that they have a vested interest in doing right by their community,” said Kirk Kowieski, CMCA, AMS, vice president of FirstService Residential. “But that also comes with challenges... many board members find themselves in this kind of position for the first time, so there’s a little bit of a learning curve.” Fortunately, FirstService Residential is here to help. Follow these new board member basics and you’ll soon be governing like a pro. -
Board members sitting at a table, listening to an unseen speaker
How Should You Enable Board Member Succession?
Jun 19, 2017Thriving business organizations plan for succession. It’s built into their corporate strategy – team members with potential are identified early on, and then groomed for the leadership positions they’ll someday hold.
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your management company should be a team
Choosing a New Management Company: Look for a Team Approach
Jun 19, 2017What should you look for in a prospective community association management company to help avoid a rough transition? How can your association avoid financial missteps and pitfalls when switching from one management company to another? Make sure that the management company you are considering has the resources you need in every aspect. Transitioning to a new company is simply too large a task for one manager to handle! A team approach is the best way for a professional community association management company to handle a transition. -
Smiling female property manager in a suit with people behind her, blurred
Beyond the Manager: Discover the Value in Your Property Management Company
Jun 15, 2017We all want to get the most for our money, and your community association is no different. When hiring a management company, it’s easy to focus on the bottom-line price and not understand the differences in real value among the proposals you see. The right community association management company will provide you with so much more than a good manager.