Here’s where you’ll find recent articles about FirstService Residential, as well as our impact on the areas we serve.
If you’re like many board members, one of your most challenging jobs is running your condominium corporation’s board meetings. Keeping everyone on task and addressing board member disagreements is not always easy. So what can you do to manage your meetings more effectively?
As a board member for your condominium corporation, you know that your community depends on volunteers to operate successfully. However, finding residents who are willing to be on your board of directors, join a committee or help at an event can be challenging.
Humans are social creatures with a deep-seated yearning for connection and community. This is particularly evident in a condo corporation, where a strong sense of community can be the difference between long-standing residency and high turnover.
How well do unit owners in your condo corporation understand maintenance responsibilities? You might think that responsibilities for maintenance, repairs and replacements would be straightforward enough – what’s inside the condo unit is the unit owner’s, and what’s outside is the corporation’s.
As Canadians anticipate spending the winter months knee-deep in snow and freezing temperatures, it’s likely that some residents in your condo community will be spending some of their winter in a warmer climate.
We can all agree there are many important elements to a housing structure, but your roof is probably the most important. Changing temperatures, snow accumulation, large amounts of rain, ice dams and high winds can all cause major damage to condominiums, townhomes and single-family homes.
Cold weather will soon be upon us, so now is the time to make sure your condominium maintenance program is on track. As brutal as Ontario’s winters can be, you certainly don’t want to discover a leak in your roof during a heavy snowfall or have a boiler stop working during a record cold spell.
A strong, healthy corporation requires every facet of property management to work in sync toward one common goal...true financial stability.
Safeguarding an Ontario condominium corporation’s operating and reserve funds is one of the main fiduciary duties of all board members, not just the treasurer. This means that boards must protect the financial interests of the corporation and its members by making sure all funds are properly managed, invested and protected.
Reserve studies are based on the assumption that components will reach their maximum useful life. However, if a preventative maintenance plan doesn’t accompany your reserve study, it’s highly unlikely some components will ever reach their maximum useful life.