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Saltwater pools offer a variety of benefits ranging from greater comfort for swimmers -- say goodbye to burning eyes and dried out hair -- and also for the environment. This article explores why saltwater pools are gaining popularity in condominiums and communities here in the Greater Toronto area and around the world.

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.

What makes a community a great place to live? A lot goes into it, but it’s no secret that often depends on community engagement.

Are you looking for a new career path? Why not try property management? Working as a Property Manager will allow you to connect with people to form a sense of community and help enhance their lives as residents. Learn more about how joining the property management industry could fulfill your career dreams.

View our third episode of Ask the Expert, featuring Andrew Stoutenburg, Regional Executive Director of Reserve Advisors, as he talks about the importance of reserve studies in financial planning.

If you’ve agreed to serve as a board member for your homeowners association (HOA), you may be thinking this is just like any other simple volunteer opportunity. However, there are certain fiduciary responsibilities and protocols that board members should be aware of to help protect the association and their own personal liability. Here we’ve compiled a few fundamental principles that every board member should apply.

Everything is bigger in Texas & sometimes even hurricanes. And during hurricane season, being a board member for a residential community in the Houston area can bring some big challenges, too. To help get you and your community ready and reduce the effects if a hurricane does strike, we've put together six important tips.

Summer time – the perfect season to hit the road, relax, spend time with family and friends, or embark on a new adventure. While you hope your residents have fun on their summer vacations, you also want to make sure that their homes stay safe and they fulfill their responsibilities to the association while away. Whether you live in a condominium, master-planned or single-family community, you want to make sure that your residents prepare their homes in a way that helps protect themselves and the community.

Summertime: It’s the perfect season to hit the road, relax, spend time with family and friends or embark on a new adventure. Although you hope that residents in your community have fun on their summer vacations, you also want to make sure that their homes stay safe and that they continue to fulfill their responsibilities to the association. Whether yours is a condominium, master-planned or single-family community, follow these tips to help your residents prepare their homes in a way that protects it and the community while they are away.

John Friedrichsen, Senior Vice President & CFO of FirstService Residential parent company FirstService Corporation, is quoted in USA Today about how HOAs benefit from the value-added services provided by leading professional management companies.

Capital reserve fund vs. improvements: Budget for both and know when and how to allocate them in your Texas HOA for a continuously improved community.

In this article, we'll cover what underfunded HOA reserves are, how they happen, as well as the risks and what can be done about it.

Learn about special assessments as a way to fund unexpected capital improvements

Handling day-to-day maintenance and making necessary improvements are critical responsibilities for any homeowners association (HOA). And when your serve on your association’s board of directors, they can quickly become overwhelming if you don’t have a good system in place to manage them. So how do you make sure that your maintenance staff is able to handle that long list of tasks that need to get done so that your community runs smoothly and retains its appeal?

Your reserve study is important to your financial health, but how do you get one? How do you choose the right reserve study firm to conduct it? Learn more.

It’s that time of year again – budget season is upon us. You know the things to consider when creating your budget, but what drives your process? Are you focused on achieving a particular vision for your community? Avoiding conflict in the community? Solely looking to avoid increasing dues/contributions?

Keeping your condominium corporation’s finances healthy is much like keeping yourself physically fit. The key is to make smart choices and avoid over-indulgence.

Reserve Fund 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.

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. These harsh weather conditions can create all sorts of problems, from minor leaks to major cave-ins that can cost a condominium corporation thousands to repair.

Proper condominium management depends upon the annual budget for both short- and long-term financial planning. It’s important to follow some guidelines to ensure the success of the community and protect the investment of the owners.

Safeguarding a 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.

Learn how to approach pet policies to ensure that they are respectful, safe and compliant with the law.

Learn how to amend your association bylaws, including the practical logistics required to do so.