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So your association has decided to switch to a new property management company or managing agent – perhaps your relationship has gone south or you were seeking a company or team better suited to providing the service, value, products, and/or experience your building or community needs. You may be wondering what happens when you transition from old to new management. We want to help. While each association and property management company has its own unique needs and operating procedures, here’s a basic overview of what you can expect.

You've been elected as the President of the Board for your community association. You're signing up for a very important job! Here are some necessary skills!

While it’s always best that all parties in an HOA, community association, condo association or other deed-restricted community agree and cooperate, it’s a fact of life that conflicts or disputes may arise. In many cases, the parties can settle their differences amicably and directly through frank and open discussion or negotiation. In other instances you may need mediation or arbitration to find a resolution.

While community preventative maintenance keeps systems running in a way that keeps future problems from happening, predictive maintenance entails using existing data to determine when systems might fail. Creating your community preventative maintenance schedule will help you budget for these occurrences – and eliminate most of those nasty surprises. Here’s how you can do it.

How do you prevent conflict, avoid costly litigation and maintain a great resident experience in your community? Start by adopting these best practices for dispute resolution.

While maintenance, events, committees, and budget are all crucial aspects of managing a homeowners’ association, there's one even bigger challenge that board members face: HOA agreement and alignment. Read on to discover the secret to successful alignment among diverse individuals with distinct values.

A big part of what sets your community apart is the amenities it offers. This goes beyond a pool, a fitness area or a place for a rooftop party – your amenities help create a lifestyle, and that’s the most important thing to residents and association members.

Wherever you live—Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff or some other part of Arizona—having a great community requires that your homeowners association (HOA) has good rules.

With several Arizona cities ranking high in WalletHub’s 2016 listing of most pet-friendly cities, it’s likely that your community allows residents to have pets. Still, your homeowners association (HOA) needs to have a clear policy to prevent residents’ furry family members from becoming a community problem. After all, it isn’t really Rover’s fault if issues arise. It’s up to his owners to clean up after him, to ensure that he remains well behaved and to follow the HOA rules.

Are you considering moving to a community with more lifestyle elements? How do you choose which one is right for you? Do you research and consider these five tips to ensure you find your perfect match!

Great policies can help your association run smoothly, enhance the resident experience and improve your reputation. Here are five questions to ask before creating a new HOA policy.

If your main concern is to avoid increasing assessments, you may want to reconsider. As a board member, one of your primary fiduciary responsibilities is to protect property values, and assessments are an investment that helps do just that.

We have all heard about the harmful effects of smoking and secondhand smoke exposure. Arizona law addresses the dangers of secondhand smoke through its Smoke-Free Arizona Act. The Act prohibits smoking in enclosed public buildings and workplaces, as well as in enclosed, common areas of multifamily buildings.

Enforcing HOA policies is nobody’s cup of tea, but having good policy enforcement in place helps improve the resident experience and elevates your reputation. Follow these 4 principles for healthy policy enforcement:

A healthy and effective Arizona homeowners association is not only able to identify great volunteers and committee members, but will empower them to drive positive change in the community. But how do you get there?

Are you getting the best returns on your reserve funds? Most Arizona board members aren't sure. Find out six ways to improve your association's reserve fund returns, like creating an HOA investment policy.

If you’re a board member of a Phoenix HOA, or any Arizona community for that matter, you’re used to facing challenges. But oftentimes, these challenges can become overwhelming. That’s why many master-planned and condo communities look to professional community management companies for help.

Not sure which components you should fix and which you should replace entirely? You're not alone. Get the answers to some of your top questions about maintenance, capital improvements, and useful life.

Does your association manager have the right tools, resources and support to take your association to the next level?

As a resident in a homeowners association (HOA), it’s important for you to know what you have a right to expect from your association and from your community management team, as well as your responsibilities to the HOA. Being aware of your rights and responsibilities creates clarity, helps you set realistic expectations and leads to more cohesiveness throughout the community. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of community residents’ rights and responsibilities. Remember that these apply equally to homeowners and renters.

Your reserve fund is an important way for your homeowners association (HOA) to plan and budget for the future. It gives you the financial ability to maintain the quality of your community by funding necessary—and expensive—projects. Rather than covering day-to-day maintenance expenses, a reserve fund is intended to be used for major expenses like roofing, paving and capital improvements (for example, new construction or remodeling).

As a self-managed association, do you need a management partner? Before making that choice, ask these 6 questions.

How does your Arizona association handle maintenance? Discover your association's unique maintenance style.

You may take on several responsibilities as an HOA board member, but Human Resources (HR) should not be one of them. In order to avoid employer liability, your board should leave HR responsibilities to a professional community management company.