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  • Aging Gracefully - The Retirement Industry in South Florida

    Every day for the next 15 years, 8,000 additional Americans will reach retirement age -- and millions will move to active adult communities in Florida. FirstService Residential manages 35,000 homes in 55-plus communities in South Florida, as well as thousands of additional units in active adult communities throughout the country. Hear CEO Chuck Fallon describe the challenges and opportunities of managing this unique sector in a radio interview on NPR.
  • Four steps to creating building maintenance schedules

    Creating and executing a comprehensive building maintenance plan for your high-rise community should be a top priority for your board and property management company.
  • Winterizing a house: 4 tips for snowbirds traveling for winter

    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
  • “Be Genuinely Helpful": Giving Back to Our Communities

    Learn how associates and residents are making a difference in their communities, providing grocery delivery and food delivery, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Tips to improve community awareness in your HOA

    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.
  • Property management tips for board members

    Whether you’re a new or current board member, you can avoid major issues and make your term more fruitful, rewarding and, above all, effective by following these 9 tips for board members.
  • How to create your HOA preventative maintenance schedule

    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.
  • A guide to community swimming pool resurfacing options

    Your pool is a source of fun for all of your community’s residents. Yet when it comes time to resurface it, it can quickly become a source of headaches. Knowing the facts about your pool resurfacing options can help minimize the hassle – and ensure your community enjoys a quality pool experience for years to come. The best decision is an informed decision. An excellent community association management company will be experienced in this area and can weigh in with some really good insight – and make a recommendation for a reliable pool specialist, too. But before you get to that point, you can start with these pros and cons.
  • 6 essential HOA pool rules to enforce in your community

    Summertime is swim time, and for the most part, it’s a plunge into carefree fun. But without the right swimming pool safety practices, your residents and association could be at risk.
  • COVID-19: Making Virtual Connections in Crisis

    Learn how associates, residents and board members are making a difference in their communities with interactive online activities, during COVID-19.
  • HOA committees: Understanding HOA committee roles and responsibilities

    Thriving HOA committees have typically attributed “success by committee" as a factor for their growth. But what are actual HOA committee roles and responsibilities?
  • Great Service: Community manager duties

    The right support, the right personality and the right set of expectations from your community are critical for your community association management team to deliver exceptional results. Does yours have what it takes?
  • Elderly New Yorkers, Here for the Duration

    New York City's elderly resident population is growing rapidly, and is projected to increase by an additional 35% over the next 15 years. FirstService Residential Managing Director Marni J. Berk, general manager of the Lincoln Towers complex, is one of the property management experts feautured in a recent New York Times article that describes the challenges of accomodating aging building residents.
  • Five community landscape maintenance tips

    For most people, looking neat, attractive and well groomed ranks high on their list of priorities. They have the same expectations for where they live – in fact, according to a recent industry survey, over 70% of homebuyers consider curb appeal an important factor when choosing a community.
  • Five Ways Today’s Active Adults Spend their Days Differently

    It’s no secret that active adult communities are changing. With shifting demographics and lifestyles, gone are the days of sequestered neighborhoods in the far-flung suburbs dominated by golf culture.
  • Four Ways Active Adult Communities Are Changing

    Mention the phrase “active adult communities” and a few images probably spring to mind. But whatever you’re thinking (and we’re guessing it involves golf carts), the reality is actually a lot more diverse.
  • Four tips for creating your HOA holiday decoration policy

    People decorate for everything these days – from Valentine’s Day to the patriotic celebrations of summer and on to the fall festivities and winter wonderlands. Many people derive a sense of community and comfort from seeing familiar decorations at the same time each year.
  • Understanding virtual board meetings in your HOA and COA

    Given the unprecedented practice of "social distancing," now may be the best time to find the right video conferencing platform for your association.
  • Good Management – The Key to Active Adult Community Success

    The growing population of baby boomers in the U.S. is driving an increase in the popularity of age restricted communities. Learn how existing "55 and better" communities are adapting their facilities and programming to retain a competitive edge in this evolving marketplace.
  • HOA Legislation: Protecting your community

    More than 85% of officials in state legislatures are up for re-election this year. So what does that mean to you as a board member or resident in a condo or homeowners’ association (HOA)? And how does this affect HOA law? There are a variety of initiatives on the table across the nation that will significantly impact community associations. In this article, we’ll take a look at what those issues are – and most importantly, how you can impact HOA law.
  • Raising a Family in a High-Rise – How Communities are Making it Easier

    When a lot of people think about high-rise living, they don’t necessarily jump to the idea of families in high-rises. In many cities, high-rises are still considered the domain of the young and single, or couples without kids or active retirees. The New York Times even ran a piece, in 1987, decreeing that “A High-Rise Is Not a Home for Children.” But today, thanks to a Millennial generation that doesn’t want to commute from the ‘burbs, more and more high-rises are actively courting families as residents.
  • Why Millennials Matter to the Future of Your Association

    Millennials are the fastest growing group of home buyers in the US. Learn why you need to get this important demographic involved in your association today.
  • 5 steps to create a lifestyle program using community amenities

    Now more than ever, communities are searching for ways to increase resident engagement and create a social atmosphere. One way managers capitalize on their available community amenities is through lifestyle programming.
  • 8 tips for creating and enforcing HOA rules

    Good rules make good community members. The most important factors in association policy making, whether for a condo, co-op, townhome or master-planned community, are clarity and sensibility. The board must be clear – and united – on the policy being created and then must communicate that policy to all residents. Whether the policy is about overnight guest parking, designated smoking areas, amenity usage or approved flooring, the basic steps to creating good policy and enforcing it successfully are the same. It’s important that everyone involved, including board members, residents and the management team, understand who is responsible for the various roles that are part of policy creation, enforcement and compliance.
Showing 49 - 72 of 519