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Dale Young, director of portfolio management at FirstService Residential, and other industry experts reveal the common characteristics of effective and functional boards.

Having a swimming pool, a fitness area, or even a place to hold rooftop parties for residents are perks that can make any community stand out. But how does a community association board handle and operate those features?

Does your board and management team communicate to the renters in your community? If no, why not? In communities where renters makeup a significant portion of the residents, they are often overlooked by the people running the community.

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.

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.

Thriving HOA committees have typically attributed “success by committee" as a factor for their growth. But what are actual HOA committee roles and responsibilities?

As a board member, you want your community to grow and thrive. Having a vision for your community—the aesthetics of it, its reputation, the kinds of programming it offers and amenities it provides—is critical to its long-term well-being. A well-crafted vision will transcend board and resident turnover and keep your community on track.

Like it or not, we have become very dependent on our technology. Whether it’s a cell phone, tablet or computer, our devices enable us to stay connected, conduct business and access information anywhere, anytime. Yet as convenient as these devices may be, cyber security is simply not a priority for the majority of tech users—despite the increased prevalence of cyber attacks. In part one of our two-part series, we look at why cyber security is so important to community associations. We also provide important steps that residents in your community can take to protect their technology so that sensitive information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

In part one of this two-part series, we discussed the importance of cyber security to your community association and the steps that residents can take to protect themselves and their association. In this article, we look at your board’s responsibility in preventing cyber attacks.

As a Board member, you want your building’s lobby to be aesthetically pleasing and inviting, but also safe and functional – after all, as the hub of your building, it provides essential services and can even become a social gathering place for residents and guests. So if your building lobby isn’t as attractive or functional as it could be – and doesn’t portray the impression you’d like it to – we have some suggestions that can help.

Serving as a homeowner association (HOA) board president is an honor, a privilege, and an experience that many across North America take great satisfaction in. But before you make the leap from resident to board member, it’s essential to understand exactly the duties of an HOA president.

For a growing number of community associations across the United States and Canada, statute changes are making electronic voting a possibility for boards. If your state or province permits online voting – or will soon – does that mean that your board should make this option available to homeowners in your community?

If you live in a pet-friendly community, it’s essential that your association board set boundaries to keep order within your community. Many of the issues that become problems in pet-friendly communities have very little to do with the pets – after all, they can’t clean up after themselves.

Homebuyers are motivated to buy a new home and move to a new community for a wide variety of reasons – perhaps a desire to downsize, upsize, relocate closer to family and friends, or enhance their quality of life. And when it comes to which new home and community to choose, there are nearly as many variables to consider, such as cost of living, location, layout and the quality of the community association and professional management company, to name a few. But while those factors will always be important, there are two additional considerations that, for many people, are even more compelling – community amenities and programs for lifestyle communities.

You’ve just been elected to your HOA or condo association board. Congratulations! Now you can celebrate...with some time back in the classroom.

Every board of directors, whether for a Fortune 500 company or your community association, needs a great secretary. The secretary is responsible for maintaining those records accurately, including meeting minutes, bylaws and membership records.

You are serving on a homeowner association (HOA) or community association board and discussing hiring a new lawn care provider. Seems simple enough, right? Oh, except that there is a bitter divide between several members arguing about two competing companies.

There are many types, sizes and varieties of lifestyle communities to choose from, and as interest from homebuyers grows, developers and home builders are creating new ones to meet the demand. If you’re a prospective buyer and don’t know where to begin, we can help. We’ve compiled five important factors to consider to help you narrow down your choices and find the right lifestyle community to meet your needs.

The greatest strength of your board is the diverse perspectives of all of its members. Unfortunately, sometimes this can also present the biggest challenges.

A health inspector is coming to assess your community pool. Are you prepared? If not, a pool inspection can be a major source of anxiety for your board members and residents. But don’t throw in the towel – there are steps you can take to make sure your inspection goes...well, swimmingly.

High-rise living often appeals to many people for the wealth of amenities, concierge-level services and unique culture. But with this lifestyle comes challenges. Close quarters and the need for residents to exercise mutual respect can sometimes lead to friction and conflict – this is when formal policies need to come into play. These policies, rather than being hindrances, are a tool for creating harmony among residents. The challenge is getting there – many of the major issues residents face are complex and require the help of a property management company. A great company not only has experience, but also a vast knowledge of the law and a sense for what works best for residents.

Thriving 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.

Learning from other board members’ experiences is a great way to avoid making some of the more common mistakes. Here, we discuss four of the common mistakes that board members make and offer recommendations for handling the issues differently.

According to Community Associations Institute , more than 68 million Americans live in 338,000 managed communities. In Canada, approximately one in eight people live in a condominium or strata corporation of some kind, totaling about 1.2 million owner-occupied dwellings as reported by Statistics Canada . Collectively, these homeowners spend tens of billions of dollars to maintain their communities. Each community is governed by an elected board of volunteer homeowners selected through an HOA elections process. Proactive involvement in your community begins with voting for board membership.