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5 Tips: Fire safety for buildings and high rises
Living in a high-rise, condominium or co-op certainly has its perks. You get the convenient location, the dramatic views, attentive concierge services and a range of amenities. However, vertical living also means added challenges when it comes to fire safety. Fortunately, there are measures that both your association board and residents can take to improve safety. -
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. -
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. -
All You Need to Know About Using Social Media to Build Community
Social media can be a phenomenal marketing and communications tool for your community association! It’s a great way to inform residents, keep them connected and strengthen their loyalty. But you need to put a strategy behind your community’s social media presence. -
How to plan an effective association budget for your community
Preparing your association’s annual budget...it can be a source of stress, but more importantly, it’s a valuable opportunity to ensure the financial well-being of both your association and homeowners. Proper association management hinges on this financial tool for both short-term and long-term planning, so it’s important to follow some guidelines. -
How to prepare for flooding in your high rise building
Floods are one of the most common types of natural disasters. They can also be the most detrimental for high-rise buildings. The nature of these buildings makes them particularly vulnerable to flooding caused by severe storms. -
Preventing Wildfires: How to protect your home from wildfires
Wildfires continue to be a constant and deadly threat across North America, and the risk intensifies with soaring annual temperatures, strong winds and severe drought conditions. -
HOA hurricane preparedness: How can a community prepare for a hurricane?
As a board member of a condominium or homeowners association near the coast, hurricanes are of special concern. But did you know that the best property management company can help you prepare for the season – and even minimize its impact on your community? That makes your property manager more than just a fair weather friend. -
How Your Property Management Company Should Help Your Community after a Major Storm
As communities in Texas and Florida discovered in 2017, hurricanes can be devastating, even if your community takes all the proper precautions to reduce your association’s risk. Read how a property management company should assist your community after a storm passes. -
Hurricanes plans and policies to reduce your association's risk
Hurricanes can bring tremendous physical destruction and financial ruin to a community association unless policies are put into place to prepare for the storms before they arrive, and to deal with the consequences afterwards. Every board whose association could possibly be impacted by a hurricane must have a hurricane preparedness policy to help maximize safety, minimize risk and ultimately, protect its operating budget too. And just as important as having a policy is communicating the policy to your residents. -
HOA Pools: The basics of swimming pool insurance
Swimming pools are one of the most common, and most desirable, amenities in communities. Making sure to have proper community pool insurance coverage. -
HOA best practices for improving board effectiveness
Whether you are a board member who wants to ensure your board is doing everything it can to succeed or a resident who wants to get involved in the governing of your community, we have identified the best practices that can help you get the answers you need. -
Keeping HOA and Condo Common Areas Clean During the Coronavirus Pandemic
During these unprecedented times, residents are spending the majority of their time at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect themselves and their loved ones from infection. One of their primary contact points with the outside world is in your HOA or condo common areas, where they can be at risk of contact with lingering coronavirus or even spread existing virus to other areas of the property. Read on for a comprehensive list of places to clean and how to clean them. -
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Making a Difference One Face Mask at a Time
Learn how associates, residents and board members are making a difference in their communities, one face mask at a time, during the COVID-19 pandemic. -
When a Natural Disaster Strikes, Is Your Association Covered?
Hurricanes. Floods. Tornadoes. Hail. Wildfires. Lightning strikes. Earthquakes. Blizzards. Mother Nature has quite the arsenal to throw at us! Unfortunately, every part of North America is subject to one or more of these events. Some, like hurricanes, come with enough advance warning to prepare for them, but most do not. That’s why it is critical to the financial health of your community association to have the proper insurance coverage in place. -
News You Can Use: Flash Flood Safety Tips to Keep Your Family Safe
In many parts of the country, flash flood watches and/or flash flood warnings are often issued during torrential downpours, especially in hurricane-prone and/or low-lying areas. -
What are power outages? Minimizing risk in your association
Losing power is never fun. But it’s bound to happen at some point, so preparation is the best defense. Obviously, different types of communities are affected by blackouts in different critical ways: high-rises lose their elevators and water; resort-style gated communities lose the ability to operate their gates. For residents, a blackout may be a short-term nuisance. For a community association, it can be a major headache in terms of risk management, safety and potential equipment damage that can provide an unwelcome shock to your budget. -
Why Preparation for This Hurricane Season is Important for Your Community
Is your community prepared to weather a storm? June 1st marks the beginning of the 2016 hurricane season running through November 30th. The National Weather Service reports that, of an average of 12 tropical storms that form over the Atlantic Ocean each year, six become hurricanes. In the Central Pacific, an average of three tropical storms form, with two escalating to full-blown hurricane status. Figures like these make hurricanes a very real threat for many communities and homeowners. In fact, 2016 promises to be anything but your average year. Let’s take a look at why you may want to approach this year in a way that’s as unique as the weather conditions themselves. -
Preventing Fires: Fire safety in your community association
Part of your job as a board member is ensuring the safety of residents in your community association. To that end, it’s important to educate homeowners about possible fire risks and the steps they can take to prevent fire hazards in their homes. Chances are that fire safety isn’t top of mind for residents. However, home fires are more common than most people realize. -
Understanding the duties during property management staffing changes
Sooner or later, most community associations face some kind of management change. If your community has a great manager, you probably want them to stay forever. But how realistic is that? -
Hiring a reserve study company: 5 things to know
In our guide to capital improvements , reserve studies and their relationship to capital improvements and preventive maintenance were discussed at length. -
5 energy conservation strategies for community associations
In this article, we delve into the significance of energy conservation within community associations, exploring its benefits and strategies for effective implementation. -
Eight tips for storm and hurricane resistant landscaping
For most of us, storm season means prepping our residences to mitigate potential damage caused by high winds and heavy rains. But there’s a part of our homes and neighborhoods we often overlook – sometimes with disastrous results. That often-forgotten place is right outside your front door: it’s your landscaping.