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Plaster or Paint: The Best Pool Resurfacing Options for Your Community Pool
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 feel like your wading in deep water. Read our tips from experts on the pros and cons of plaster and paint. -
More California Homebuyers Look for Community Amenities and Lifestyle Programs
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. But while those factors will always be important, there are two additional considerations many people find compelling – community amenities and programs for lifestyle communities. Read on for more details. -
Post-Crisis HOA Cash Management: 3 Tips for Your Association
How do manage collections and HOA funds after a crisis? Get 3 tips to help you plan for the future -
6 Questions for Self-Managed Associations to Consider
As a self-managed association, do you need a management partner? Before making that choice, ask these 6 questions. -
Six Simple HOA Board Meeting Rules for Success
A great board meeting should have a balance of diverse opinions and discussions that are rooted in your community’s overall vision. Start with these 6 simple HOA board meeting rules. -
Understanding the Importance of a Community Management Certification
Acronyms like CMCA, LSM, PCAM and others are used to designate certifications for community management professionals who have achieved a level of education or expertise. What do these certifications mean? How does this benefit your association? -
10 New Habits to Improve How You Run Your Community Association
While the start of the new year is typically heralded as the best time to change old habits and commit to new ones, the reality for community associations and their board members is that there’s no time like the present. These 10 changes will help you get your board and your community association on the right track for the rest of the year. -
10 Steps on How to Plan a Community Event
You’re planning an event for your homeowner (HOA) or community association. Congratulations! After the initial excitement comes growing panic, right? Well, not necessarily. -
10 things community board members must know to manage an HOA pool
Many people want to live in a community that has a swimming pool, and if there’s one in yours, you know what kind of value it brings. While it’s great to think of all those hot days when you and your neighbors can enjoy an afternoon in the water, with it comes many responsibilities community association board members must adhere to that go beyond staying cool or keeping in shape. -
10 Ways Toward Greater Financial Strength
So what’s the most important aspect of your community? Is it aesthetics? Sense of belonging? Neighbors knowing neighbors? Desirability to home buyers? -
12 characteristics of what makes a good property management company
When choosing the right property management company for your community, you will be asking a variety of questions to assess whether the company or manager will be the right fit for your board and your residents. -
12 tips for managing community projects
So your homeowners association is going to undertake a construction or improvement project for your community. That can be exciting – and more than a little daunting, too. The construction project management process can be fraught with complications and frustrations – after all, with so many moving pieces, there are a number of things that can go wrong. To smooth your way, you can consult with an experienced property management company to obtain proven guidance and advice. But to get started, we’ve put together a dozen pointers to help your community construction project build towards success. -
12 To-Do’s for the Ultimate Community Spring Clean Up
This winter, much of the country was hunkered down under thick layers of snow and temperatures so low that even the groundhog thought twice about going outside. But thankfully, spring is here, and with the blooming fruit trees and sunnier days comes the need to clean up, spruce up and get your community ready to enjoy the season. -
Four Ways the Best Service from Your Property Management Team Starts Before You Even Ask
For many communities, responsive service from a property management company is the best they can hope for when it comes to issue resolution. But what if you required more from your property management team? What if you held them to a higher standard, demanding that they address challenges early enough so that they never become full-blown issues at all? -
Five Qualities To Consider When Hiring a Property Management Company
Your homeowner association (HOA) board has decided to hire a property management company. That’s a big step, and one not to be taken lightly. You might think because your board made this decision your community’s future is in good hands. But has your board done its research? -
Active Adult Communities: Not Your Grandma’s Retirement Home
The Baby Boomers, born after World War II, are the largest generation in United States history. The last of them turns 55 in 2019. With their children grown and in their own homes, Boomers are entering an era in which they can do what they please. They are retiring or scaling back on full-time work and it’s their time in the sun. Literally. They may be getting older, but as the first generation of Americans to embrace the fitness craze and eating with longevity and well-being in mind, the Baby Boomers (and Generation X on their heels) are not planning to sit out their golden years in a rocking chair. -
Active Adult Communities – Tips to Help you Choose the Right One to Meet Your Needs
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 76.4 million baby boomers were born between the years 1946 – 1964 – and in a few years, they’ll all be 55 or older. With their vibrant lifestyles and dedication to health and fitness, today’s active adults are more dynamic and full of life than any generation that preceded them – so dynamic, in fact, that many are choosing to move into communities that better fit their lifestyles. And no matter whether they’re looking to downsize or live large, enjoy retirement or move closer to work, soak up the warmth in a resort-like setting or go cosmopolitan and move to a big city, many people 55 and over are finding what they’re looking for in active adult communities. -
Active Adult Living: Marketing Amenities for Broad Appeal
Successful active adult communities offer amenities that are suited to their residents, who may span several generations -- and multiple interests. It can be challenging to determine the active adult amenities, programs and services that fit best, but in his guest blog for Multi-Housing News, FirstService Residential's Michael Mendillo offers several clear and effective guidelines. -
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. -
Risks of Airbnb & Short-Term Rentals: How to Reduce Risks to Multi-Family Buildings and Residents
The sharing economy continues to grow, and this, in turn, is fueling the proliferation of home-sharing websites like Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway. In our previous article on this growing trend, we discussed how the interest in short-term rentals is impacting multi-family buildings throughout the U.S. and Canada. Now we’re back with a game plan to help your condo board or strata council protect its interests. -
Airbnb & Short-Term Rentals Part 1: How the Sharing Economy Can Impact Your Multi-Family Building
One of the most recent societal shifts has been a move towards a sharing economy – and if you’ve ever been driven home in an Uber car, or reserved a distinctive blue CitiBike for a few hours to pedal across town, you’ve experienced this practice first-hand. In this article, we discuss how the quick growth of the sharing economy – particularly, home sharing – is impacting buildings in large cities, and we’ll follow up next week with valuable advice on how your Board or Strata council can address this mushrooming trend. -
How Property Management Software Can Help Increase Personal Service
Can cutting-edge property management software increase personalized customer service? It’s not a trick question, at least when it comes to the property management industry. -
How Property Management Experts are Making a Difference in Today's Competitive Housing Market
FirstService Residential’s Tasso Eracles discusses Toronto’s building boom and the important role property management experts play in helping condominium developers and builders overcome challenges and compete in this dynamic marketplace. -
Choosing the Right Community Association Management Company to Manage Community Amenities
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?