Search

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

As unpredictable as earthquakes can be, your community association should be prepared in case you ever feel the unmistakable rumble of a tremor. Here’s what you need to know.

No board ever wants to find itself in the midst of an emergency, but they happen. Whether you face an outbreak of illness, an earthquake, a hurricane, a fire, the impact of any devastating event can be minimized by good emergency preparedness planning.

On October 28, the eve of Superstorm Sandy’s one-year anniversary, Fox Business News aired a powerful segment featuring Chuck Fallon, FirstService Residential CEO.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Want your events to bring residents closer? Everyone loves a well-planned event, and the residents in your community association are no exception. Follow these tips for creating memorable events in your community association.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.