-
“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. -
HOA bidding procedures: Simplification tips
Picture this: your homeowners association has a big job that needs to be done, so you’ve got to find a qualified contractor to do it. How do you manage your vendor selection process to make sure you find the best one to fill your needs? -
HOA meetings: Understanding HOA board meetings & HOA board meeting minutes
Regardless of how you feel about them, board meetings are more than just something your community association chooses to do. They are something your community association must do. Board meetings are crucial to the governance of your community association. If they aren't run effectively, chances are your association won't function well either. -
What Makes a Great Board Member
Dale Young, director of portfolio management at FirstService Residential, and other industry experts reveal the common characteristics of effective and functional boards. -
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? -
Communication to Renters: Why It Matters To Your Association
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. -
Community Property Management 101: Top 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. -
Coronavirus HOA Communications Strategies to Residents
Developing a comprehensive HOA communications strategy during this pandemic will help your board members and management team inform the community in a timely manner. -
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? -
Crystal Vision: Why Communication Between a Board and Management Company Matters
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. -
Cyber Security Part One: How Community Residents Can Protect Their Tech
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. -
Cyber Security Part Two: Board Member Tips for Keeping Your Community Association Safe
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. -
Great Service: Community manager responsibilities
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? -
Effective tips to enhance your apartment lobby design
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. -
Eight homeowners association president duties to master
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. -
Electronic Voting: Can an HOA Board Vote By Email?
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? -
HOA emergency preparedness plan: Keeping calm in a crisis
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. -
4 tips for establishing HOA pet rules and HOA pet policy examples
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. -
Experts Say Community Amenities and Lifestyle Programs Drive Home Buying Decision
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. -
5 Reasons Board Members Go Back to School
You’ve just been elected to your HOA or condo association board. Congratulations! Now you can celebrate...with some time back in the classroom. -
Five Reasons to Use Quality Vendors
When you have a large-scale project slated for your community, it’s tempting to select a vendor based on price. After all, what’s more important than saving your association money? -
What does a secretary of a board do in a community association?
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. -
Five Steps HOA Board Members Can Take To Identify and Resolve Conflict
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.