Search

Missouri’s Curry Association Management, the newest member of the FirstService Residential family, was recently honored for its substantial efforts and ongoing commitment to the Police Athletic League (PAL) of Kansas City, which provides a safe and stable haven for the area’s underprivileged youth.

While association meetings usually run smoothly, Board members with differing opinions and agendas can create tension and stress. The good news is that by following standard procedure protocols, Board meetings can be run without a hitch. In this article from chicagocooperator.com, FirstService Residential VP Patricia Bialek of Illinois summarizes "Roberts Rules of Order" and explains how Board presidents can use them to keep meetings under control.

John Friedrichsen, Senior Vice President & CFO of FirstService Residential parent company FirstService Corporation, is quoted in USA Today about how HOAs benefit from the value-added services provided by leading professional management companies.

If you volunteer your services to your homeowners association, you know there are many rewards – but also, quite a few challenges. There are residents with individual demands and concerns and Board members who may have difficulty agreeing. There is also the critical need to carefully develop – and adhere to – a strict budget. And that’s just the beginning.

Homeowner and condo association board members know that their collective actions yield lots of great results. Just take a look at the minutes from your last couple of meetings and you’ll see all the evidence you need.

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?

Are you familiar with the term “fair living space”? If you’re not, you should be – it can have a profound effect on your community, your association and your residents. A fair living space involves providing an environment in which people with disabilities enjoy the necessary accommodations in their homes and community amenities. It’s really all about access, and something the law calls “reasonable accommodation,” which means “a change, exception, or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice or service.” While the law may require you to make some accommodations, there are other things your association may be able to do which can further enhance the lifestyle of those who reside in your homeowners association. While it will directly and positively impacts the quality of life for those residents with challenges and disabilities, it will also positively impact the overall image of your community.

Read about the Affordable Care Act (or ACA) and the ACA will have on the association and its vendors/service providers.

Let’s face it: nobody puts “organizing paperwork” at the top of his or her favorite-things-to-do list. But maintaining good records is essential to the critical functions of your homeowner association (HOA), and following a system of organization can streamline your operations by increasing efficiency, providing transparency and preserving a history of communication.

As a board member, you can measure your success in a lot of different ways. The projects you’ve completed, the financials you’ve strengthened, the long-term plans you’ve put in place – all of these are clear indicators that you’ve done your job, and you’ve done it well.

Enhance your community by putting more play in your community - learn more about how to put a park or playground in your neighborhood.

Millennials (also called “Generation Y”) are making a big impact on communities. Comprising the youngest adult population in America (think people born between about 1980 and 1995), these individuals now constitute 31% of all new home and condo sales, according to the National Association of Realtor’s Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends study 2014. Here’s a breakdown that puts it all into perspective:

Maybe you’re self-managing your community. And maybe things are going just fine. But maybe they could be better...and just maybe, that could happen through full-service property management.

The Baby Boomers have been a transformational generation, to say the least. Born between 1946 and 1964, Boomers are known as the healthiest and most educated of any American generation in history.

Community members join committees because they want to make a difference. That’s great, but sometimes, as they say, life gets in the way. Let’s not forget that committee members are all volunteers, which means it might take something a little extra to keep them motivated.

Learn how community members are making a difference in their communities with socially distant celebrations during COVID-19 spring holidays.

Neighborhood Watch programs can provide significant benefits to communities – after all, they boost community awareness, communication and involvement, while reducing opportunities for neighborhood crimes to occur. But if you’re interested in getting started, there are many important factors to consider. Here’s an overview.

All homeowner and community associations are different from one another, as they are comprised of a collaborative group of board members. Just as associations differ so do the special committees that fall under the association. You can have as many different types of experiences with committees as there are kinds of committees themselves.

The relationship between a community and its property management company is like most relationships in your life: its success hinges on communication.

You’ve heard the terms “reasonable accommodation” and “reasonable modification” before. But do you know the specific definitions of the terms and how they apply to your association?

What does the future hold? Unfortunately, not the jet packs and flying cars we all thought we’d have, but there are important changes in practice and perspective in store for community association governance. To get at the heart of these upcoming changes and trends, Common Ground , an official publication of Community Associations Institute (CAI), brought 50 experts, members and stakeholders together to paint a picture of the future. The results from this panel have been published in the March/April 2016 edition of this publication. We’ve summarized the high points for you in this article, and we’ve added some insight from FirstService Residential, too.

Owning a home within a homeowner's association (HOA) comes with the advantage of having a supportive association that takes care of maintaining common areas and promoting a sense of order within the community.

Community committees are a great way to involve more residents in the activities of their homeowner association, help ensure the rules and regulations of the association are followed, and help lighten the workload of volunteer board members. Some common committees include beautification, architectural, landscaping and grievance committee. At their best, committees are finely tuned engines for getting things done in your community. When there is a breakdown or discord, they’re agents of confusion, wreaking havoc on progress and operating as the figurative wrecking balls for a few overbearing committee members.

As our parents age, we are fortunate to enjoy an ever-evolving relationship with them. With time comes perspective, and with that perspective comes a new way for adults to relate with their parents.