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Summer time – the perfect season to hit the road, relax, spend time with family and friends, or embark on a new adventure. While you hope your residents have fun on their summer vacations, you also want to make sure that their homes stay safe and they fulfill their responsibilities to the association while away. Whether you live in a condominium, master-planned or single-family community, you want to make sure that your residents prepare their homes in a way that helps protect themselves and the community.

Summertime: It’s the perfect season to hit the road, relax, spend time with family and friends or embark on a new adventure. Although you hope that residents in your community have fun on their summer vacations, you also want to make sure that their homes stay safe and that they continue to fulfill their responsibilities to the association. Whether yours is a condominium, master-planned or single-family community, follow these tips to help your residents prepare their homes in a way that protects it and the community while they are away.

It’s often said that you should never judge a book by its cover. However, the front-line curb appeal of a community can make a difference in the value of every property in a neighborhood. This is one reason current and potential homeowners consider landscaping and common-area maintenance so important.

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.

National Night Out is an annual event that promotes partnerships between communities, residents and local law enforcement. Celebrations can range from individual block parties to a large community festival. Either way, it’s a great opportunity to create connections between neighbors and focus on working together to make your community a safer, better place to live. This national celebration has become an annual tradition in many communities far and wide and we want to help you put together the best National Night Out event your association has seen yet.

Holiday lights can brighten the community, but they also have a down side. Learn tips to minimize issues in your HOA with sensible policies.

Handling day-to-day maintenance and making necessary improvements are critical responsibilities for any homeowners association (HOA). And when your serve on your association’s board of directors, they can quickly become overwhelming if you don’t have a good system in place to manage them. So how do you make sure that your maintenance staff is able to handle that long list of tasks that need to get done so that your community runs smoothly and retains its appeal?

At one time or another, every condominium corporation has to spend money on replacing equipment or making major repairs. Whether that means replacing a roof, installing a new ventilation system or any other big-ticket project, they are a necessity. But how should your condo corporation pay for them?

Creating a newsletter for your condominium residents that will give them valuable and relevant information is harder to do than it may seem upon first glance. Here are the basic things to consider, brought to you by your property management professionals at FirstService Residential.

Everyone brings their own assumptions and methods of completing tasks to each group to which they belong. Condominium board members are no different. While the diversity of the group can be its greatest strength, it also can create difficulties between the individual members. It is important to structure condo board meetings in a way that creates a professional and positive working relationship. Here are some tips to help boards achieve this.

When your condominium board members (and your property management team, if you are working with a professional management company) have a thorough understanding of their rights and responsibilities, it helps to create a more inviting community. Your community is more likely to be effectively managed and well-maintained, which leads to happier residents.

As community managers begin property inspection, they note the necessary repairs for winter damage as they make their rounds through the community. T

For most people selling a condominium, it is important to stand out from the competition in the real estate market, have a quick sale and obtain the best possible price. But how do you do that? The way your property is presented to potential buyers makes a big difference. Consider these tips to help you achieve real estate sales success.

It seems innocent, but a surprising number of balcony and backyard fires are unintentionally started by disposal of smoking material in a potted plant or planter box. In a condominium environment this can have, and has had, disastrous consequences. And it's not just a summertime problem.

What are your property manager's responsibilities? Find out if they have what it takes. Upcoming Condominium Management Licenses and more.

FirstService Residential and FirstService Financial work in tandem to help our clients successfully finance capital improvement projects and save money without compromising quality of service.

Is your preventative maintenance plan in need of a check-up? Read on to learn the 11 questions you should ask to assess your HOA’s maintenance health.

There are valid reasons to raise assessments, but in some cases, you may be able to go a different route. Here are four strategies to save your HOA money and keep assessments stable.

An effective Utah homeowners association will not only recruit great volunteers and committee members, but will empower them to help improve the community. The question is – how do you get there?

FirstService Residential has helped boards and building owners save millions of dollars in energy costs, in part, through our Energy Aggregation Purchasing Program.

Local Law 97 impacts roughly 50,000 buildings across the city, a majority of which are multifamily residential properties.

FirstService Residential recommends that all boards and building owners consider the installation of EV charging stations and incentives available through NYSERDA and ConEd.

Are you interested in becoming a Community Association Manager? It requires a passion for helping others, empathy, and dedication to providing quality customer service, among other things. Read our article to learn if it's the right fit for you.