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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. -
Understanding how property management software can help
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. -
Communication in the Community: Do you have a plan?
Is your community always aware of upcoming events, scheduled construction projects and upcoming board meetings? Do they understand their responsibilities and the policies they need to comply with? Clear, effective communication from the board to the residents makes a difference in the overall well-being of any community. Poor communication, on the other hand, is a real problem that can negatively impact your community’s reputation and even your operating budget and property values. -
Debunking the Eight Biggest Myths About Partnering with a Property Management Company
Here’s one of the great ironies of the property management industry: though it’s incredibly big, it’s still a big mystery to most people. Let’s let the numbers do the talking. In the United States, 24% of homes are part of associations, with a total value of $4.65 trillion and $65 billion collected in assessments. In Canada, the industry generates about $6 billion in annual revenue with a healthy annual growth rate of 3.4%. -
Great Service: Community manager duties
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? -
HOA nominating committee guidelines: Understanding HOA elections
Elections are a big part of what make our community associations work. It’s what empowers members, galvanizes our community, and brings residents together for a common purpose. -
Eight Ways the Best Property Management Companies Can Help You
Being part of a Homeowners Association is rewarding – yet it can also be challenging at times. Board members are often tasked with difficult duties ranging from proper financial stewardship to navigating community conflicts, and much more. -
HOA online 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? -
Three Factors Influencing the Future of Community Association Management
As a profession, community association management is relatively young; it goes back about 50 years. But in that short time, it has made great strides—and so have the communities who have benefited from professional, skilled management teams. But what does the future hold for this profession, and how will it influence how community members live? The trade organization Community Associations Institute (CAI) put their publication, Common Ground , to work to find some answers to this question. They brought together industry experts to weigh in on the matter. FirstService Residential has also been at the forefront of looking to the future in this growing industry. -
The future of association living: 4 factors to consider
What does the future hold for your community association? If you’re a board member, you might already have a pretty good idea – most likely because you’ve developed a plan for it. But what about issues outside of your control? How will they influence the strategies you develop to ensure your community is a great place to live for years to come? Let’s see where the coming decades will take us. -
5 Tips: Fire safety for buildings and high rises
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. -
FirstService Residential Chairman Gene Gomberg Honored as Ultimate CEO/Chairman
Gene Gomberg, Chairman of FirstService Residential, was honored as an Ultimate CEO/Chairman by the South Florida Business Journal. -
FirstService Residential Keeps Energy Costs on a Tight Leash During Dog Days of Summer
High summer temperatures bring high electric bills – especially this summer, as heat waves and soaring temperatures continue to blaze across the U.S. and Canada. But FirstService Residential’s innovative FS Energy program is keeping residents cool, curbing electric bills and lowering energy emissions and usage – and it saved $1.5 million in energy costs for NYC residents last summer. Now, the program is rolling out to multifamily buildings in Chicago and Miami. -
FirstService Residential's New York Office Featured in Mann Management Report
Our New York office is profiled in the November/December issue of the Mann Management Report. -
Five simple marketing strategies for associations
How many homes in your community are vacant? Whether it’s one or one hundred, it’s too many. Empty homes can lead to compliance issues and decrease the curb appeal of your community. They can also negatively impact the feeling of connectedness for the members of your association. That’s why it’s so important to keep every home occupied. -
Five community landscape maintenance tips
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. -
Five Reasons to Love Your Community Management Company
It’s always great to have a reliable partner by your side. Whether it’s a family member, someone at work, or even a fellow member of a sports team on which you play, knowing that someone has your back can instill you with confidence and comfort. -
Four tips for great communication in your association
As a board member, you’ve confronted (and hopefully, overcome) a lot of challenges. You’ve learned your role. You’ve tackled projects. You’ve teamed up with residents. -
Four Telltale Signs of a Well-Trained Property Manager
When you think about the ideal community manager, typically a unique combination of personality traits springs to mind. They are professional and courteous with residents, yet firm with vendors. They know their way around a spreadsheet, but also have basic working knowledge of major systems like plumbing or heating and cooling. They know how to help the homeowner association (HOA) board stay focused on the big picture, but are also adept at taking you through the details of even the most complicated budget plan. -
Four tips for creating your HOA holiday decoration policy
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. -
11 steps for a successful HOA transition from developer
When a property transitions from developer control, it typically means that the developer, who initially owned and managed the property, is transferring ownership or control of the property to another entity, such as a homeowners association (HOA), property management company, or individual property owners. The specific process and outcomes of this transition can vary depending on the type of property, its purpose, and the governing documents in place. -
HOA Legislation: Protecting your community
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. -