-
HOA Parking Rules: 6 Questions to Assess Your Policy
How can you ensure that your association’s parking rules are fair and easy to understand and follow? Here are 6 essential questions to ask before you create or enforce parking policies. -
Five Ways to Minimize Maintenance Surprises
When it comes to the maintenance of your community, issues will arise. Preventative maintenance helps keep future problems at bay, many communities have begun implementing predictive maintenance as well. -
Five Ways to Provide Reasonable Accommodation by Creating a Fair Living Space
Is your Board familiar with the term “fair living space”? If not, then you should familiarize yourself with the concept as it can have a profound effect on your community and your residents. -
Five Simple Ways Your Board Can Influence Public Policy
As a Board member, you are familiar with the great things your association does for your community. Some times legislators charged with creating policies and laws that directly affect associations have very little knowledge of their inner workings. -
How a Solid Flooring Policy Can Minimize Noisy Neighbor Problems in Your High-Rise
Do you hear every single step your upstairs neighbors take? Are they keeping you up at night? Before going ballistic, take a deep breath; it might not be their fault. -
How Good Policy Enforcement Can Improve Your Community
Your board took the time to create a vision for your community. You’ve gotten buy-in from your residents and crafted policies that support it. Now, how do you enforce those policies to ensure that the vision is supported? -
How to Create a Preventative Building Maintenance Plan
A comprehensive plan for preventative maintenance is a top priority with great benefits. It helps detect a problem before a failure, anticipates repairs, and extends the life of every critical asset in your building. -
How to Keep Holiday Spirit While Maintaining Holiday Decor Standards
It can be tough to balance festive and tasteful, when it comes to holiday décor. Setting policies for decorating will help maintain peace and goodwill for all within your association. -
How to Set Pet Policies for Your Community
Very few issues and problems that come up seem to have anything to do with pets. However, here are tips to help resolve any pet-related issues. -
Landscape Basics: Getting the Most Out of Your Landscape Design
Trees are an essential and invaluable part of the environment. They provide oxygen, improve air quality, add character to landscaping, increase curb appeal and property values. -
Part 1: Electric Cars and Charging Stations - Is Your Community Ready?
Ready to trade in your gas card for some time at the charging station? If so, you'll join those who have made the switch from gasoline-powered vehicles to plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). -
Part 2: Installing Charging Stations for Electric Cars in Your Community
Electric cars have arrived and there has been a surge of plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) purchases driving the need for charging stations. What does this mean for your association? -
Reopening Amenities: Creating New High-Rise and HOA Swimming Pool Rules
As the weather heats up and stay-at-home orders surrounding COVID-19 are lifted, it's important to remember the social distancing guidelines in place. -
5 Steps to the Best Reserve Study Firm
Nothing lasts forever and you need to have a plan to replace major items and systems before their lifespans end. How do you create that plan? Start with a quality reserve study. -
Rule Enforcement During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Whether your board is dealing with emergency rules or general community policies, here are some things to consider when addressing change in your community. -
Association Policy 101: How to Make Rules Without Making Enemies
As a board member, you know the importance of making rules and establishing policy; these must be clear and sensible. The process for creating and enforcing rules successfully is the same. -
Want to Make Your Community Smoke-Free? Four Tips to Help
The dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke have been highlighted in recent years. Smoking also affects our physical environment by increasing risks of fire and property damage, raising insurance rates and increasing legal liability. -
What Radon Exposure Can Mean for You and Your Family
Radon can pose a very real threat to your health and well-being. Here's a basic overview of radon gas – what it is, where’s it’s found, the risks associated with it and how to protect your home and family from it. -
6 Ways HOAs Partner with Management Companies
The distinct roles of the board and manager can shed some light on the ways the board can develop an effective partnership. -
Communicating Your Association Budget
Budgeting is the time for making tough decisions for how your association spends its money, and sometimes those decisions can, unfortunately, lead to contention. Clear communication about the association budget should be provided to all homeowners throughout the year to help solve problems before they begin and smoothly pave the way for needed changes. -
Creating Condo and HOA Policies That Make Sense
It’s a common problem that many condo and homeowners’ associations (HOAs) face: rules that simply don’t work as they were intended. Sometimes it’s because they are enforced inconsistently or aren’t enforced at all. Other times it’s because they go too far. At their worst, poorly instituted HOA policies can even cause neighborhood discord. -
Does Your Association Have A Plan For Fostering A Sense Of Community?
Humans are social creatures with a deep-seated yearning for connection and community. This is particularly evident in a condo association or HOA, where a strong sense of community can be the difference between long-standing residency and high turnover. -
Five Steps to Running More Effective HOA Board Meetings
One of the most challenging aspects of being on the board of your homeowners association (HOA) can be running board meetings. It’s not always easy to keep everyone tuned into the business at hand. In addition, you have to manage the inevitable disagreements among board members. How do you keep these meetings running smoothly? -
Four Ways Illinois Condos/Co-ops and HOAs Can Save Money on Energy Bills with the Best Property Management Services
Energy conservation and managing HOA community environmental footprints are crucial, but board members have a responsibility to homeowners to exercise financial prudence and proactively seek ways to manage rising costs.