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  • 3 Strategies to Keep HOA Assessments Stable and Add Value

    There are often good reasons to raise assessments, but in some cases, you may be able to take a different route. Here are three strategies to help save your HOA money and keep assessments stable.
  • Contractor Tips: 17 ways to get the best from your contractor

    When you hire a contractor, it could either be the best decision you ever made, or the worst. The stakes are high; a good contractor will execute your vision on time and on budget, whereas a not-so-good one will be the source of bad workmanship, unexpected delays, inconvenience and a whole lot of headaches.
  • Five ways to improve board member communication in your HOA

    How well your board communicates has a tremendous impact on your community association. Great communication can lead to better relationships with residents – both homeowners and renters – and helps build a stronger sense of community.
  • FAQs for annual meeting and HOA special meeting notice

    Annual and special meetings can have their own set of rules and needs. Read on to learn more about these two important types of meetings for your HOA or condo association board.
  • Winterizing a house: 4 tips for snowbirds traveling for winter

    Do you escape to warmer weather down south once there’s a chill in the air and the leaves start to turn? If you’re a snowbird (or Winter Texan!), you need to know how to protect your home up north while basking in the southern sunshine
  • 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?
  • 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.
  • 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?
  • Understanding virtual board meetings in your HOA and COA

    Given the unprecedented practice of "social distancing," now may be the best time to find the right video conferencing platform for your association.
  • What is vendor management? The importance of communication

    Vendor management is a large part of serving on the board of a managed community. Every community has outside partners for services like landscaping, sanitation, cable and Internet provision, pool maintenance, valet services and more. Open and effective communication among the board, the management company and the vendors employed by the association is an important part of making the most of any community’s operating budget and improving the lifestyles of its residents.
  • What to consider when hiring property management vendors

    Your Board of Directors oversees the many day-to-day tasks required to operate and maintain your community…but they can’t do it alone. Your property management team will be expected to hire a wide array of vendors, including painters, plumbers, electricians, landscapers, repairmen for equipment maintenance or emergencies, exterminators, and more.
  • 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.
  • Why Millennials Matter to the Future of Your Association

    Millennials are the fastest growing group of home buyers in the US. Learn why you need to get this important demographic involved in your association today.
  • 8 tips for creating and enforcing HOA rules

    Good rules make good community members. The most important factors in association policy making, whether for a condo, co-op, townhome or master-planned community, are clarity and sensibility. The board must be clear – and united – on the policy being created and then must communicate that policy to all residents. Whether the policy is about overnight guest parking, designated smoking areas, amenity usage or approved flooring, the basic steps to creating good policy and enforcing it successfully are the same. It’s important that everyone involved, including board members, residents and the management team, understand who is responsible for the various roles that are part of policy creation, enforcement and compliance.
  • 5 HOA annual meeting requirements to keep your meeting on track

    Your board should give residents the opportunity to have their voices heard, but you also have a responsibility to keep the meeting moving forward. Use these 5 HOA annual meeting requirements to stay on track.
  • Seven Tips to Avoid Issues with a Contract for Property Management

    You’ve been there before. You meet with a vendor, they seem like a great choice, and then after a month or so, you find yourself in a dispute.
  • Starting a neighborhood watch program? Understanding neighborhood watch rules and duties

    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.
  • HOA Vendors: Vendor management tips for great results

    Here are some tips to manage your HOA vendors more effectively & and get the results you're looking for.
  • How to create a sense of larger community in your HOA

    Your association doesn’t function in a vacuum. It’s part of a larger community. Having members actively engaged in your town or city is good for the association and adds to residents’ sense of community. Find out what your board can do to encourage residents to get more involved in their larger community.
  • Why association boards chose FirstService Residential

    Finding a property management company to partner with your board isn’t easy. Find out how we can help you.
  • HOA lawsuit: Why community associations get sued and what to do if it happens to you

    Your community or condominium association is there to protect the interests of all of its members. However, there may be situations when one or more residents don’t believe that the association is on their side. Hopefully, everyone involved can come to a reasonable solution, but if you can’t, it’s possible that your association – and even your board members – could become the target of a lawsuit.
  • 15 Things You’ll Want to Do Before Selecting an Insurance Agent

    Insurance is one of the most important line items on your association's budget, but it is oftentimes the most expensive. Do you know how to select the right agent?
  • 5 Ways You Can Improve Board Communication

    How well your board communicates has a tremendous impact on your community association. Every board can benefit from these 5 principles.
Showing 25 - 48 of 331