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Plaster or Paint: The Best Pool Resurfacing Options for Your Community Pool
Your pool is a source of fun for all of your community’s residents. Yet when it comes time to resurface it, it can quickly feel like your wading in deep water. Read our tips from experts on the pros and cons of plaster and paint. -
Post-Crisis HOA Cash Management: 3 Tips for Your Association
How do manage collections and HOA funds after a crisis? Get 3 tips to help you plan for the future -
Preventing Cyber Attacks, Part 3: Your HOA’s 4-Step Digital Defense Plan
Without a doubt, digital technology has made our everyday tasks easier and more convenient than ever. Mobile phones and tablets allow you to pay monthly bills, upload family photos and store important documents in “the cloud” with just a few taps and swipes. Homeowners associations are taking advantage of this pervasive technology in droves, using property management software to expedite resident transactions, sign documents with electronic signatures, and perform tasks more efficiently. -
6 Questions for Self-Managed Associations to Consider
As a self-managed association, do you need a management partner? Before making that choice, ask these 6 questions. -
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. -
10 Steps on How to Plan a Community Event
You’re planning an event for your homeowner (HOA) or community association. Congratulations! After the initial excitement comes growing panic, right? Well, not necessarily. -
10 things community board members must know to manage an HOA pool
Many people want to live in a community that has a swimming pool, and if there’s one in yours, you know what kind of value it brings. While it’s great to think of all those hot days when you and your neighbors can enjoy an afternoon in the water, with it comes many responsibilities community association board members must adhere to that go beyond staying cool or keeping in shape. -
4 holiday safety tips to protect your home
It's the most wonderful time of the year but not if your holidays are cut short by a fire, an accident or a theft. Taking these 4 safety precautions can prevent such misfortunes. -
Active Shooter Training: What Should Your Community Do?
More than 1.4 million Americans have been killed by gunfire since 1968. Many of those shootings were accidental; some were suicides; some were at the hands of law enforcement officers in the line of duty. But many were not. Mass shootings, meaning that at least three people were killed by gunfire, have become an almost daily occurrence in the United States, with instances increasing each year since 2000, and many instances becoming more deadly. Thankfully, incidents of violence in community associations are rare, but unfortunately, they do occur. -
After the Storms: A Harvey and Irma Update from Our CEO
We have a very long road to recovery ahead for both Texas and Florida, for those of us affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. In the aftermath of the storms, there are tangible examples of our industry leadership, and in particular, why our ability to immediately leverage the depth of resources we have at our disposal is such a powerful differentiator for us. Here are a few examples of how we leveraged our resources, organization-wide, to ensure seamless service delivery for our clients. -
Are You a Snowbird Heading South for the Winter? Learn How to Prepare Before Flying the Coop!
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 -
Choosing the Right Community Association Management Company to Manage Community Amenities
Having a swimming pool, a fitness area, or even a place to hold rooftop parties for residents are perks that can make any community stand out. But how does a community association board handle and operate those features? -
Earthquake Preparedness Tips for Your Community Association
As unpredictable as earthquakes can be, your community association should be prepared in case you ever feel the unmistakable rumble of a tremor. Here’s what you need to know. -
HOA emergency preparedness plan: Keeping calm in a crisis
No board ever wants to find itself in the midst of an emergency, but they happen. Whether you face an outbreak of illness, an earthquake, a hurricane, a fire, the impact of any devastating event can be minimized by good emergency preparedness planning. -
Experts Say Community Amenities and Lifestyle Programs Drive Home Buying Decision
Homebuyers are motivated to buy a new home and move to a new community for a wide variety of reasons – perhaps a desire to downsize, upsize, relocate closer to family and friends, or enhance their quality of life. And when it comes to which new home and community to choose, there are nearly as many variables to consider, such as cost of living, location, layout and the quality of the community association and professional management company, to name a few. But while those factors will always be important, there are two additional considerations that, for many people, are even more compelling – community amenities and programs for lifestyle communities. -
Fallon Describes Emergency Storm Relief on Fox Business’ Cavuto
On October 28, the eve of Superstorm Sandy’s one-year anniversary, Fox Business News aired a powerful segment featuring Chuck Fallon, FirstService Residential CEO. -
5 tips for fire safety for buildings in your community
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. -
Five Tips to Choose the Right Lifestyle Community to Meet Your Needs
There are many types, sizes and varieties of lifestyle communities to choose from, and as interest from homebuyers grows, developers and home builders are creating new ones to meet the demand. If you’re a prospective buyer and don’t know where to begin, we can help. We’ve compiled five important factors to consider to help you narrow down your choices and find the right lifestyle community to meet your needs. -
Residential pool inspection checklist
A health inspector is coming to assess your community pool. Are you prepared? If not, a pool inspection can be a major source of anxiety for your board members and residents. But don’t throw in the towel – there are steps you can take to make sure your inspection goes...well, swimmingly. -
4 ways to set a holiday decoration policy in your community
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. -
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The Hottest Trends in High Rise Amenities for 2017
It’s important to make sure that your high-rise building’s amenities are desirable and reflect the latest needs and wants of current residents, as well as potential buyers. Investing in amenities will have a twofold effect: it will enrich the lifestyles of your homeowners and residents, and it will make your high-rise more marketable and enhance property values. Updating your amenities doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Read on for some of the hottest trends in high-rise amenities and suggestions for staying current with any budget. -
5 steps to create a lifestyle programs using community amenities
Now more than ever, communities are searching for ways to increase resident engagement and create a social atmosphere. One way managers capitalize on their available community amenities is through lifestyle programming. -
How to create community policy: Enforcing rules without making enemies
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.