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One of the most important responsibilities your HOA board of directors faces is effectively planning for major common-area repairs and replacements. Whether a costly expenditure is needed in a few years or 20 years from now, it’s the board’s fiduciary duty to make sure your homeowners association (HOA) has adequate funds when the time comes. That’s where HOA reserves come into play.

Every year about the same time, your community association board is most likely creating its budget for the following year. Learn about seven commonly neglected items in community association budgets that you may be missing.

Security risks increase exponentially during the holiday seasons for high-rise buildings. Many residents travel for the holidays, move to warmer weather during the winter months, or have an influx of guests and family members in and out. These factors make it easy for intruders to make it into the building, especially if there are no procedures in place to track the many people and deliveries in and out of the building.

You may be unaware that you are opening up all of your emails to scrutiny. When using a personal or work email address to conduct association business, there is a potential liability involved.

We’ve highlighted four common board blunders and included some practical tips for avoiding them. It’s important to identify these potential blunders early to save yourself and your board time and frustration.

While maintenance, events, committees, and budget are all crucial aspects of managing a homeowners’ association, there's one even bigger challenge that board members face: HOA agreement and alignment. Read on to discover the secret to successful alignment among diverse individuals with distinct values.

If your main concern is to avoid increasing assessments, you may want to reconsider. As a board member, one of your primary fiduciary responsibilities is to protect property values, and assessments are an investment that helps do just that.

How should your HOA board handle a pandemic like COVID-19? Start by tackling these 5 questions

Not sure which components you should fix and which you should replace entirely? You're not alone. Get the answers to some of your top questions about maintenance, capital improvements, and useful life.

Having a diverse group of opinions and perspectives on your HOA board can be a great thing, but it can also lead to challenges because of conflicting personalities. To set you and your association up for success, here are 6 tips to improve board meeting dynamics.

There are often valid reasons to raise assessments, but in some cases, you may want to take a different route. Here are three cost-saving strategies.

Have you considered the importance of effective board communication in your recipe for success? Follow these HOA communication tools and tips for a path to effective communication.

How does your Arizona association handle maintenance? Discover your association's unique maintenance style.

Like changing the oil in your car, regular maintenance on a building helps keeps everything working properly and safely. For stratas, some tasks are not optional, they are mandatory.

Security risks increase exponentially during the holiday seasons for high-rise buildings. Many residents travel for the holidays, move to warmer weather during the winter months, or have an influx of guests and family members in and out. These factors make it easy for intruders to make it into the building, especially if there are no procedures in place to track the many people and deliveries in and out of the building.

A strata management company never wants to find itself in the midst of an emergency, but it can happen anytime and anywhere. Whether you face an outbreak of illness, earthquake, or a flood, the impact of any devastating event can be minimized if your council has prepared for it. No doubt, your council meetings are already chock full of agenda items, but it’s important to make emergency preparedness planning a priority.

Up to 60 percent of strata home owners in the Greater Vancouver Regional District lack insurance. A good policy will protect your biggest asset and help you keep your head above water.

If your community is managed by a strata management company, you probably have an after-hours number you can call for urgent issues. But what if you simply want to take care of day-to-day strata business? “People don’t operate in normal business hours anymore,” says Rolando Hernandez, national customer care director at FirstService Residential. “Residents and council members need to be able to take care of strata business how and when it’s convenient for them.”

Humans are social creatures with a deep-seated yearning for connection and community. This is particularly evident in a strata corporation, where a strong sense of community can be the difference between long-standing residency and high turnover.

We will all need a measure of patience as we navigate changes related to the pandemic. Communications may move at a pace that’s different than we’re used to. As always, the best policy is to assume positive intentions from others, listen carefully and respond professionally.

Undoubtedly, running meetings is one of the most ;challenging parts of being on your strata council. Members sometimes get off track. Disagreements sometimes turn into arguments. Short discussions sometimes become long-winded monologues. Is there anything you can do to make your council meetings more effective?