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Are you getting the best returns on your reserve funds? Most California board members are not sure. Here are six ways to improve your reserve fund returns and create an HOA investment policy.

How well does your community management company communicate? The answer to this question is at the heart of client satisfaction. A good community management company will engage you using a variety of tools and communication channels. Here are some ways your property management company should be connecting with you.

How do manage collections and HOA funds after a crisis? Get 3 tips to help you plan for the future

Ignorance is not bliss, especially when it means potentially leaving your homeowners association (HOA) at risk of a cyber attack. And that’s exactly what you’re doing if you don’t recognize that your HOA is as much of a target as any other small business.

Strategic capital improvements lead to better property values. Read on to see the three ways to pay for them and their pros and cons.

A great board meeting should have a balance of diverse opinions and discussions that are rooted in your community’s overall vision. Start with these 6 simple HOA board meeting rules.

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.

Eco friendly high-rise initiatives are not only good for the environment, but can be green for your association budget. How does close to $50,000 in annual savings sound? Here are suggestions you can implement for little to no cost.

Regardless of the size of your community, or where it’s located, there is always one thing that every community association board and committee needs: resident volunteers. However, volunteers are often a scarce resource. Here are some tips to combat apathy.

While the start of the new year is typically heralded as the best time to change old habits and commit to new ones, the reality for community associations and their board members is that there’s no time like the present. These 10 changes will help you get your board and your community association on the right track for the rest of the year.

They say that good fences make good neighbors. Rules can work the same way – putting the right parameters in place can help keep everyone happy. Too few rules result in anarchy, and too many rules start to feel onerous to residents.

Let’s face it: being a board member of your homeowner association isn’t easy. Neither is self-managing your property. For many boards, hiring a professional property management company is the best decision they’ll make for their community.

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.

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.

Dale Young, director of portfolio management at FirstService Residential, and other industry experts reveal the common characteristics of effective and functional boards.

Regardless of how you feel about them, board meetings are more than just something your community association chooses to do. They are something your community association must do. Board meetings are crucial to the governance of your community association. If they aren't run effectively, chances are your association won't function well either.

Does your board and management team communicate to the renters in your community? If no, why not? In communities where renters makeup a significant portion of the residents, they are often overlooked by the people running the community.

Whether you’re a new or current board member, you can avoid major issues and make your term more fruitful, rewarding and, above all, effective by following these 9 tips for board members.

NYC's Organic Food Waste Recycling Pilot Program includes Morningside Heights Housing Corp., a cooperative building managed by FirstService Residential’s New York office. This exciting program is designed to reduce the amount of post-consumer waste sent to landfills.

Thriving HOA committees have typically attributed “success by committee" as a factor for their growth. But what are actual HOA committee roles and responsibilities?

As a board member, you want your community to grow and thrive. Having a vision for your community—the aesthetics of it, its reputation, the kinds of programming it offers and amenities it provides—is critical to its long-term well-being. A well-crafted vision will transcend board and resident turnover and keep your community on track.

Like it or not, we have become very dependent on our technology. Whether it’s a cell phone, tablet or computer, our devices enable us to stay connected, conduct business and access information anywhere, anytime. Yet as convenient as these devices may be, cyber security is simply not a priority for the majority of tech users—despite the increased prevalence of cyber attacks. In part one of our two-part series, we look at why cyber security is so important to community associations. We also provide important steps that residents in your community can take to protect their technology so that sensitive information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

In part one of this two-part series, we discussed the importance of cyber security to your community association and the steps that residents can take to protect themselves and their association. In this article, we look at your board’s responsibility in preventing cyber attacks.