These days, when a condo’s fencing, decking or siding wears out and needs replacement, smart boards are looking well beyond “apple-for-apple” replacement materials. Wood siding, a favorite for decades, is frequently being repla…
Good information and clear communication are crucial for anyone involved with the administration of a cooperative condominium or homeowners association—crucial not just to thriving, but surviving in today's challenging economic times. F…
The responsibilities of property managers include a wide array of tasks, from the physical to the administrative. While many of these jobs involve concrete things—like sending out monthly bills, filing paperwork, or going to meetings—eq…
The winter months bring us a more heightened awareness of what a major snowstorm can do to our commute to school or work and, our voicemails if we are a property manager. However, with the heavy snow comes a very real potential for stru…
Q I am on our condo board. We have a problem with a previous condo board member who maintains that any rules (not bylaw changes) must be enforced by subsequent boards and can never be adjusted or changed. When she left the board the las…
Q Our condo association, which is private, has a situation that seems to be going nowhere. One of the units in the association has been for sale for over 2 years and the owner has not paid their HOA dues in 3 plus years. We as the bo…
The harshness of winter can be challenging for all of us, but for cold-blooded insects, it's downright brutal. Yet every spring when temperatures rise, insects are once again crawling and buzzing around as though winter never happened.…
As recently as five years ago, traditional phone logs and Rolodexes were a common part of a property manager's daily communications arsenal. Yet, with recent advances in property management software, such anachronistic methods are larg…
Most buildings have emergency preparedness plans in case of fires, floods, or hurricanes. But there’s one form of crisis that very few have an organized response for: the public relations disaster. It could come in the form of a scandal…
Job losses. Bankruptcies. Foreclosures. These are tough times for everyone, but when homeowners fall on hard times, they are often late paying condo, townhome or co-op fees. Some can’t even afford to pay them at all. Add in to…