Community living comes with lots of rules and regulations—many of which are codified in largely static, hard-to-amend governing documents like proprietary leases and condominium declarations. Others are laid out in the more flexible context…
“You only get one chance to make a great first impression,” goes the old adage. That’s the essence of curb appeal. When someone arrives at your property, they can be pleasantly surprised, or disappointed. Much of that reaction will depend …
Maintaining your community’s public spaces is critical to the image your community puts forward to residents, visitors and potential buyers. Frequent updating and polishing of common areas—particularly high-visibility, high-traffic areas li…
One of the perpetual challenges of multifamily, shared interest living is the relatively small number of community members who are willing to volunteer their time to govern and run the community. It’s not uncommon for any building or associ…
Even with new home sales rising thanks to builder incentives and a shift toward lower-priced homes, sky-high prices and economic instability continue to suppress overall housing market activity, according to a recent report in The Wal…
Q. We have a board member who has been locked out of meetings. According to that board member, the board has formed an executive committee that has, for all intents and purposes, shut them out. The board member is no longer able to view b…
Since long before the covid pandemic upended the practical and administrative lives of every condo, HOA and co-op board in the country, apathy has been rampant among the residents of the communities those boards govern. It’s always been dif…
Managing or administering a multifamily community like a condo, HOA, or co-op building is a lesson in balancing diverse, sometimes conflicting interests and priorities for the collective good. In buildings and associations where residents l…
What’s a board to do when a shareholder or unit owner consistently fails to hold up their end of the agreements—both spoken and unspoken—that underpin successful multifamily living, either through nonpayment of fees, or objectionable behavi…
A condominium, cooperative, or homeowners’ association elects its board for a specific purpose: to manage the community’s day-to-day business, oversee special projects, and draft and uphold the rules and regulations that keep life orderly a…