Category: Association Operations

Preparing the annual budget for your condo or HOA isn’t the same as figuring out a budget for a couple, or even a large family. The board of a shared-interest community has to consider all the angles—past, current, and future—when drawing u…

The ever-changing, often unpredictable nature of their industry requires professional property managers to be adaptable. On any given day, a manager might find him- or herself dealing with issues ranging from managing a major capital repair…

If you own or are considering buying a unit in a condo or homeowners association, there’s a recent change in the mortgage market that deserves your full attention. In March 2026, Fannie Mae issued Lender Letter LL-2026-03, introducing signi…

Multifamily living means sharing spaces with neighbors and, unfortunately, it also often means sharing areas with pests like cockroaches, bedbugs, rats, and mice. Beyond being a skin-crawling nuisance, they can wreak havoc on a building and…

The Windy City has hundreds of green roofs covering millions of square feet. While Chicago doesn’t have a law mandating green roof conversions by a specific deadline, it does have policies encouraging both existing and new construction to i…

Keeping a building dry is both an interior and exterior challenge. All buildings, regardless of materials and construction, are at risk of water infiltration and moisture build-up in basements, walls, ceilings, window wells and roof materia…

Over the past few decades, ideas and technologies for improving energy efficiency, reducing ecological impact, and providing additional amenities to residents in multifamily buildings have surged. Near the front of that pack has been the ‘g…

Most municipalities in the U.S. have laws on their books governing how exterior building façades must be inspected, maintained and repaired. While such legislation is occasionally enacted at the state level, generally these laws are a local…

If your building or association is professionally managed, having some familiarity with the billing structures property management companies use with different client communities is key; that understanding can help you determine which one i…

As the days get longer, warmer, and more conducive to outdoor activity, boards and property managers have a laundry list of maintenance and preparation tasks to ready their buildings for the approaching summer. Investing some time, labor, a…