Category: Association Operations

 Step through a unique six-pillared Greek pavilion at the intersection of  Halstead and Monroe and you're in Greektown, located in Chicago's near-west  community, one of Chicago's most popular neighborhoods for natives and tourists  alike.…

 It was time for the the Chicago-based senior association's annual meeting. The  board and residents, men and women, some in their 70s, were emotionally charged  and concerned about various issues that the board would discuss. The issues d…

 Anyone who has ever circled the corners looking for a parking spot in Chicago,  especially in the brutal winters, understands the importance of having a  regular parking spot. In a city as crowded and fast-paced as Chicago, parking  is a …

 Not everybody on a co-op or condo's board is an accountant (or can even balance  their own checkbook, for that matter.) Handling the money for an entire  association is a big responsibility however, and residents rely upon their  board to…

Chicagoans pride themselves on the ability to withstand bitter winters but sometimes Mother Nature just does get the better of us. For proof, just look at the pictures from this past January of abandoned cars along Lake Shore Drive and…

 In the language of retail, it’s called shrinkage—the percentage of loss experienced by a business due to theft. Co-ops and condos  may not use the same term for it, and they don't have displays of handbags or  jewelry to safeguard, but th…

 The dreaded phrase “maintenance increase” are two words that most condo and co-op owners don't want to hear, but sometimes it is necessary for a building’s board to make the unpopular decision of raising fees. With rising operating  costs…

Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of the recent recession was the sudden evaporation of credit from major banks and lending institutions. The logic behind it was understandable: too much easy credit had led, in part, to the col…

 As gasoline prices rise with increasing summer demand, building administrators'  attention has turned sharply to the cost of energy, and ways to trim fat from  their overall energy budgets.    Yet for the nation’s nearly 60 million…

 Choosing the right property management company is a tedious but important task  for any Board of Directors.    The use of a Request For Proposal (RFP) process by a cooperative board will  greatly enhance the selection of the most a…