Category: Association Operations

Finance Park it Here
2011 July Park it Here

 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 …

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Finance Budget Basics
2011 July Budget Basics

 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…

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Finance Preparing for the Worst
2011 July Preparing for the Worst

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…

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Finance All is Not Lost
2011 July All is Not Lost

 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…

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Finance Maintenance Increase Strategies
2011 July Maintenance Increase Strategies

 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…

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Finance Money in the Bank
2011 July Money in the Bank

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…

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Energy Conservation Can We Go Green?
2011 June Can We Go Green?

 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…

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Recreation Choosing the Right Property Manager
2011 May Choosing the Right Property Manager

 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…

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Recreation Worth the Rent?
2011 May Worth the Rent?

There's no denying it: the housing bubble has definitely burst. And while there is still some speculation on how, when and why, most financial experts agree that the correction and balancing process has begun—though it will likely be lo…

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Recreation Community in Diversity
2011 May Community in Diversity

 Chicago has a long tradition of being culturally diverse, and that tradition  continues to evolve today.    The Metro Chicago Immigration Fact Book reports that the Chicagoland area added  1.4 million immigrants in the past decade,…

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