Category: Board Operations

It's almost axiomatic that when numbers of people live in close quarters with each other, disagreements over noise, odors, shared spaces, and other day-to-day minutia are bound to crop up. This is true even in the most usually-harmonious co…

A condominium or homeowners association is the cornerstone of a building community.  The condo or HOA maintains order and continuity by preserving architectural integrity, maintaining the common elements, protecting property values, and oft…

In the Chicagoland area, the process of purchasing a condo can make for quite the odyssey. Oh yes…matching budget requirements, securing mortgages, and inspecting reams of paperwork all amount to a rather stressful and tedious adventure. Fo…

When you live in a multifamily building, however, peace and quiet can be hard to come by. From the guy upstairs who gargles loudly at precisely 6:47 a.m. every morning to the neighbor with the yapping Chihuahua—at some point the soundtrack …

It happens in business, government, and industry every day: employees learn the rules of a new job, and very shortly thereafter, they start taking shortcuts to circumvent them. Rarely is this done with malicious intent. More often, it is si…

It’s a fact of life: with big purchases come big reams of paperwork. For co-op shareholders and condominium unit owners, that can mean hundreds of pages of documents outlining everything from the financial status of their residential commun…

Change is a part of life; and that’s especially true if you’re talking about living in an urban condo community, where no building ever stays the same for too long. Renovations are done, capital improvements are required and even upgrades …

When you lived alone, designing your space was easy. You went to the paint store, selected your favorite colors, came home and did the deed. But then you got married, and decorating got a little trickier. Every design decision had to get a…

The best association boards in the Windy City—those that accomplish the business of their communities effectively—often seem to have members with similar habits. By the same token, poor boards frequently make similar mistakes. But even goo…

Dealing with service vendors is a daily necessity for any condo development or HOA community; there are always things that need to be repaired, replaced, replenished, serviced, cleaned or renovated. Among the laundry list of vendors that C…