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2015 November
Focus on... Building Maintenance/Expo Issue

Maintenance Inside a Building’s Anatomy
2015 November Inside a Building’s Anatomy

If you think about it, a multifamily building isn’t that much different than the human body—both house important complex operating systems and organ-like pieces of vital equipment, both take in fuel and produce waste, and both require regul…

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Maintenance Elevator Replacement
2015 November Elevator Replacement

It's easy to take  major building features for granted. Consider elevators, for example. A well-maintained elevator can function smoothly for decades, ferrying residents up and down without incident or complaint. Nevertheless, no matter the…

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Maintenance Securing Your Building Exteriors
2015 November Securing Your Building Exteriors

Exteriors of buildings—condos and HOAs included—aren’t always just smooth brick walls. There are all sorts of indentations and protrusions, from terraces to stonework to cornices. There are also items that are not part of the building, but …

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Maintenance Vetting Your Professionals
2015 November Vetting Your Professionals

There is always work to be done on a building, whether it’s a simple lobby repair or a major capital improvement, but finding the right contractor for the job takes some work. If the vetting process is not done properly, the results could b…

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Management Illinois Workers' Compensation
2015 November Illinois Workers' Compensation

Workers' compensation as we know it today—the insurance system that provides medical care and other benefits for workers who become sick or injured in the course of doing their jobs--grew out of the European labor movement in the late 19th …

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Management Blackouts and Power Outages
2015 November Blackouts and Power Outages

In August 2003, much of the American Northeast was plunged into darkness when the power grid serving the region failed. Through power was restored within a day or so—to much of the affected area—millions of dollars in losses and damages wer…

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Finance The Clubhouse Rules
2015 November The Clubhouse Rules

Amenities can be a major selling point for any co-op or condo. You don't have to be Jillian Michaels these days to have a spa or full gym at home. Naturally, they add to the property value of the building as a whole, as well as to the indiv…

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Management Guest Policies
2015 November Guest Policies

Whether you live in an urban high-rise in the heart of a large city, or in a more spread-out suburban HOA development, security—for both property and physical safety—is an important issue in any condo community. Who can come in, at what tim…

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Finance Control Your Operating Costs
2015 November Control Your Operating Costs

In the context of multifamily communities, there are two kinds of budgets: a capital, or reserve budget, and an operating budget. Capital budgets apply to long-term, big-ticket projects like new roofs or an HVAC overhaul. By contrast, the o…

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Maintenance Cleaning Up!
2015 November Cleaning Up!

Regardless of whether you're talking about a reputation, a design, or a lobby, the word clean implies an absence of dirt, germs, and unattractive clutter. If your home happens to be a condominium, a co-op, or other multi-unit building with …

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Maintenance Snow Time!
2015 November Snow Time!

The contractors who helped dig out the region’s condo properties last winter agree on one thing: the associations that were ‘rescued’ first were the ones with solid vendor relationships.  “You should probably start looking for a contractor…

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Q&A Q&A: Can You Just Pipe Down a Minute?
2015 November Q&A: Can You Just Pipe Down a Minute?

Q.  My condo unit seems to have developed a pretty substantial water leak. I cannot find the origin of it but I know it’s a definite problem. How do I know whether I am responsible for the water leak or whether it is located inside the wal…

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Real Estate Trends Multifamily Submetering
2015 November Multifamily Submetering

How much water do you use in a month?  If you live in a Chicago-area condominium or cooperative with a single meter for the entire property, you probably don’t know. Your association includes its monthly water and sewer bill in the monthly…

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Real Estate Trends Getting a Little Tipsy
2015 November Getting a Little Tipsy

Whether you live in a suburb or in the heart of the city, life is expensive. Sometimes it can feel as though everybody from the barista at your favorite coffee shop to the kid who sacks your groceries is trying to nickel-and-dime you half t…

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