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We recently held an educational webinar with the Brickell Homeowners Association and Siegfried Rivera to discuss why a preventive maintenance plan is a critical aspect of any association’s operation.
click on the picture below and watch the video. or click here.
Disclaimer: This video is for educational purposes only. You will not receive credits for watching the recording. Credits were issued only to those that attended the course.
brought to us by, Campbell Property Management
Tags: Board of DirectorsThe year is almost over, but there is still time to set your lake or pond up for success. Start the planning process now and lay the foundation for a healthy and beautiful waterbody in 2023. Whether you’re looking to create happy communities or want to learn effective shoreline management solutions, our experts are here to help. Look back at our top 5 articles of 2022 and discover everything SOLitude has to offer to help you achieve your waterbody goals.
For many, water brings peace and happiness. That is one of the many reasons maintaining a healthy waterbody is so important. Water quality issues can have a harmful effect on recreational activities, wildlife, property values, and overall quality of life. Start a proactive management plan and enjoy the benefits of a healthy waterbody all year long.
Annual management is essential to the health and well-being of any lake or pond. Proactive, eco-friendly strategies that are tailored to your unique ecosystem will make it possible to maintain a balanced and beautiful waterbody for all to enjoy. Build a custom annual lake management plan and achieve your goals for years to come.
Regular shoreline maintenance ensures that your lake or pond can withstand the test of time. Protecting your waterbody from the dangerous and unsightly effects of erosion starts with preventative management. Learn how smart solutions such as bioengineered living shorelines can repair even the most severe erosion cases.
Nutrient Remediation with Alum is one of the most effective and natural solutions for poor water quality. When water quality is healthy, algae, nuisance weeds, and toxic cyanobacteria are less likely to thrive. Restore the balance and beauty of your waterbody with Alum and other proactive solutions.
Healthy, functional lakes and ponds require oxygen. Waterbodies with poor water quality can suffer from water quality impairments like algae, toxic cyanobacteria, and aquatic weed growth. Fortunately, lake managers can utilize three solutions to increase oxygen: floating fountains, surface aerators, and submersed diffused aeration.
There’s no doubt that lakes and ponds are vital to our communities. That’s why it’s so important to maintain a healthy waterbody for everyone to enjoy. Let us help you reach your lake and pond management goals next year. Contact our professionals to get started on your 2023 management plan.
I’m already hearing stories of developers making low ball offers to owners in high rise condominium buildings, offering to buy units at bargain prices. Here’s why….. Developers knows that in building of 25 years or more on the coast or 30 years or more inland, owners are facing massive upcoming expenses.
These include but are not limited to:
It’s going to get mighty expensive to remain living in some condominiums and developers know that many owners simply won’t be able to afford it. Their strategy is to offer you some money for your unit instead of you having to come out of your pocket tens of thousands of dollars or more.
Developers may rely on simply making an agreement to buy everyone’s unit at the same time and if even one owner decides not to sell, the deal is off.
Developers may also have a strategy where they buy enough units to “terminate” the condominium form of ownership. Under the current statute the developer may wish to accumulate only 80% of all units. If so, the developer can then file a plan of “termination.”
the plan must be approved by at least 80 percent of the total voting interests of the condominium. However, if 5 percent or more of the total voting interests of the condominium have rejected the plan of termination by negative vote or by providing written objections, the plan of termination may not proceed.
If you read the foregoing statute, clearly developers would want to purchase just in excess of 95% of all units so that nobody can stop the plan of termination. However, some of you may have language in your governing documents that would require a vote of 100% of the owners in order to terminate the condominium. The question of whether the magic number is 80%, 95% 100% or some other number depends upon whether you have “Kaufman” language or “as amended from time to time” language in your governing documents. Believe me, it gets complicated.
The bottom line is that many of you will soon be approached by developers looking for a steal. When this happens, rather than have infighting among those that live and/or own in the condominium, I urge you to seek the advice of counsel on this very complicated topic.
No doubt older buildings will be toppled by developers who will put new ones in their place. It may be very unlikely that even though you lived there for decades, you won’t be able to afford the prices in the new condominium. Ladies and gentlemen, gentrification is coming to a neighborhood near you.
Every Sunday watch and listen…Ask Questions get Answers!
We pride ourselves on providing invaluable services to HOAs/COAs and their property managers throughout S. Florida that facilitate the improvement of safety and appearance of their communities while preserving the integrity of property values. Our first division, Garing Parking Enforcement, was started in 2007 to help communities regain and maintain compliance with their vehicle restrictions and parking regulations.
Our second division, Garing Property Services, was just launched with a similar intent of bringing the residences, recreational and common areas in a community into compliance with the community’s governing documents pertaining to the appearance and upkeep of their dwellings.
Dear Paul and the Garing Staff
Just so you know, we were more than satisfied with the patrols. I know what your guy went through at times; the threats […] abusive residents, etc. l also know it would be hard to duplicate this service for little or no cost if we choose to do so because you are extremely reasonable with the costs. You have been a tremendous help to our violation enforcement […] I just personally wanted you to know that we appreciate everything you have done for our community.
Chuck Forcucci
and the Genesis Board of Directors
I’ve read carefully the report of Garing’s parking ranger. I have no comment other than l do appreciate very much everything that he did on Saturday night, June 21, 2008 between 12:30 am and 1:50 am.
He conducted his duty strictly in accordance with the professional regulations of your company and the agreement with Sawgrass Preserve HOA. The owners of vehicles that were subject of towing in this incident were very well known as frequent violators, not only in illegal parking, but also in other cases (broken gate arm, tailgating…)
On behalf of the Association l praise the professional stand of your ranger and use this opportunity to thank him for everything he did that night to protect the Association rules. Could you please pass to him our great satisfaction for his approach in conducting of his duties.
Thanks.
While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to condo communication, there are some basic principles and strategies that can help you maximize communication. For instance, we can all agree that using digital communication tools is faster and more efficient than outdated paper and mail.
Read on to find out how technology and sound communication strategies can facilitate smooth operations and cohesion with homeowners.
One of the best ways to capture and maintain unit owners’ attention is to communicate with them frequently. Property management software such as Condo Control Central simplifies the process for you. It offers a discussion forum where unit owners can voice their opinions in a safe and confidential manner.
Residents can use this feature to report property damage in the common areas, and you’ll be able to moderate the forum by adding pre-defined topics.
The event planner tool also makes it easy to inform and update residents about upcoming community events such as get-togethers and AGM meetings.
Tired of printing documents and posters every time you update community bylaws? Say goodbye to printing costs and upload updated documents straight to your community’s file library. It has quick search functionality and allows you to seamlessly notify residents when you upload a new document. Now you’ll have no excuse but to keep unit owners updated on every move.
Make sure your state allows for the electronic transfer of large documents because it’s not legal in every state.
People generally don’t like to actively seek out information so you need to make it easy for them. Otherwise, no-one is going to go out of their way to read the rules unless they’re made visible. Going digital will not only help you to cut costs while captivating people’s attention, but it also simplifies the communication process. Using property management software forums means that you don’t have to rely on residents to open an email, or log in to a website.
But, it’s important to modulate the information you make available to residents online. Intelligently designed communication strategies speak volumes and will help you manage and reduce conflict.
Like most condo associations, your condo declaration stipulates how often your board should meet. It’s important to include residents in HOA meetings to promote transparency and honesty. The minimum requirement in most state regulations is for the HOA board to meet annually to plan the yearly budget. But, it helps to hold regular meetings in-between to keep residents in the loop about important issues.
If you want to find out how often your condo board should meet, check the association’s bylaws for detailed information. Most bylaws have a minimum meeting frequency of five to six times a year. It’s important to note that this is merely a suggestion, and the board can choose to meet more or fewer times than that, based on the needs of the community.
Granted, things like weather conditions can contribute to the frequency of board meetings. Associations that in areas with extreme winters may hold regular meetings to deal with issues like snow removal or lawn maintenance. Some associations need to hold frequent meetings to deal with tenant disputes and other kinds of drama. Larger condo associations with 30, 50 or more units may also meet frequently due to unique circumstances.
The important thing is to address problems as they arise and do so publicly. Don’t allow things to fester as this may lead to detached involvement from homeowners. For instance, if an HOA board holds six meetings in a year, then homeowners should be present for at least half of those meetings.
Every association should have a website and social media presence. This makes it easier to raise awareness about the latest association news, meeting minutes, etc.
Plus, you can control the amount of information included on the website and who has access to it.
Most associations use social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn as well as association blogs as a way to keep community members in the loop about important news and happenings. Through private groups within these platforms, you can safely and effectively share meeting minutes, community alerts, invitations, and announcements.
The only downside to using public social networks is that you don’t have control over the platform itself. Facebook or LinkedIn’s community and privacy rules can change at any moment. This can affect the way you communicate with association members and compromise privacy. After all, social media doesn’t offer the level of confidentiality required when sharing certain information.
Since these platforms aren’t designed with condo associations in mind, they may not have certain functions you’d find in dedicated property management software.
Social media also comes with issues like out of control comments that cause misunderstandings and communication barriers. For instance, it’s easy for comments posted by board members to be misconstrued as a representation of the board itself, when it’s only the perspective of a single board member. Situations like this can create a hostile environment and lead to unnecessary strife.
This is just one example of how Facebook can instigate controversy trough miscommunication. It’s difficult to moderate comments and conversations that happen on the platform, hence the fighting that often happens on Facebook and other social media websites.
It’s better to communicate with homeowners using an internal platform. That way, you can moderate the conversation and address questions in an orderly fashion. An open forum is a great way to do th
is, along with Control Central’s dedicated announcement feature.
The website builder feature from Condo Control Central is ideal because it allows you to create a customized platform for your community. Here, you can safely share important and mundane information alike. This includes things like your pest control schedule to your recreational event calendar, board meeting schedule, planned improvements and parking requirements to name but a few.
It’s the best way to ensure confidentiality and privacy when communicating with unit owners electronically. It also encourages ongoing interaction between unit owners and can foster a strong sense of community.
Are you having trouble with disinterested unit owners? Then you should point out a few reasons why they should take an interest in association affairs. Most absentee unit owners are that way because they don’t live in their units and simply rent them out as an investment property.
In such cases, it helps to incentivize meeting attendance with something like a free gift card or a percentage off from their assessments. At the end of the day, these types of owners are interested in the financial value of the property. So, they will take part in association meetings and affairs if it means maximizing their bottom line or investment.
We can’t stress this enough. Transparency is paramount in a condo association because you don’t want unit owners to ever feel alienated or unheard. Transparency is the easiest way to avoid disgruntled unit owners while making sure that you’re sharing all the right information with them.
For the best results, we recommend you consult with state regulations to see what the requirements are. Most states call for regular association board meetings that involve unit owners in every major decision.
The last thing unit owners want is to find out about an important decision via email or text notification. Especially if it affects the value of the property or their quality of life, which it probably will. Everything should be discussed in an open board meeting, and the board should give unit owners due notice before each meeting.
Unfortunately, association boards have been coming up with new ways to exclude board members, much to their detriment. One popular approach is to hold “working sessions” which are board meetings meant to exclude homeowners. The argument commonly used by board members is that they don’t want any interruptions from unit owners.
Even if the board is not planning to make motions during the meeting, community members must be informed of the meeting so they can attend if they want to.
This is the basis of transparency and the first step to building trust and open communication with your community.
Lack of communication is one of the biggest challenges HOAs and condo associations face today. This usually happens because the board fails to share decisions made on the backend. But, it’s important to share as much as possible with homeowners, keeping in mind that that the more transparent you are the more they will trust you.
It might be helpful to distribute regular newsletters either on a monthly or quarterly basis to keep community members in the loop about important issues. Even when an HOA board is experiencing problems with unauthorized renters, it’s important to share these issues so community members know what the board is dealing with.
Don’t forget to distribute the meeting minutes as soon as possible. This could be anything from a few days to a few weeks from the meeting depending on how fast the board approves them. Meeting minutes are a form of communication too and can help to shift perceptions about board transparency.
HOA boards should go beyond legal requirements when it comes to transparency and make financial records available to unit owners. That’s because financial transactions are often a leading cause of suspicion in condo associations and HOAs.
We recommend a yearly audit to improve transparency and the budget mail-out feature from Control Central is a lifesaver. It offers customized mail-out templates that you can use to digitally and automatically mail-out condo fees to residents.
Accounting and tax services are about more than just numbers on a page. Unlike other accounting firms, when you call us you will get a live human being not voicemail and unlike other accounting firms we will work with you on your business helping you to grow profits and cut taxes. Unlike other accounting firms we will tell you before we begin work exactly what it will cost for our help.
Our tax accounting professionals will be happy to assist you with; tax planning, tax preparation and tax representation.
Our tax accountants are EA’s (Enrolled to practice before the IRS). They know the tax laws and will make sure you don’t pay one penny more than you have to. Visit us for a free consultation with a tax accountant, who will review your tax situation, with you to determine the best course of action. The tax accountant will provide you with a free fee quotation.
At a time when it would make sense for the condo and HOA laws to become easier to learn, they are becoming harder. Much has to do with why in the world are there such differences between the condo and HOA statutes? It’s actually ridiculous. For example:
There are more, but you get the point. There are no reasons of which I’m aware as to why these statutes are different for condos and HOAs, yet they continue to exist. At a time when it’s confusing enough to learn the laws, The Florida Legislature should amend the statutes so that the laws are the same and fair across the Board, regardless of whether you live in a condo or HOA.
Tags: Condo and HOA