HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - August 7, 2009
Published: Thu, 07/30/09
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HOA Facilities: Planning Your Association's Maintenance Program
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This week's tip is about planning your HOA's maintenance
checkup.
"We handle maintenance in two ways," explains Matt Zifrony, who
advises homeowners and condo associations at Tripp Scott, a Ft.
Lauderdale law firm, and who's also president of a 3,000-home
association.
The first way involves a formal assessment. "Every three years,
we have an engineer come out and do an overall assessment of our
common areas, such as the building roof and the asphalt on the
tennis courts," Matt says.
"We have reserve accounts, and we want to make sure our reserve
studies are up to date so we don't have to special-assess owners.
The engineer's inspection looks at the different parts of the
common areas from the big-picture perspective. What's the
remaining useful life? What's the typical maintenance required
and when? Based on that information, we look at our reserves to
make sure they're big enough to cover those expenses."
The second way Matt's board handles checkups is to rely on
maintenance staff and residents to keep an eye on the property.
"At board meetings, we tell residents that we rely on them to be
our eyes and ears," he explains. "When residents are nagging at
us about a maintenance issue, I try turning that into asking all
residents to pick up the phone or send us an e-mail to let us
know when they see a maintenance issue. That way, residents
never reach a high level of anger with the board that things
aren't being maintained."
To get more tips about planning your maintenance review,
including examples of free assessment programs you can benefit
from, see our new article -- it includes a practical HOA
facilities maintenance checklist:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/317.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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HOA Facilities: How to Think About Maintaining Your Assets--And
A Practical HOA Maintenance Checklist
Not sure what maintenance your condo or homeowners association
property should have and when? We're here to help. Here's some
insight on how to view property maintenance, along with a list
of the inspections and work your building's assets should have.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/317.cfm >
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HOA Leadership: Should I Run for the Board?
You've thought about running for the board of your condo or
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sitting board member who has been approached by owners
interested in running for the board, and you want to help them
decide if it's a good fit. Here are questions anyone
contemplating a role on an HOA board should consider.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/316.cfm >
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HOA Board Headaches: 4 Techniques to Quiet Complaining Slackers
As a leader of your condo or homeowners association, if you
haven't had to deal with a complaining slacker in your community,
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never lift a finger to help run things but who complain
incessantly about how things are run.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/315.cfm >
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the board to do its job.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/314.cfm >
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Social Networking for Condo and Homeowners Associations
A growing number of owners in condo and homeowners associations
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reveal their efforts and the results.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/public/313.cfm >
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Being Overly Strict With HOA Meeting Rules Can Be a Mistake
One common mistake for condo and HOA board leaders is to be too
controlling at meetings. Just as you can be too lax with your
agenda, you can also be too strict with perceived "rules."
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/public/312.cfm >
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Green Condo and Homeowners Associations: Ideas on Green
Initiatives from Across the Country
Going green is hot today not just because it can help the planet,
but also because it often saves money. If you've been considering
green initiatives at your condo or homeowners association but don'
t know where to begin, here's a rundown of what some of your
compatriots are doing throughout the nation
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/311.cfm >
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HOA Meeting Mistakes: The Most Common Ways HOA Meetings Go Wrong;
How You Can Avoid Them
You'd think it would be a snap to run a successful meeting.
Actually, it's not. On the contrary, it's easy to make meetings
dreadful events to endure. Just commit any of several common
mistakes. Here are the most common mistakes HOA and condo boards
make when it comes to meetings, along with suggestions for
avoiding them.
Click here to read full article:
< http://www.hoaleader.com/members/310.cfm >
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