"We see a wide range of reactions" when association board members and owners are presented with the cost of repairs, Fernandes says. "Most associations don't have the money on hand," says Stephen DiNocco, CMCA, AMS, principal …
March in New England is a month of surprises. Winter throws us last-ditch nor'easters that are followed by spring's sudden thaw. There might be two feet of snow one day, and sunny skies with temperatures in the sixties the next. The only th…
The era in which too many condominium boards shrugged off warnings about inadequate reserve funds or postponed needed maintenance has come to an unsettling end. In a series of recent high-profile episodes, condominiums have been hit…
New England residents have always thought of fresh water as an unlimited resource, but that attitude may be on the way out. With climate change, increased demand from residential development, and stricter regulation of public water suppl…
Given the growing interest in green building practices and energy conservation, homeowners everywhere, including in condominiums, are faced with many questions and challenges. As with most new technologies, we need to know which technolo…
Many of today's condominium owners depend as much on Internet access as they do on electricity, heat, and water. After all, who needs the fridge to run if you can't get online to order the groceries or take-out? Who needs a morning showe…
If they haven't left already, the remaining "snowbirds" will shortly depart for their warm and snug Sunbelt condominiums. Left behind will be scowling residents scraping ice off their windshields and shorthanded association boards — many…
Where there's smoke, there's fire, right? Not always. Smoke and soot damage are the obvious aftereffects of a fire, but they are also the by-products of many other domestic mishaps, including residue build-up in a furnace or chimney…
Insidious is not a word that usually comes to mind when think of community association living. But then again, we don't generally think of any insidious phenomena around us as being insidious. Need an example? While majority of Americans…
One of the most important elements in the operation of a community association is the meeting process. The success of an association is often reflected in the quality and tenor of its meetings. Surprisingly, the meeting process is often …