As the 2012 federal legislative fiasco over the debt ceiling—as well as any number of other spending bills proposed since then—demonstrated, balancing a budget can be like pulling teeth. Balancing a condo or HOA community's budget can some…
Preparing the annual budget is by no means an easy task. Those charged with preparing condominium or HOA budgets will soon begin reviewing costs, gathering data and projecting expenses for the coming year. At some point, board of trustee m…
A lot of us feel like everyday life keeps getting more and more complicated, and finances are no exception. In New England, there are strict limitations to what boards can do with their association’s funds, but that doesn’t mean there aren…
In the increasingly-paperless world of modern banking, there are fewer hands writing checks and processing transactions. With no need to physically deal with cash and checks, this should mean fewer mistakes — and better security. Does this…
If you want to find out about the history of any town, region or country, head to a museum or look it up on the Internet. If you want to find out about your family’s history, look at your photo album, whether it’s in a book or online. A…
Walls are the only separation between you and your neighbors when you live in a densely-populated area, and privacy sometimes goes out the window. People hear their next-door neighbors talking, footsteps from above or even music blaring…
While the vast majority of one-time projects and long-term service contracts involving vendors and service providers and their condominium or HOA clients go smoothly and either conclude or continue without incident, a small percentage …
When Superstorm Sandy hit the New England states last fall, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was quick to offer federal disaster assistance to the states affected to supplement the lo…
The great majority of co-op and condo residents pay their monthly maintenance fees on time and in full with no problem. People do fall behind on payments sometimes, of course — a temporary cash flow issue or other short-term financial h…
Budgets and financial reports provide a crystal-clear picture of how the association is doing. From an investment perspective, they show how unit owners, managers, tenants, building owners, board of trustees, etc., whether the property…