Property Management Articles
Miami Property Management LLC is proud to present Articles Related to Property Management. These articles are brought to you by many sources these are not written by Miami Property Management LLC.
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8 Ways to Spruce up your Community Association on a Shoestring
Article brought to you by: APMnewsexpress.com
Today, community associations are watching their expenses due to reduced revenues. In an effort to save money, associations may be skipping simple ways to improve and spruce up their community. Here are some simple suggestions to clean-up your association very cheaply:
1. Pressure clean all sidewalks, street gutters and any other areas in your community such as decks, walls, entry features and signs.
2. Replace any old worn out, discolored and bent signs, traffic devices and street ID signs.
3. Paint all street stripes, all stop areas and any other street directional stripes as well.
4. Pressure clean all car stops. If they are painted & numbered, this should be done again too. If some are broken, they should be replaced also.
5. Mulch all common areas. If this is too much, at least mulch and clean up your front entrance. Remove rust from any walls, signs, posts or any other structures in your community.
6. Clean all community signs and posts. Paint posts if necessary. Also, replace or straighten any posts within the community. All street lamps and posts should be cleaned or painted.
7. Plant around any pumps, transformers and any other mechanical equipment. Straighten, paint or replace any fences or gates.
8. Finally, plant the front entrance and any common areas with colorful annuals.
These are easy and cheap ways to help clean up your community association without breaking your association’s budget. Some of these items may even be accomplished by community volunteers to further save money. Just check with your insurance agent that resident volunteers are covered under your current insurance policies, in case someone gets hurt. -
Growing Problem with Slip, Trip and Fall Accidents
Article Brought to you by: apmnewsexpress.com
With the aging of our population we are seeing more and more instances of “trip and falls” within our communities. Some of these incidents are just plain accidents and some are a result of a “dangerous condition” within the community. In many cases, the owner of the property (common property = association) will be liable for the accident and any injuries.There are many areas in associations that contain a potential for hazards and the resultant injuries. There are many areas within a community’s common elements that should be investigated, identified and regularly policed for potential hazards. Here are some suggestions for your association to look for: Holes in the ground from pipe blow outs and unfinished repairs; loose valve covers; raised sprinkler heads; broken grates; loose or broken street gutters; raised sidewalks, tree roots, potholes in roads; slippery and broken steps. Also keep in mind, any loose items in hallways, stairwells and storage areas, torn or upturned carpet, any slippery surfaces, especially in hallways, pool areas and clubhouses, loose railings, poor lighting, improperly graded surfaces. We are sure there are more than what we mentioned here.
If the association created any of the above conditions or knew about them and did not do anything to correct them, they would be considered negligent and eventually liable. If the association did not create any of these conditions but there was sufficient time for them to discover the hazard and to correct it, but did not do so, the association would probably be liable as well.
Another area that can cause liability would be if an association or their contractor did not pull a permit and build or repair something not according to applicable codes. Any code violations that were ignored and resulted in an injury would cause the association to be liable as well.
Most of this is common sense and being observant of ever changing conditions within a community. It really is an area of your operations that gets ignored and should be of a concern to all employees, Board members, contractors and residents. Try to educate your community to help identify potential hazards and then have an action plan to have these removed/repaired immediately. In this manner, you will help to minimize the risks to your community, its residents and guests, especially as our population gets older and accidents become more prevalent.
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The Top 10 Common Code Violations For Towns and HOA's
Article Brought to you by: apmnewsexpress.com
The other day when I received my water bill, the town where I live included in the mailing their most frequent code violations that occur. After I was done reading the list it just clarified in my mind, and reminded me that homeowner associations are just small governments that are trying to keep their communities safe, while trying to maintain/increase the value of the resident’s homes.
Whether it is a municipality’s deed restrictions or codes or an HOA’s Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions, they are there and in place for the benefit of the majority and should be respected as such. After all of these years I am still amazed that people buy in a community and have no idea what they have agreed to!
Here is my town’s Top 10 Code Violations List. Except for a few items, the violations are pretty much what an association experiences as well;
1. Setting out garbage cans too early and not bringing them in and storing the cans or recycle bins in a timely manner. We all know the neighbor who comes home from work and walks past the empty garbage cans and there they sit for the next 2 days! Didn’t they notice them?
2. Boat and recreational vehicle parking in the front of the home or in the driveway. What do they not understand about this rule? Yet, and so it goes on.
3. Proper and accepted landscape maintenance. My standard is “you just know it, when you see it.” You know it when something is messy. I don’t need a detailed definition for this one.
4. Improper vehicles being parked or stored at a home, such as, abandoned and unregistered vehicles. Also, a commercial vehicle being parked in residential area is not allowed as well. See #2 above.
5. Designated nuisances that would threaten public health, safety and welfare.
6. Housing violations, such as too many people living in a residence. Many documents address this issue as well. The municipality and the association documents may be in conflict and it is my contention that the stricter code/rule would prevail. In addition, this situation also creates parking problems as well in a neighborhood or an HOA.
7. Illegal accumulation of abandoned property and debris. We all have seen the neighbor that never puts anything away or stores it on the side of the house for a year and it just kind of grows and accumulates in size over time!
8. Building permits not being pulled for improvements. This would be the same as an association requiring ARC approvals from an owner prior to improvement being installed.
9. Tax Registration for businesses.
10. Prohibited signs. This happens in every neighborhood, whether it is in the window, not in the window, too large, too many…the list goes on.
As you can tell from this list, whether you call them code violations or document violations, municipalities and homeowner associations are up against the same problems. The next time that neighbor who complains about the HOA and that they wish they had bought in a neighborhood without an HOA, show them this article and maybe it will sink in that it is not he HOA that is the problem! -
10 Ways your Association Can Lower Expenses and Save Right Now!
Article Brought to you by: apmnewsexpress.com
Due to the poor economy, the foreclosure crisis and a growing amount of owner delinquencies, community associations are considering ways to lower their expenses in ways that would not be considered before. Today, Boards are open to lowering their overhead in creative ways that will lessen the impact of their association receiving lower assessment income. Consider these suggestions before you ratify your 2010 budget;
1. Begin to “Piggy Back” your mailings. For example, combine mailings for 2 meetings in one package. Or Notices with newsletters and other announcements. Assessment coupons and meeting notices. The point is to combine and save on paper, postage and labor.
2. Begin to utilize as much as you can by communicating through email to your owners in order to cut down on paper, copies, postage and labor. There are cheap email programs that you can use to coordinate, manage and send mass email messages to your owners.
3. Have your management company cut down on the amount of site visits during the month. This should result in a lowering of the management fees.
4. If you have a manager that is on-site for a certain amount of hours, consider cutting back on the time/hours and there will be a savings.
5. We now see many companies and several associations going to 4 day work weeks or 6 hour days. No one wants their income reduced, but this is a better alternative to being let go and not having a job at all.
6. Same as #5 for maintenance, janitorial and security personnel.
7. Have your landscaper provide prices for less mowing, bed cleaning and reduced amounts of other services. December, January and February are months that can have reduced landscape services that do not impact the overall appearance of the community.
8. Consider reducing the amount of site visits and pool cleanings from your pool maintenance company. Have your pool company as the Licensee (responsible for the Chemicals & Repairs) and your maintenance people trained to do the cleaning. Your pool maintenance company will reduce their service costs this way.
9. Meet with your insurance agent and see if your insurance deductibles can be raised and what the impact will be on your insurance premiums. Depending on what you decide, there could be a large savings. Also, consider having an insurance appraisal done, as costs and values are down and your insurance premiums should go down too.
10. Maybe this is the year to waive, partially fund or fund only the important reserve components. If possible, have a Review instead of an Audit. Or Waive this entirely.
I understand that we have all become accustomed to a certain level of service in the association where we live. But at this point in time, this is very hard to maintain or achieve when there is a high level of owners who are late or not paying their assessments at all. We all have to learn to live with a little less nowadays and these are some suggestions to help your association to get through this difficult time.