Friday, August 21, 2009

Climbing Out of the Basement?

New data from the National Association of Realtors shows a "leap" in the sale of existing homes during July, according to this article in today's New York Times. The NAR press release on the topic can be found here.

Meanwhile, Ben Bernanke thinks the U.S. Economy is ready to rebound, but this article, dealing with the "plight" of the very wealthy, suggests that the recovery may lead to less wealth inequity. Do the very wealthy even have basements?

Interesting morning of economic news, to say the least.

Friday, August 07, 2009

Live Blogging -- Conflict Resolution

I'm at the Utah Chapter of the Community Association Institute's monthly meeting, and John Richards is presenting on conflict resolution in communities.

The first question to ask, suggests John, is should the association be involved in the conflict? Good question; not surprisingly, there are differing opinions in the audience. Dale Gifford, PCAM, suggests that the association should, at a minimum, investigate and listen empathetically to the unit owner's concerns.

There's some discussion about whether owners' complaints should be directed initially to the association's board, rather than to the association's manager. John has seen at least one article that suggests that is a form of conflict avoidance by the board; that generated a lively discussion amongst the managers who are present.

I'd respectfully suggest that I don't know many board members who are interested in fielding such complaints; beyond that, I question whether many board members have the training and experience to appropriately respond to these complaints. I would hope that professionally trained managers would know better than the average board member as to how to deescalate a conflict.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

WVC Architectural Committee?

In what appears to be an HOA dispute on steroids, the West Valley City leaders are backing down on a proposed effort to require paved surfaces, rather than gravel. This KSL story sounds an awful lot like a community association dispute.

Isn't it comforting to know that Utah's second largest city has similar problems to your (or your clients') associations?