Newsletter placard
February 2012  President's Newsletter

Greetings!

I have been traveling for the past few weeks, getting a new perspective on commonly owned property and gauging how to apply those impressions to Michigan communities. Each morning, we check the weather report to determine the need for an umbrella or extra sweater, plus to see how the Midwest is faring. 
Attention
Our office has a new phone system. Please be aware that all of our extensions have changed. If you are trying to reach your property manager or managing assistant you must dial a 1 before the extension. For example, if you were calling extension 19 in the past you will now dial 119
 

Seminar
The Knowledge Base

We have set the schedule for the 2012 Seminar Series. We have a full slate of informative sessions lined up for our directors. Legal issues, community planning, and risk management will all be covered this season.

We are also excited to announce that we will be offering 3 seminars in the Brighton area as well. The Brighton Seminar Series will be held at the Brighton District Library.  

Click here for a link to the schedule.

You can register at any time and we encourage you to do so soon. Seats fill up quickly for our seminars.

Kay's Blog
Reviewing your budget

With the unique lack of snowfall, it might be appropriate to suggest that each community evaluate their 2012 budget by early April to see if you want/need to amend the line item assigned to winter snow and ice removal.  

 

The process is quite simple. At a regular scheduled Board meeting, a motion is made to amend the 2012 budget; funds are reassigned, keeping an eye on the required 10% minimum allocation to the reserve account for our friends at FHA. The last two steps are to make sure to mail or post the amended budget to your membership and to have management adjust the financial reports for SenEarthCo. and Home Wise Docs. At year end, an amended budget is a better tool to discuss at the annual meetings.

 

Our latest blog post provides a more in-depth look into the budget process form strat to finish. Much of this preparation begins in late summer and into the fall. Why are we talking about it now? Because we are seeing the first months of the budget in action. This is a great time to see exactly how it is preforming.

Visit our blog 


 Dealing With Problem Co-Owners

Whether you are a board member in a co-op, condo or HOA, there is a good chance you will someday be called on to deal with an owner behaving badly. 

Use this  Link to read more
.

This informative article highlights many of the problems our directors and managers deal with on a daily basis. It's good to see that you are not on your own in these situations. We will be highlighting many of these same topics in our April seminar-

Community Spotlight
It's not too late to contact us!

We have had 2 of our communities contact us regarding the Community Spotlight section. We are happy to be featuring Clover Ridge South from Grand Blanc and Glen Devon from Fenton in upcoming issues.

We will be working closely with the board members of each association to compile the details of their past challenges ( a fire in one community and a tree falling on a building in the other). In the coming months we will share how they overcame these obstacles in hopes that you may learn from their experience.

We are still looking form more associations to feature. Please  e-mail me soon to get started. Each month we will highlight one of our partner communities and focus in on their accomplishments.  
Thank you so much for your business and we we look forward to working with all of you this Spring and Summer to enhance your communities. Make sure you plan to attend an upcoming seminar and if you don't see a topic of interest please click here to make a suggestion.
Sincerely,
 
Kay Bushey
Cummings Property Management
810-715-5310
www.cummingsmanagement.com

We are offering a bonus to all of our current partners. If you live in a Cummings managed community and would like to have your monthly association dues paid by us then we have a great opportunity for you.

 
Your Community Web Portal
 
We provide an online service to help make our relationships with the communities we manage more transparent and efficient. Have you ever wondered what it is exactly that you are paying for in that monthly management fee? Click
Here for a quick presentation on the new online portal for your community.