Community Associations Network Industry News

Celebrating 10 years of innovative service to clients nationwide, community website firm AtHomeNet is poised to introduce new technology to commemorate the milestone.

Suwanee, GA (Vocus/PRWEB ) March 24, 2008 -- Georgia based Community website firm AtHomeNet, the nation's leading Community Association Website provider, is celebrating their 10 year anniversary this March. In commemorating 10 years of providing innovative service to over one million households nationwide, the company is embarking on a series of promotional and development activities focused on enhancing their services.

In a letter to clients, Jeff Sanders, Director of Technology stated, "We have had many exciting times over the past 10 years. The best part has been having the chance to talk with and share ideas with many of the thousands and thousands of hard-working volunteer community web site administrators and association management professionals that we work with on a daily basis. Without you we could not have made it this far and we would like to thank you all for giving us the opportunity to work with you and hopefully make some small part of your life a little bit better."

AtHomeNet was founded in 1998 by husband and wife team, Jeff & Susan Sanders. It began as a small service operating out of their family home, and in late 2007 crossed the milestone of serving over a million homes spread across 48 states. The company is technology based, dealing primarily with building and hosting websites for Homeowner and Condominium communities as well as Association Management companies. AtHomeNet boasts a diverse staff that combines talented support and technology developers with sales and marketing specialists who carry the company mantra of treating every client and every community as they would their own.

For the remainder of the year AtHomeNet is launching a series of events and new innovations to mark the 10 year milestone. First and foremost, AtHomeNet is near completion in the development of "Version 2" of their industry leading community website service. Version 2 features web 2.0 technology, highlighting major enhancements in their Association Management website functionality, particularly helpful to managers responsible for multiple websites.

"We are very excited, especially considering how far we've come. The first version of our service was a little lean, consisting of perhaps 5 total features. With 10 years of hard work and the help of our fantastic family of staff and clients across the country, we grew that functionality to more than 50 interactive features, with virtually endless adaptability in the new version. Even more importantly, we have also grown the relationship between our company and our clients into a nationwide community," added Director of Marketing, Susan Sanders.

A host of other events culminating in the annual AtHomeNet Training Camp, to be held in September in Duluth, Georgia at the Gwinnett Convention Center; will round out the remainder of what the company has called "A banner year in community website technology."

For more information on AtHomeNet's ten year anniversary commemorative activities, please contact Susan Sanders, Director of Marketing for AtHomeNet at 1-800-556-7852.

Posted by Joe at 6:46 PM | Permalink

Coconut Grove, FL, March 12, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Condo.com, the World’s Largest Condo Marketplace, will be a sponsor at the upcoming conference on Distressed Residential Real Estate Investing. This prestigious event will take place on March 18-19 at the Trump Sonesta Resort in Miami Beach, FL.

“This is the perfect event for us to sponsor because our site offers a solution to both buyers and sellers of distressed residential real estate. Condo.com has a section dedicated to bulk condo opportunities, which many investors are looking for. Our website provides an easy, effective way to search for deals by multiple criteria including geographic region, specific streets or buildings, and discount percentages to name a few,” says Richard Swerdlow, CEO of Condo.com. “In a period, where news about the real estate market is mostly negative, Condo.com provides buyers and opportunistic investors with the tools to efficiently search the most extensive listing inventory of condos worldwide, while offering liquidity solutions and buyer leads to developers, brokers, and sellers.”

To schedule an appointment with Condo.com, conference attendees should email wendy@athena-marketing.com or contact Wendy Croquet at 954.294.6467.

About Condo.com
Condo.com (www.condo.com) is the world’s largest condominium marketplace with over 500,000 listings from the United States and 70+ countries around the world with inventory valued at over $100 billion. The site cost-effectively delivers exposure to developers, brokers, financial institutions and other sellers through the seamless distribution of its listings to a global network of websites visited by over 15 million viewers per month. Condo.com is a privately held company headquartered in Miami, Florida. For more information, visit www.condo.com or call 877.266.3601.

Posted by Joe at 9:43 AM | Permalink

ORLANDO, FLA. – Kipcon President Mitchell H. Frumkin recently presented at two panel discussions at the International Builder’s Show in Florida, offering insight into some of today’s most common building problems. Kipcon is a full-service engineering firm specializing in a variety of building and site engineering services with offices in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Illinois and Texas.

Frumkin spoke about the challenges and oppotunities involved with the design, budgeting and construction of mixed use developments and various ways builders and developers can reduce the risks associated with projects that will eventually be run by a community association.

“Kipcon is unique in the work that we do, offering a third-party perspective to traditional building problems,” Frumkin said. “The reality is that developers often run into problems that could have easily been addressed earlier in the design, budgeting or construction process. Kipcon has worked on the full gamut of construction projects, so we have the advantage of knowing what mistakes to watch out for before they occur.”

Frumkin’s talk on risk management focused on the various techniques available to builders for minimizing the risk of litigation typically associated with community associations. These techniques include developing effective risk management plans and documents in the development phase, and avoiding common pitfalls during construction and turnover.

“Kipcon has worked with a large number of community associations, and we’ve seen where builders and developers can get into trouble,” Frumkin said. “Lack of coordination between architectural and engineering drawings, improper construction, poor workmanship and inadequate budgeting can all lead to major headaches throughout the life of a project. But a thorough risk management plan can reduce or eliminate these problems.”

Kipcon offers a variety of services for dealing with developer and community association disputes, including third-party reviews of all design documents and construction inspections, and non-confrontational mediation between the two parties before litigation is considered.

“I think it’s important to remember that there is no such thing as perfect construction, though it certainly doesn’t hurt to strive for perfection,” Frumkin said. “Where problems do exist, they should be fixed. But every developer has the chance to eliminate mistakes and really guide every project from start to finish. I wish more builders and developers would take advantage of the tools available to them.”

About Kipcon Inc.
Founded in 1986, Kipcon Inc. is a full-service engineering firm specializing in a variety of building and site engineering services for existing and new facilities, offering design, inspection and budgetary tools such as reserve studies. Headquartered in North Brunswick, N. J. with offices in Washington D.C., Houston and Chicago, Kipcon has become a nationally recognized leader in the community association and building industry.

For more than two decades, Kipcon has helped clients maximize property values by delivering innovative services and professional consulting in an environmentally and socially conscious manner. For more information about Kipcon, please visit www.kipcon.com or call 800-828-4118.

Posted by Joe at 11:48 AM | Permalink

WASHINGTON, March 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New guidance released this week by the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Justice (DOJ) reinforced the right of persons with disabilities to make "reasonable modifications" to their dwellings if a structural change to their dwelling or to a common area of the building or complex in which they live is needed so that they can fully enjoy the premises.

The guidance is designed to help housing providers and homeowners' associations better understand their obligations and help persons with disabilities better understand their rights regarding the "reasonable modifications" provision of the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA).

"The right to reasonable modifications is essential to ensuring that persons with disabilities can fully enjoy the homes in which they live," said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "This guidance will help housing providers understand their obligations under this important component of the Fair Housing Act."

"Persons with disabilities have a right to have the place they call home altered in a way that will enable them to fully enjoy it," said Kim Kendrick, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. "This guidance is a major step toward enforcing that right today, and for generations to come."

The FHA prohibits discrimination in housing based on disability, race, color, religion, national origin, sex and familial status. HUD and DOJ share responsibility for enforcing the FHA. HUD is the agency with the primary responsibility to investigate individual complaints of discrimination. The Secretary of HUD, on his own initiative, may file complaints alleging discrimination. In addition, the Attorney General may commence a civil action in federal court when he has reasonable cause to believe that person(s) are engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination or that a group of persons has been denied rights protected by the FHA.

One type of discrimination prohibited by the FHA is the refusal by housing providers or homeowner associations to permit a reasonable modification - i.e., a structural alteration - of existing premises, occupied or to be occupied by a person with a disability, when the modification may be necessary to afford the person full enjoyment of the premises. Although the housing provider or homeowner association must permit the modification, the tenant (or prospective tenant) is responsible for paying the cost of the modification. Examples of reasonable modifications include widening doorways to make rooms more accessible to persons who use wheelchairs or installing a ramp to provide access to a public or common use area, such as a clubhouse.

The new guidelines, issued in the form of questions and answers, cover such topics as:

-- What is a reasonable modification?

-- Who must comply with the reasonable modification requirement?

-- Who is responsible for expenses associated with the upkeep or maintenance of a reasonable modification?

-- When and how should an individual request permission to make a modification?

-- What types of documents and assurances may a housing provider require regarding the modification before granting the modification?

-- What procedures are available to a person wishing to challenge a denial of a requested modification?

The guidelines are available online at both http://www.usdoj.gov/fairhousing and http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/disabilities.

Since January 2001, HUD and its Fair Housing Assistance Program partners have investigated and either conciliated or charged nearly 10,000 cases that alleged discrimination based on disability. Since Jan.1, 2001, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has filed 244 cases to enforce the Fair Housing Act, 115 of which have alleged discrimination based on disability. More information about HUD and the civil rights laws it enforces is available at http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/aboutfheo/aboutfheo.cfm. More information about the DOJ Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt.

Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of housing discrimination should contact HUD at 1-800-669-9777. In addition, individuals may contact DOJ at 1-800-896-7743, or they may email DOJ at fairhousing@usdoj.gov.

Posted by Joe at 2:55 PM | Permalink

RALEIGH, N.C., March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- North State Bank (OTC Bulletin Board: NSBC) president and CEO Larry Barbour announced that the bank's balances for community associations have exceeded $100 million.

"This marks a huge milestone for our bank," said Barbour. "Since our inception in 2000, we have been deeply committed to serving the banking needs of community associations through property management companies in our market area," Barbour later comments, "and we have not wavered from that promise. We have built a strong portfolio under the leadership of Sandra Temple and Greg Asbelle. Mrs. Temple is also president of Community Association Institute (CAI), the statewide trade association for property management companies, and is deeply rooted in the industry. I am pleased to report these numbers as we continue to grow and expand our relationships within this dynamic market."

North State Bank currently serves 32 associations in North Carolina - stretching from Morganton to Manteo. The bank also serves one association in Maryland. These associations accounted for $103 million in total deposits as of February 28, 2008.

Founded in 2000, North State Bank is a full-service community bank, serving Wake and New Hanover counties through seven full-service offices. Plans are underway for a loan production office to open in Morehead City, North Carolina, in spring 2008.

North State Bancorp is listed on the OTC electronic bulletin board under the symbol "NSBC."

www.northstatebank.com

This news release contains forward-looking statements. The actual results might differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements for various reasons, including our ability to manage growth, our limited operating history, substantial changes in financial markets, regulatory changes, changes in interest rates, loss of deposits and loan demand to other savings and financial institutions, and changes in real estate values and the real estate market. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in the Company's SEC filings, including its periodic reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, copies of which are available upon request from the Company.

Posted by Joe at 11:09 AM | Permalink

Boston, MA (PRWEB) March 3, 2008 -- Boston Condo Group is announcing the launch of their new website, BostonCondoGroup.com. The site has been completely recreated to include innovative search tools, the largest database of residential developments in the city, as well as a sleek front-end design that greatly improves the user's experience.

The Boston real estate market has recently experienced a residential building boom where many new condo developments have been built throughout the city. This new inventory adds to an already large catalog of luxurious buildings and brownstones in Boston's neighborhoods, such as Beacon Hill, North End, Back Bay, Charlestown, South End and the Waterfront. Potential buyers in this market have been in need of a resource that allows them to breakdown the inventory based on their needs and search criteria. Most real estate websites simply feature units that they have listings for, rather than all that is available on the market, and this presents a huge disadvantage to buyers. Boston Condo Group's news website combines a complete database of available inventory along with innovative search tools that have been developed to make the searcher's experience as efficient as possible.

Matthew Powers, Chief Information Officer, whom developed the website's search technology, said, "Our search capabilities leverage off of today's latest technology, which in turn help facilitate an informative experience for our clients. The website containing a wealth of information is not enough for us, we take pride in being able to present it too our users in a unique and helpful manner."

Boston Condo Group hired the services of one of the city's top web development firms to create a sleek and modern design for the new site, one that would be appealing to visitors while adding a sense of simplicity to the site's navigation. The combination of achieving each of these objectives has resulted in a website that is completely user-friendly.

Matthew Winterle, Broker and co-founder of Boston Condo Group, said "We are really excited to receive feedback from our visitors after they see the new site for the first time. We've always had a wealth of information available to them, but our old site didn't present it as efficiently as we would have liked, and many visitors would leave before finding the information they needed. The new site has done very well in testing, and I'm confident that the overall experience for all of our users will be greatly improved."

About Boston Condo Group, LLC:
Boston Condo Group is a real estate brokerage that focuses on representing buyers within Boston's residential condominium market. BostonCondoGroup.com was developed in an effort to create the definitive resource for buyers searching the condo market. Our innovative tools enable visitors to search the MLS, by neighborhood, or by viewing our hundreds of dedicated development pages. Boston Condo Group is located on the Waterfront in Boston's North End. Contact us today.

Posted by Joe at 10:36 AM | Permalink