HOA Management Blog

You live in a homeowner’s association. You have a great idea. You’re not on the board, and elections are months away. What next? Present it. Presenting a good idea, whether to the HOA board or to a boss or to anyone else in the position to approve it, isn’t about them or you -- it’s about the idea.

In any organization meetings often seem like a necessary evil. Many people feel like they go to meetings to discuss what they met about at the last meeting or that they simply turn to mayhem and nothing gets resolved. But it doesn’t have to be this way, especially in your homeowner’s association.

Every homeowner’s association community always seems to have a lot going on, and that can sometimes include, among other things, a range of upcoming social events in addition to several important ongoing projects. Updating the website, writing an article for the association newsletter, and committee involvement on the budget, landscaping, road maintenance, election oversight or other committees, are all ways to volunteer. What are some of the things going on in your community?

The HOA board is thrilled to announce it is lowering assessments by implementing an exciting new program that will actually cut the association’s expenses in half! Here’s how it works.

Does your homeowner’s association allow pets? Many associations do and it goes without saying how much owners love their pets, so keeping them safe in the warmer months is most likely a top priority for those owners. See below for some friendly reminders to pass along to owners in your association - ways to help keep pets happy, healthy, and out of harm’s way…even on the warmest of days.

When an HOA board is hiring or evaluating an HOA management company it’s important to look at the big picture. The skillset that your homeowner’s association is looking for or may need will differ from others, but in general an HOA manager should possess leadership skills, communication skills, and administration skills and also be backed by a company who offers support in these areas.

Are you reviewing and updating your homeowner’s association’s strategic plan?

A strategic plan outlines priorities and projects for the immediate future and for years to come. It can accommodate revisions as changing circumstances dictate—without conflicting with the vision behind its creation. It also helps determine what the year’s budget will include and suggests what future ones might feature.

Your association board is planning for the big project on the horizon, and is currently reviewing how to finance it. For several reasons, you don’t believe you’ll have enough funds in the association’s operating budget or reserves to cover the project’s entire bill. What should you do? Split the project up over several years, levy a special assessment, or maybe get a loan?

Planning for future repairs and maintenance costs of common areas in the homeowner’s association is one of the most important jobs of an HOA board – and also one of the most neglected. Sometimes, boards are just short-sighted, focusing on the essentials that need to be done in the association now. While today is important, tomorrow must not be forgotten.

One issue that makes it difficult for boards to plan for the reserves is the pushback they receive from current homeowners because they have a hard time seeing how assessments for future projects will benefit them now. Learn how a reserve study protects owner value for both future and current homeowners in the association in the article excerpt below.  

For many people, meetings are a fact of life. Whether it’s an HOA board or member meeting in your homeowner’s association, a volunteer meeting at your child’s school or a department meeting at work, being adept at participating effectively and managing meetings is a useful skill.

If you’re a member of an HOA board, one of the reasons you chose to hire a property manager to help your community association is because you can’t keep up with all of the information you need to know. New and updated laws, reserve studies, annual meetings, trends, and resources are all things you need to have in your board member resource bucket, but can be very overwhelming. You trust your HOA manager to give you good and accurate information, but how do you know it really is legit?