HOA Management Blog

Whether your homeowners’ association (HOA) is large with a correspondingly large budget, or small with limited financial resources, there are ways to get outside help. Regardless, your board of directors will face the same challenges and responsibilities every board faces. Getting an expert to consult can help the board navigate those challenges. Often, large HOAs can afford a full-time HOA Manager, in smaller HOAs you may not have the budget for that, but you can still afford consulting services to set you on the right path.

HOA management firms like The Hignell Companies can assist a board of directors in preparing for those challenges and responsibilities. These firms provide professional knowledge and expertise in a wide variety of areas, such as:

Almost every homeowners association in the country feels the highs and lows of the housing market. Drawing on our years of experience consulting and managing HOAs, here are a few common misconceptions about what contributes to the rise and fall of HOA property values.

Homeowner associations are sometimes faced with special circumstances that arise even when they’ve done an excellent job of planning for replacement costs. Large-scale repairs, emergency situations,  or capital improvement projects may occur that put their reserves dangerously low. Special HOA assessments, in addition to monthly HOA fees, could then be the best option.

You wouldn’t dream of inviting an unverified contractor into your home to make repairs...let alone the homes under your care as a member of the HOA board.  The results of a third-party contractor’s work will ultimately affect tens to hundreds of fellow homeowners.  

Make the process easier and more effective for your HOA board by following a well-planned checklist.  That way everyone’s on the same page from start to finish.  Here are 10 tips your HOA board can use to hire a third-party contractor.

More precisely, does an HOA’s Board of Directors have authority to make important decisions for the community without seeking input from their homeowners – either informal consultation, a survey or a formal vote?

The short answer to the question is “Yes.”  The HOA board is established to oversee the governance of the association on behalf of the homeowners/members.  While HOAs are quasi-governmental in nature, they are not pure democracies in which members vote on every issue. The long answer to the question is more complicated.

When your community is recruiting new HOA board members, there are certain qualities to look for in prospective members and good strategies for getting these individuals involved.

Good Attention to Detail and the Big Picture

Good candidates for your HOA board are people who can delve into the details while keeping an eye on the big issues. Board members must be willing to spend time reviewing and understanding the details of their governing documents. They also should be people who commit to frequently evaluating and refining their HOA's big picture plans for the community.

The risks of not having enough HOA reserve funds for your community are as serious as the risks of not having enough emergency savings for your family.  Imagine needing to pay for college tuition increases or costly medical expenses without having enough money set aside to do so. Now imagine fellow homeowners having their family budgets crushed by emergency assessments because there aren't enough HOA reserve funds for repairs.  They’ll likely call you as a board member to complain!

Why not avoid these situations altogether? Having HOA reserve funds readily available “just in case” offers you and your fellow homeowners financial peace of mind.

Successful communities, governed by successful Home Owners’ Associations (HOAs), typically have strong, effective boards of directors.  An effective HOA board of directors conducts their HOA’s business in a professional manner, including having regularly scheduled meetings.  Problems can arise, however, when one or more directors fail to attend those meetings consistently.

Sometimes, a director is absent frequently because of medical or family emergency issues.  In the short term, these can be tolerated or special arrangements (like attending by speaker phone) can be made.  In the longer term, when the director’s absence impacts major decisions such as budget-setting or major projects or legal matters, it may be necessary to ask the director to step down.

The Board of Directors (BOD) for your homeowners association has an immense financial obligation to the community. One of the BOD’s most important jobs is to keep legible and accurate financial reports and records. These reports and records provide an overview of your community’s revenue and expenses against its financial projections or budget.

It’s a new year, and that means a new round of board meetings.  Since the Davis-Stirling act requires that HOA board meetings take place, you might as well take part in achieving the best and most successful meeting possible.

HOA board meetings are a golden opportunity for community members to know the issues that impact one of their most treasured investments…their home.  The following six tips for meetings can help.