HOA Management Blog
What’s the difference between a homeowners association board meeting and an annual meeting, or an executive session and an emergency meeting? Confused? Here’s some clarification.
The most important thing to remember in any relationship is that it takes time and effort from both parties. The relationship between an HOA board and the manager of a homeowners association is no different.
Living in a homeowners association is more than just residing in a structure of wood and nails. It’s about building relationships and being part of a community. There are key relationships that HOA board members can nurture and encourage residents in the Association to develop as well.
When it comes to the annual budget for your homeowners association, it can feel cumbersome to understand and plan. It can also seem like an overwhelming task because you just don’t have a lot of accounting knowledge.
The budget planning process is a lot of work and a large responsibility for the HOA board to prepare. It’s a complex activity that has to start early so the budget can be finalized and approved prior to the beginning of the new Association fiscal year.
Sometimes an HOA manager gets the short end of the stick, but it’s part of the job and a small price to pay to help an HOA board effectively manage its homeowners association. The manager is usually seen in one of three ways, but there are steps board members can take to help the community see the manager in a whole new light.
Do you want to be the best Board you can be? Then you’ve found a goldmine because we asked a seasoned and experienced HOA manager what he hoped all HOA board members would learn early on to help them run an efficient, lawful, and successful homeowners association.
It’s always convenient to have some tools in your tool belt – you never know when you might need one. Instead of a hammer, nails, screwdriver and measuring tape, there are tools that are handy for an HOA board to have access to because you never know when you might need to refer to them.
The most important thing a Board needs to know is that it cannot give away the authority to make decisions. The manager is an integral part of a homeowners association, but there are some things the HOA board is ultimately responsible for and can’t delegate to a manager.
It's never a good time to lose your job so how do you survive job loss while owning in a homeowners association? The National Foundation for Credit Counseling offers the following tips for surviving a layoff:
Breaking up is hard to do. After evaluating an HOA manager, a Board may decide it would like to change managers, change to a different management company, or it just doesn’t need the services of a manager at all any longer. Before parting ways the Board should ask: are we willing to sacrifice service and take on more responsibility?
People and organizations are often afraid of evaluation because they’re afraid of failure. If we don’t fail we can’t learn, and if we aren’t given the opportunity to learn, we can’t grow. It’s in the best interest of the homeowners association for the HOA board to take the time to intentionally evaluate the HOA manager, ask questions, give honest feedback, and decide how the relationship can improve or if it’s time to part ways. Below are questions to help guide the evaluation process.
Being an HOA board member is no easy task. There are meetings to attend, decisions to make, and duties to fulfill. With the extra demand on your time and resources that comes with being a member of the board, you and your fellow board members can probably take all the help you can get.
Whether your homeowners association is big or small, the members of your board can most definitely use the quick tips below. Print them out and stick them in your wallet, include them in the board packet at your next meeting, or email them out in your next board correspondence. You won’t regret it.
