HOA Management Blog
This is the second post in a three-post series. Read the first post Real Questions from Members with Answers from an HOA Manager.
We get quite a few questions from many different Association members and members of the HOA board of directors. Each Association is unique, but more often than not your Association has at some point in the past – or will in the future – experience questions similar to the real-life issues addressed below. Continue reading to see if any of these real-life questions and expert answers from an HOA manager apply to your Association.
Associations have rules to preserve the appearance of the community, protect the value of the common property and individual homes, and make the neighborhood more harmonious for all. What you may not know is that in some rare instances, the homeowners association will waive some rules and regulations.
The homeowners association is a home and community. When you chose to be a member, you agreed to some unique obligations to the community and to other residents within it.
As an HOA board member you're faced with issues in your homeowner’s association day in and day out. Sometimes you have questions that you don’t know the answer to or scenarios where you aren’t sure how to respond. Odds are, other board members are in the same boat. We’ve compiled some questions we’ve recently received and provided expert answers from an HOA manager. Read them below and maybe you’ll be able to relate.
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.
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 part of a homeowners association, you’ll find the following commonalities to be true just about anywhere you live in the country. It’s important to understand these ahead of time before becoming a resident in an association. While some people might find them controlling, they actually give members the opportunity to have a voice in their living community.
Building community among residents in your homeowners association can be a challenge. People have busy schedules, won’t commit to attending events, or simply don’t want to be bothered. However, if you host a gathering and nail it, then they’ll be more apt to attend next time, start getting to know their neighbors, and maybe even start to show interest in getting involved on a committee.
Are you looking for ways to save money in your homeowners association? After necessary repairs and upkeep, it seems like there’s never enough dollars to get all the jobs done. Your fellow HOA board members all agree that a last resort is raising monthly dues, so instead, consider some of these unique ideas that both help enhance the Association and get members involved too.
