As the owner of a condominium, you might feel frustrated with the extra work you need to do for the community. You need to ensure that maintenance vendors are on time, paying them for their work, ensuring the parking is plowed, and so much more.
This becomes especially difficult when you have your own work to attend to every day. At the start, you might handle a few things on your own. But as time goes by, new problems arise. And it becomes impossible to solve each and every problem.
You might call for the property management company to solve the community issues. But, you need to understand that they are there to solve the surface problems and will not offer their help with inside problems.This is when you will find the need to have a Homeowner Association (HOA).
What is A HOA Management?
HOA management is the group created in a planned community and condominium. It is the responsibility of the HOAs to manage the day-to-day operation of the community, take care of any problem that arises and enforce rules for the residents to maintain the peace of the community.
An HOA consists of volunteer members from the community. These members sit on the position of the board of members. This board is responsible for all the community operations like –
- Financial transaction.
- Vendor coordination.
- Insurance.
- Maintenance.
– and all the other things that need a third party’s help to complete.
To put it simply, you can say that HOA management refers to the governance and handling of the HOA. It is just like an official job where staff members are tasked with different jobs to maintain the fluidity of the community.
The role of HOA varies depending on the community and encapsulates more tasks than you can imagine. In fact, sometimes, it becomes hard for the HOA management community to keep track of basic operations. This is where they take help from the top hoa management software tools.
These tools help the HOA track and monitor daily activity and also offer a platform to keep things transparent with the residents.
The Roles of HOA Management
The role of HOA, whether we are talking about a single-family community or a small town community, is similar – To carry out the daily operation of the community.
HOA is responsible for their own property. If there is no shared property, someone has to step forward to represent the property.
Here are the roles of HOA Management.
1. Enforcing Community Policies
A community becomes a living heaven only when all the residents follow certain rules and regulations. It is the responsibility of the HOA to create rules and ensure it is being followed.
When the decisions are made on behalf of the community, HOA is responsible for ensuring all the commuting members and residents are adhering to the board’s decisions.
2. Billing & Collections
An HOA management works as a third party for the community and helps with bill collections and other payments from the residents. Given the potential of an unstable economy, the HOA management revamps the collection policies.
They also carry on the task like –
- Dues collection.
- Billing the residents.
- Collection supports.
- Handle delicate situations among the residents.
- Issuance of delinquencies to the residents.
- Coordinating with other legal policies related to the community.
3. Risk Reduction
Another major role of HOA management is mitigating the risk. With time property gets damaged. And when it is damaged, everyone in the community is hodl liable even if they are not. As the community belongs to all the residents, even a small repair will be charged to every resident.
To reduce the confusion in the community and the risk of conflict, HOA helps with insurance coverage. The insurance is used to keep the property up to standards.
This include –
- Addressing outstanding risk.
- Property damage repair.
- Regulating safety hazards.
- Ensuring all community members are well informed about the potential risks.
4. Vendor Management
Managing vendors is a challenging responsibility for property management companies. This is where these property management companies get in contact with HOA to help them out. The HOA manages all the vendors that enter the community. In fact, some HOA also have sales representatives to ensure the community is thriving.
To make this happen, teh HOA must ensure that the community is managed financially.
The role of HOA in vendor management is –
- Assist in negotiation.
- Help coordinate vendors.
- Act as the primary point of contact.
5. Site Management
No homeowner wants their society or community to look like a wild place as if, at any moment, wild animals will come charging at you. When residents are not inside their houses, they spend most of their time sitting out in the community park and spending time with their friends and family.
As a result, HOAs are receiving a higher amount of maintenance requests. After the demand, HOAs are now held responsible for managing the site.
The sire management tasks may include –
- Yard maintenance and managing trash.
- Maintaining the playgrounds and playing equipment.
- Ensuring common recreational areas are attended to.
- Regulating vendors to better manage the site.
6. Administrative Duties
Administrative duties are mostly reserved for property management services. But, it often happens that the property management companies take help from the HOAs to take care of the administrative duties.
The duties might include –
- Coordinate board meetings.
- Answering official phone calls, emails, and voicemails.
- Creating and maintaining monthly reports.
- Assisting in tasks related to invoicing.
- Coordinate agendas and events.
7. Maintaining An Open Line of Communication with The Residents
When we are talking about communication, we are emphasizing the flow of information. There are two essential aspects of communication – sharing information with the community and providing easy access to information to the community members and residents.
HOA management ensures that transparency in the communication is maintained and every member of the community is aware of all the important information.
Volunteering To Be on The Board of HOA Management
The members of the board of directors are mostly the homeowners of the residents. They voluntarily join the board of directors to have a direct say in the matter of community.
Anyone can join the board of directors as long as they are willing to take part in meetings and support the cause of HOA.
However, there are certain requirements before you can join the board of directors. Consider the following –
- You need to read and understand the bylaws and rules.
- You need to make a decision based on logical calculation.
- Invest time in the HOA.
- You need to attend all the HOA meetings and events.
- You need to have good communication skills and relationships with other residents.
- Have the patience to listen quietly to complaints or questions.
- You need to know the functioning of the HOA.
If you can tick all the boxes, you will enjoy your time with HOA. However, in addition to the position, you will shoulder certain responsibilities and liabilities under the fiduciary law.
Before you make your decision, think it through.
Pros and Cons of HOA Management
HOA offers value to the community and is beneficial if they are taking part in keeping the neighborhood safe, building on par to preserve the property value and safeguard the investment.
However, to do that, you need money; the HOA needs money. This financial support comes from the residents as maintenance fees.
The Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions created by the HOA ensure that the value of the property is reserved. This maintains a clean property and appreciates the property value.
However, there are some HOAs that propose strict Covenants. For example, they might prevent the homeowners from using zip lines for clothes, installing any disk antenna, or building any fence around their house. They might even prevent you from owning a pet.
Each association is different, and each homeowner is expected to follow the rules, regulations, and policies made proposed by the HOA. If the rules are broken, homeowners might face severe penalties and charges against them.
Minor penalties can result in monetary fines, while major penalties can result in HOA forcing the property into foreclosure.
HOA holds both good and bad sides depending on how much freedom you want in your community. If you are buying a property that has an HOA, it is important to read its rules and regulations before finalizing any deals.
Making The Best of Your Community Association
The purpose of having an HOA management community is to ensure the community is at peace. When you are thinking of buying a property that has an HOA association, you can rest assured that all the additional work of the community will be taken care of by the HOA management.
You just need to ensure that you are participating in the community, paying your due, and abiding by the rules created by the community; your experience with HOA management will be satisfactory.
If you find the community is not doing its job, you can attend the board meeting and place all your problems on the table. You can also submit an official complaint. This will ensure your problems are taken care of.
Also read: The Complete Guide That Makes Choosing the Best Real Estate Agent Easy
