Site management can make or break a neighborhood.
When a resident doesn’t take care of their house, it’s the neighbors who pay the price. Peeling paint, or messy yards, can easily knock 5-10% off the value of the other houses in your neighborhood. Luckily, with the help of a qualified HOA management team, you can overcome these issues as a community.
You have to be careful though. If you hire the wrong HOA manager, you’ll wind up paying for more problems, instead of solutions. For HOA boards who want the best for their community, we’ve created a list of 7 qualities you can expect from a management team.
Read on to learn everything you need to know about finding the right HOA manager.
Table of Contents
1. Customer Service Focused
The very first thing you should look for in your HOA management company is quality customer service. Here are some signs of good customer service:
- HOA management quickly returns your call
- They remember important details about your community
- The management company is highly organized
- They reply to your emails in the same day
Reputable HOA managers will know how to deliver top-notch service to their customers. You’ll be able to feel how passionate they are about providing you with quality work. If a management team doesn’t seem excited to help, they’re not the right one for your community.
2. Friendly and Approachable
Whenever residents have an issue, they should feel 100% percent comfortable talking to their HOA manager. That’s why you need someone friendly and approachable.
Communication is one of the most important tools your community needs to thrive. There has to be a clear line of communication between the HOA board, residents, and your property management company.
A quality company will be willing to openly communicate across the board, while actively listening to help find solutions. It’s also important that they operate with some degree of flexibility.
3. Flexibility With Problem Solving
Your community is unique, and your needs are going to differ from another community’s needs. Make sure the management company you could offer innovative solutions to a variety of complex situations.
They should also be willing to find alternative plans whenever necessary. Their main priority will be to implement HOA regulations. However, if there are extenuating circumstances they should be able to work with residents to reach resolutions.
For example, let’s say a resident isn’t complying with their yard maintenance. After investigating, the HOA manager finds out the resident was recently injured at work. This situation deserves a more gentle approach, then you would take if the resident simply wasn’t complying.
4. Solid Understanding of HOA Manager Duties
The HOA management team you choose should have a solid understanding of their responsibilities. Instead of depending on a to-do list, they will create their list of responsibilities based on what they find in your community.
Here are some of the things your HOA manager should be comfortable doing :
- Help the HOA board with legal compliance issues
- Monitor the HOA board’s decisions for financial decisions
- Oversee the relationship between homeowners and the HOA board
- Coordinating with service providers
- Creating agendas and schedules for HOA meetings
- Quickly responding to inquiries from residents to the HOA board
- Knowledge of Established Practices
It’s not uncommon for HOA board members to struggle to keep up with the latest trends involving community management. However, a good HOA manager will be able to update board members and bring in fresh new ideas to the board meeting. For example, let’s say your community’s experiencing a reoccurring issue.
Instead of limiting themselves to handling 1 problem at a time, a good HOA manager will use policies. Soon, your HOA board will be able to build a foundation of the best policies and practices to benefit the community.
5. Ability to Streamline Administrative Tasks
HOAs who use a management company will enjoy having an experienced manager serve as the primary point of contact for the community.
Here are some of the administrative services your HOA manager will provide:
- Schedule board meetings
- Create monthly management reports
- Enforce the regulations and rules of the community in a uniformed way
- Guide as the board creates its annual budget
There’s no negotiating when it comes to handling administrative tasks. If the management team you’re considering hiring can’t do the tasks above, they won’t be a real help. Instead, find a manager who will not only complete administrative tasks but will do so happily.
6. Quality HOA Management on Site
One of the main reasons communities have homeowners associations in the first place, is to help preserve the community value. Site management plays a big role when it comes to protecting your community.
Here are some of the ways your HOA manager will help you with on-site management:
- Stay up-to-date on maintenance issues
- Inspect community for rule violations
- Put into action board approved decisions
- Monitor lawn Care
- Monitor pool cleaning
- Monitor vendor tasks
When homeowners fail to follow the rules of the association, you run the risk of your home values decreasing. As home values decrease, the entire value of the community will decrease as well. To overcome this issue, your HOA manager will be able to uniformly enforce the rules among the community members.
7. Efficient Accounting Services
HOA managers should have the expertise to handle even the most complex of financial situations.
Here are some of the ways they will be able to help your community thrive financially:
- Manage community bank accounts
- Give accurate estimation of maintenance cost
- Keep detailed records on all accounts payable and receivable
- Create ongoing monthly financial statements
You can also expect the management team to help guide your community as you set long-term funding goals.
Protect Your Community
Now you know what qualities you can expect from your HOA management team. What management services does your community need most, right now?
Perhaps you’re excited to have someone there to help you streamline administrative tasks. Or does the idea of on-site management have you jumping for joy?
For more ways to make life easier, and better, we can help. Go ahead and check out the rest of this site right now!
