HOA Management BlogRecent Posts
When you think of staying safe in your neighborhood, what comes to mind? You probably lock your doors at night, keep a porch light on, communicate with neighbors if something or someone seems suspicious, maybe even have a guard dog to alert you of anything out of the ordinary. Generally, safety in a neighborhood means lighted streets, low crime, kids at play signs, a neighborhood watch, or even a security patrol. Safety in a homeowners association neighborhood isn’t all that different, but with recent budget cuts to public safety departments and less enforcement, proactive safety is crucial.
Does providing security measures, such as cameras, security guards or security companies, make the association liable for security breaches that cause harm to others? Is there a price for your safety? Many homeowner’s associations hire private security patrol or contract with the city they live in.
Making positive touch points in your homeowners association is an important job of HOA board members. It helps foster relationships with residents in the community so that if an issue arises – either positive or negative – they feel comfortable and confident that they can bring it to the attention of the Board.
There are many different ways to make these positive touch points. A newsletter, whether written or electronic, is a great way to communicate with each member of the Association.
Funding community operations is one of the most important, if not the most important, functions of an HOA board. Properly overseeing day-to-day actions and long-term projects ensures the homeowners association will have a continuous supply of funds to keep the community running effectively.
Do the residents in your homeowners association take actions to discourage burglars?
Sometimes the slightest door rattle or creek from the wind can put someone on edge. When it comes to home security, anxiousness is understandable because illegal home entries do happen from time to time. As a Board member in your homeowners association, you should make every effort to help residents learn how to maintain a secure environment in your community.
An HOA board has three significant roles: to protect, maintain and enhance the Association. Everything the board is responsible for in a homeowners association can be placed into at least one of these three categories.
You don’t want to be bored with numbers, spreadsheets, dollars and cents. You already know that’s what a budget is made up of. Instead, what actions are the most important for you to actually do to ensure financial success in your homeowners association? There are a lot of pieces and parts that come into play, but following this advice will help you get started in the right direction of financial health for your community.
Deer browsing in the back yard is charming. Birds are beautiful, graceful and melodic. Seeing coyote in the distance and hearing them calling to one another at night gives a sense of being close to nature and adds to the feel of your community. But too much of any one thing is never good, and the feeding and encouraging of wildlife in the homeowner's association is not in the best interests of you, the animals or the association.
As an HOA board member you probably know what a reserve study is and the importance of doing one. Equally important is that having the proper reserves in place will ensure that the long term assets in the Association (roads, roofs, pool, landscape, etc.) will be properly cared for and maintained.
If you’re in the process of house hunting you may have come across your dream home in a homeowners association community. But before you make a major purchase, are you informed about living in an HOA? If you aren’t familiar with how it works, there are some important questions to ask and a few actions to take before purchasing your new home.
