Most communities with an HOA have residents who are overwhelmingly satisfied with where they live. An effective HOA can have a huge impact on its community. Hiring the right HOA management company to guide your board will ensure success with the residents' quality of life.
To have an effective HOA, you need to have an effective HOA board. Volunteers in the community generally make up an HOA board; some members may lack experience or feel stressed due to the responsibilities on top of their daily lives. Luckily, many resources are available to help alleviate some of this stress by providing assistance in HOA management and giving peace of mind to the HOA board and the community.
Below are a few reasons why it is worth it to hire an HOA management company:
1. Governance and Legal Expertise
One of the most complex issues HOAs face is staying up-to-date with CC&Rs and by-laws. With a board consisting of volunteers, it is hard to find someone who is an expert or who has the time to become an expert in HOA laws and regulations.
An HOA management company will provide legal experts to assist your HOA board. The HOA management company will keep your HOA informed on current regulations and by-laws and provide any legal advice.
Another benefit of hiring an HOA management company for legal matters is enforcing rules and regulations. Since board members are members of the community, it can become awkward if a board member has to notify their neighbor of a violation. Having an HOA management company to take care of this for you removes any tensions that could build in such a situation.
2. Financial and Administrative Responsibilities
Being the financial officer or financial adviser for an HOA comes with the duties of a full-time job. An HOA financial officer’s role includes annual and semi-annual budgeting, accounting, bookkeeping, and reserve funding; other duties include collecting the dues/assessments, including current and past dues, paying the bills, and more.
This role can be one of the most important and most stressful ones for an HOA board.
It is advisable to leave the financial administration to a professional HOA association manager. An HOA management company has financial experts to take the heavy lifting of the financial duties off the HOA board. They can also assist in other financial areas such as hiring contractors and managing contracts.
3. Amenity Maintenance and Upkeep
Keeping community amenities up-to-date is a year-round task. Most likely, your community will need to hire contractors for landscaping, building upkeep, pool maintenance, and other services to maintain the amenities that your community offers.
Searching for contractors, managing bids, keeping contracts current, and making sure expectations are being met is a great deal of responsibility for an HOA board of volunteers to manage.
An HOA management service will take on these responsibilities for you, making sure you are getting the best contractors for your budget, ensuring that community standards are being met and amenities are staying up-to-date.
4. Other Professional and Administrative Duties
Volunteer HOA board members may not realize the many other administrative duties that are part of the role. These duties can include keeping meeting minutes, organizing documents, keeping track of contracts, and ensuring legal documents are on hand and up-to-date.
An HOA management company will take care of these tasks for you, including all administrative duties.
5. More Free Time for HOA Board Members
Remember that HOA board members are usually volunteers that want to have a positive impact on their community. However, they don’t want to spend all their time on HOA needs.
Hiring an HOA management company will give time back to the people who volunteer to be a part of the HOA board. It will also give them more time to focus on the bigger issues, make plans, and keep moving forward without being tied down by the tedious duties that come with being a part of an HOA board.
Atlantic & Pacific Management can Help!
Working with an HOA management company can relieve some of the stress that comes with being a part of an HOA board. Companies like Atlantic & Pacific HOA Management provide over 40 years of experience in helping HOAs thrive.
Dominic Cirillo leads the Pacific HOA division of Atlantic & Pacific Companies. He has served in this position for 10 years and continues to strive for excellence and the advancement of the company’s homeowner’s association department. If you are in the market for a new HOA Management Company, contact Dominic at dcirillo@apmanagement.net.
For more information, visit Atlantic & Pacific HOA Management.