A resident-led homeowner’s association is a powerful way for neighbors to pool resources to help their community. Volunteering time with your community association is a rewarding yet time-consuming experience. Professional HOA management services provide the support that allows board members to get even better results from the time they spend.
How HOA Management Services Help Run Successful Seattle Communities
An HOA’s board of directors has many responsibilities within its community. While these responsibilities vary, HOA management services can help board members run a thriving community. Here are a few ways professional HOA managers can help a community succeed:
Develop Sound Governing Documents
Professional management services can help your community develop sound governing documents. Local, state, and federal laws affect how an HOA’s restrictive covenants and other documents operate. These laws can make it difficult to create documents that achieve the HOA’s goals while complying with the law.
Management services understand these laws and how restrictive covenants and other documents must be written. Newly formed community associations gain the most benefit from these services, but changes in the law can make it helpful for established HOAs as well.
Collect Membership Dues
An HOA cannot operate without funds. The board of directors collects the membership dues and special assessments necessary for the association to run.
HOA management companies can help by providing several convenient ways for residents to pay their dues. Online payment gateways and automated billing are among the tools HOA managers can provide.
While these solutions are increasingly available by other means, management companies also support processing and maintaining these methods. Management companies can combine these services to save time for board members and money for the association.
Manage HOA Budget and Responsibilities
After collecting HOA dues, board members’ next responsibility is to use that money wisely. While covering budget overruns through emergency assessments may be possible, homeowners who already have to deal with rising living costs in Seattle may be angered.
Professional HOA management can help by providing board members with expert financial planning tools and advice. Managers with specialized financial training help HOAs get the most from a limited budget.
HOA managers also have experience and connections that board members can use to cut costs. Managers work with multiple HOAs and have expertise that board members may lack. They help the HOA anticipate maintenance and other needs before they become expensive problems.
Management firms can also leverage their relationships with other community associations to save money. They may do this by negotiating bulk rates when securing the services of maintenance contractors.
Process Architectural Requests
One of the appeals of living in a community with a homeowner’s association is the protection it provides to the value of homes in the community. Many communities establish architectural controls to protect land values and the sense of unity in the community.
While architectural controls offer many benefits to the community, they also add a layer of complexity to the approval process when residents need to renovate their homes. Homeowners must submit their plans to the community association for approval, and board members must dedicate time to reviewing and approving those plans.
HOA management companies can help with this by providing tools that make submitting a proposal easier for residents. Managers provide a convenient way for homeowners to submit a request without omissions that may delay approval. Board members also get access to tools and services that make processing architectural requests as efficient as possible.
Enforce HOA Rules
Well-written and communicated rules are a necessary part of an HOA’s ability to protect the value of homes and the relationships between homeowners.
If someone violates the rules, board members must address the issue quickly and fairly. Taking disciplinary action too soon or too late can lead to hurt feelings and accusations of favoritism. Relationships can also be damaged if a resident has to be disciplined by their neighbor.
Management companies help by providing third-party arbitration in matters like these. Since the managers are not a part of the community, it is easier for them to distance the act of enforcing the rules from the people involved on both sides. This valuable service goes a long way toward protecting the relationships between residents.
Professional Support for Homeowner Associations
HOA management companies help to make running a homeowner’s association easier. Management firms provide a convenient place for board members and residents to get the support they need for a thriving community. Hire a reliable management company for your HOA today.
