3 Reasons Your HOA Needs Property Management

If you manage an HOA or are part of an HOA board, you may be wondering if your HOA needs a professional property management team to take over. Running an HOA takes a lot of work and requires many hats, so it may not be the right job for anyone. If you want to improve your HOA, it may be time to consider better property management. To learn more, check out these three reasons why it can help.

1. Common Area Maintenance and Upgrades

One of the biggest advantages of living in a neighborhood with an HOA is having access to various common areas. Some HOAs have clubhouses, parks, pools, and much more that residents can all enjoy for free.

Of course, it’s the HOA board’s responsibility to maintain and upgrade these areas, but board members are non-paid volunteers. As a result, some issues may get put on the back burner, especially if board members are busy in their private or work lives.

This is when having a property management team can help, and the dues homeowners already pay to the HOA pay for the property management team. The team will oversee regular maintenance like mowing the lawn, cleaning, trimming trees, and upgrading worn parts. However, they will also help provide major upgrades when needs, such as replacing the pool or giving the clubhouse a new roof.

2. Accounting and Budgeting Advice and Assistance

A property management team can also help with accounting and budgeting, which includes a wide variety of actions. For example, you may only want a property management team to help collect dues, or you may want them to fully manage your HOA’s funds, which includes dues, maintenance, special events, and big expenses.

Having a professional property management team balance your budget can also help keep homeowners happy by preventing sudden expenses. In the above pool example, the regular HOA dues may only provide enough money for regular maintenance. This becomes an issue when the pool needs to be fully replaced.

Since the HOA only collects enough money to pay for regular maintenance, they may not have enough funds to replace the pool. As a result, the pool is left unmaintained, or the HOA must charge homeowners extra dues and fees to pay for the pool. A good property maintenance company, however, will ensure there is a reserve fund, which helps pay for these uncommon or unexpected expenses.

In other words, the management company will create two accounts: one for regular maintenance and one for reserves. The pool’s regular maintenance only comes from the account for regular maintenance. When it comes time to replace the pool, there should be enough money in the reserves to pay for it without increasing HOA dues or enforcing a special HOA fee.

3. Rule and Agreement Enforcement

The main reason HOAs are formed is to keep the neighborhood looking attractive. This helps boost the value of the home and the entire community as a result. However, to keep the community looking good, a lot of rules must be placed. Rules may limit you from painting your house a certain color, parking your car on the road, getting a big dog, or not maintaining your lawn.

The sad truth is that some homeowners don’t care about these rules, but a lot of them simply don’t know all the rules in their HOA. As a result, people break the rules, and a good property management company, however, handles these for you. They may oversee approving/denying special exceptions, contacting homeowners who have broken the rules, and collecting fines from homeowners who have broken the rules.

HOAs are a great way to keep a community looking good, but managing an HOA takes a lot of work. Instead of struggling on your own, let a professional property management team do the heavy lifting. To learn more, contact us at Southern Property Management Group, LLC, today.