Since professional HOA management companies are intended to be a tool for an HOA board of directors, it’s important for stakeholders to measure their chosen management company’s performance to determine if they are meeting the needs of the overall community. Whether your management company has been with you for decades or a few years, it’s never a bad time to assess the market to analyze if they are still the best fit.
As a professional HOA management company, we’ve gathered some insight into why HOA board of directors seek us out and choose to engage our professional management services as a replacement for existing services. Here are the top 5 signs that it may be time for your board of directors to consider partnering with a new professional HOA management company.
Communication
Strong communication is one of the greatest tools of a professional HOA management company. For the community to accomplish their short and long-term goals, they must have clear communication lines with their HOA Manager.
Your HOA Manager is responsible for communicating regularly with the board, homeowners, vendors, contractors, and others that may impact the property. If the manager is slow to reply, or tends to be completely unresponsive, it may not only be time to have a serious conversation with your management company, but also evaluate other professional management options.
At Ciminelli, we have a standard response timeframe of 24 hours. Our service team is available 24/7 to help with any unexpected, maintenance emergency situations at our managed communities. We utilize technology to enhance communication on specific maintenance tasks and track response times, ensuring lines of communication are always maintained.
Consistency
Professional HOA management companies, especially your dedicated HOA Manager, acts as an extension of your board of directors. They should be seen as an asset to your community, continually supporting your members, and helping your community reach its goals.
Since HOA Managers are arguably the most important person your board of directors work alongside, and potentially the reason you chose the management company in the first place, it can be difficult to see the person filling that role frequently change. The constant re-establishing of trust, building relationships, and bringing the new HOA manager up-to-speed on your community’s current operations and financial standings can be exhausting for board members.
It’s important to remember that great HOA Managers work for great companies. A consistent overturn in community managers can be the result of a significant underlying issue within the company itself, signaling to your community that it may be time to have conversations with other professional management companies.
Financial Expertise
Attending to the financial matters of an HOA is often a top priority for associations. Engaging third-party oversight and drawing upon the experiences of a seasoned management professional can help ensure financial milestones, and processes are met and maintained. Your HOA Manager, and the team supporting them, should be providing your community with sound financial advice and connecting you with vendors and contractors that can provide high-quality work with reasonable pricing. Associations are run like a business, meaning your partnership with a management company should be supporting your community in its effort to remain financially sound, realize savings, and receiving the best quality work for the procured services.
Homeowner Communication
The creation and purpose of a homeowners association is to maintain the value of the property on behalf of all of the homeowners within the community.
Successful HOA managers utilize technology and available tools to enhance regular communication. Meeting agendas, regular schedules, and concise messages are the cornerstones of good HOA communication. It’s important to take your entire communities’ values, management preference, and communication style into consideration when analyzing and reviewing professional HOA management companies.
Project Management
In addition to daily tasks, it is also your HOA Manager’s responsibility to spearhead your community’s projects. Every project, no matter how large or small, should be managed responsibly, ensuring a result that is both on-time and in-budget, and meets the quality standards of the community. The inability to complete projects, or maintain deadlines in support of the expected completion date, can place strain on the community’s finances and the enjoyment of the property.
If any of these signs resonate with you and your current professional HOA management company, it may be time to make a change. Although it can feel overwhelming, responsible HOA management companies transition quite often and the process is well-defined. We would love to tell you more about our HOA management services, ranging from financial oversight and vendor procurement to 24/7 emergency maintenance services. To find out more, call us at (716) 631-8000.