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A new trend the Home Owner’s Association is becoming the fastest growing form of housing today in many countries with the United States leading the way. Over 50 million Americans now live within communities run by home owner associations. Property developers have set up these associations for the purpose of marketing, managing and selling homes and lots in residential areas.
An attractive opportunity
Home buyers like the whole idea of being part of a community or neighbourhood that is well-regulated. They are also willing to pay for the services provided as well as amenities such as gyms, swimming pools, and tennis courts that sometimes they would not have access to otherwise. They may know the right gym contractor, padel court manufacturer, and swimming pool builders to get the job done well and provide value and amenities to the community. Financially speaking, it is often viewed as a cost-saving measure in this regard.
Home owner associations are compulsory within shared buildings and so developers will need to ensure that this type of service is available to their residents. It is all about making sure that residents are happy. Each association is made up of a board of members. President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer are often considered core members of the board. To become a member of the board, a person needs to contest and win the elections conducted in the said society. These elections tend to often be conducted and inspected by the HOA management companies. However, in some states like California, an amendment in the Davis-Stirling Act has made it mandatory to hire an independent third party to conduct the elections of board members in order to maintain transparency in the entire process. Thus, this ensures that the elected members who are brought in do a justified job and are not chosen for the sake of any personal bias.
In that light, after getting elected as board members, their task is to lay out the rules and regulations governing the repair and maintenance of common areas and building exteriors. They also have a role to play in settling neighbourly difficulties should they arise. They are the first point of contact for the homeowner should property or common area problems occur. Also, should a homeowner wish to make any changes to their home, such as getting someone like a steel building contractor out to install an outbuilding of sorts, or a garage, they may need to seek approval from their HOA before going ahead with the project.
Transparency
Another role of the association is to manage budgets and assessments. As they are the receiver of monthly or annual fees, it is their job to distribute funds where needed and to produce documentation regularly for the home owners review. As they are non-profit making entities, all activities are therefore to be made transparent.
Specialist management companies
In recent years Associations have hit the headlines where home owners were complaining about the strict regulations being imposed on them. This has led to the preference of having specialist management companies taking over the role of a localised group in the running of the Home Owner’s Association. Such companies as the Cedar HOA Management Company have proved successful in this area as they have the expertise to keep situations on a neutral grounding.
Rules and regulations
Specialist companies are professionals and when it comes to residents having to pay rent, they can take over the role of collection. In the unfortunate circumstance where someone must be evicted they are positioned impartially to take on a task such as this. Every Home Owner’s Association varies as to the rules and regulations that are implemented. The legal constraints they operate in differ from state to state. It seems that areas where residents are involved in their association can often leads to higher risk of problems compared to that of a specialist company taking over such responsibilities. To have such a specialist company employed, many states require that they should be licensed and it is a bonus if the company is certified by the Community Associations Institute.
Conclusion
All in all, it seems that having an association is a promising idea with so many people living in close proximity in towns and cities across the globe. To see such sturdy growth in recent years shows that specialist management companies are a welcome solution.
