General manager Claudia Faison discusses her experiences with a beach community and all the methods they employed to keep seagulls away. She shares the solution that has kept their roofs and buildings clean once and for all!

The post Seagulls Make Messes—What Should You Do? | Ep. 39 appeared first on Action Property Management.

Unintended consequences of relaxed board meetings.

Some HOAs discourage participation from homeowners when they think that they are encouraging participation. For example, an HOA with a loose open form policy or a loose following of that policy will eventually discourage participation because it will allow for a few residents to dominate. This will discourage others from participating or even coming. Let someone talk during open forum for an extended time—maybe someone else came to ask one question they have to get home for dinner with the family. Someone else dominates, and they have to leave before they can ask. It happens all the time. Maybe someone jumps in with input outside of open forum. When the meeting becomes a free-for-all the length of the meeting gets longer, and people either leave sooner or just don’t come. Adopt and follow an open forum policy. You’ll get more involvement in the long run.

The post Hot Take: Nice Is Unfair | Ep. 38 appeared first on Action Property Management.

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A discussion with Jens Hansen from Commercial Energy about why natural gas prices have suddenly skyrocketed and what HOAs can do control their costs.

Resources:

http://www.commercialenergy.net/

The post Why Are My Natural Gas Prices So High? | Ep. 37 appeared first on Action Property Management.

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A discussion with Scott Vandeventer, of Empathic Inc Coaching and Consulting, about leadership that “meddles” in the lives of other people to help them be more successful and to help organizations (like HOAs) perform at higher levels.

The post Leadership: Meddling in People’s Lives | Ep. 36 appeared first on Action Property Management.

The life of an HOA portfolio manager.

[00:00:00] HOA portfolio managers. Is it a great job or a brutal job? I was a portfolio manager for more than a decade. There’s often an emphasis on the negative in that job, and it’s not for everyone. It can be a very high volume of work. It can be stressful. It can average 50 or more hours per week, and it requires strengths in three areas that often don’t go together.

[00:00:29] High degrees of organization, the ability to work quickly, and really good people skills. But if you have strengths in those areas, can manage stress well, and are willing to work hard, there are a lot of rewards. No two days are the same. You get to work with a wide variety of people. You make a real difference for people where they live.

[00:00:51] There’s lots of flexibility, and you are always learning something new. It’s not for everyone, but for those who are the right fit, don’t forget about all the amazing aspects of this job.

The post Hot Take: Not Everyone Can Do It | Ep. 35 appeared first on Action Property Management.

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A discussion with attorney Sandra Gottlieb, of SwedelsonGottlieb, about the pitfalls an association may face with claims regarding discrimination, harassment, and fair housing and how to avoid liability for these kinds of claims. Sometimes a person might just be a jerk. But sometimes, they might be breaking the law. And that could expose an HOA to liability. Protect your HOA from this kind of liability.

Resources:

https://www.lawforhoas.com/

The post A Jerk or Lawbreaker? | Ep. 34 appeared first on Action Property Management.

HOAs that save a dollar, only to cost homeowners thousands.

[00:00:00] The single biggest mistake that HOAs make is to try to save pennies while costing their members thousands of dollars. Most studies show that a home in an HOA is likely to have a greater value than one not in an HOA, but that assumes that the HOA is well managed. So management can have a huge impact on home values. A 2% difference in an $800,000 home,

[00:00:24] is a difference of $16,000 or a cumulative difference of 3.2 million in a 200-unit community. But too often an association gets hung up on making its choice of management company based on a few dollars. For example, a management fee of $1,800 a month versus a fee of $2,400 a month is only a difference of $3 a month

[00:00:45] for each home. But for many HOAs, that $600 a month overall cost will be the deciding factor. It’s a consideration, but the deciding factor should be based on who is going to manage the community the best, and how that will affect living experiences and property values in the community. $3 a month shouldn’t be the deciding factor.

The post Hot Take: Saving Pennies, Losing Dollars | Ep. 33 appeared first on Action Property Management.

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The post H2O for HOAs | Ep. 32 appeared first on Action Property Management.

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Don’t let mold create a dangerous situation. In this episode, Troy Gianerakis shares everything you need to know about how water cultivates mold and what to do if you encounter mold growth.

Resources:

https://troysrestoration.com/

The post Are You Sitting on a Mold Mine? | Ep. 31 appeared first on Action Property Management.

It’s possible for homeowners to love their HOA.

[00:00:00] It’s possible for homeowners to like their HOA. Too often the HOA is viewed in a negative light. It’s the HOA that tells you what you can and can’t do with your own home. It’s the HOA that takes lots of dollars from you every month in assessments and it’s hard to see what you get in return. But HOAs do lots of good. Homes in HOAs tend to be worth more than homes that are not in HOAs.

And there’s a reason for that. Help everyone know and understand that reality. Everyone who owns in an HOA is a member of that association. That means that all the owners are on the same team as investors in their homes, and it’s in everyone’s best interests to work together to better the community.

Make that the point. Make that the message. Emphasize the benefits. Educate the homeowners on the financial value of the rules. Explain where money goes and how it benefits everyone. And work with good management who is not just following checklists but wants to help people love their HOA.

The post Hot Take: Do Your Homeowners Love Their HOA? | The Uncommon Area Ep. 30 appeared first on Action Property Management.