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A homeowners association has quite a task in ensuring that its residents enjoy the expected quality of life. This requires a lot of monitoring, managing, etc., and trying to do it without appropriate software or the expertise of HOA property management services can be a chore.
You need to stay on top of HOA dues, community homeowners association insurance considerations, dealing with complaints, and a lot more.
It stands to reason then that you would want to engage one of the property management companies in Colorado for assistance with this herculean task. With that said, you need to know what to expect in advance.
Tailoring Your Expectations
The point of the content here is to help you understand some of the things that may be desirable or necessary as you consider engaging third-party HOA management professionals. Good customer service is awesome, but that's not going to be enough.
Bear in mind that each community association will have its unique needs so some of these may be more important to you than others.
The Core Management Services
An HOA management company is supposed to deliver value through a partial or full-service offering. The question here is, how do you define value? Well, there should be a core piece of Colorado association services, and this will be complemented by value-added ones.
The focus here is on those key services that will form a part of the association management equation:
- Mail collection and processing
- Serving as an HOA agent
- Covenant enforcement
- Project planning
- Assistance to property managers and the board in determining what the priorities, goals, and objectives of the HOA should be
- Collection of HOA dues
- Annual budget preparations
- Managing complaints, inquiries, and questions
- Board meeting attendance
- HOA insurance maintenance
- Code enforcement compliance
- Financial record-keeping
- Unit record maintenance
- Community engagement services
Bear in mind that this is not an exhaustive list. Sure, all these may not apply to you, but the point is that you want to ensure that the essential core services are a part of the package. Once the company can deliver exceptional service and meet these needs, then the HOA will be better off for it.
The Community Element of HOA Management Services
Remember that an HOA, condominium association or any such body is all about the concept of "community," and this cannot be lost on the property management company that you are working with.
Every HOA will get to a point where it will need to make incredibly difficult decisions that will ultimately dictate the future of the community. These choices can be financial policies, governing document alterations, voting matters, etc.
The difference between homeowners associations that thrive and those that don't is how they navigate these kinds of scenarios.
An HOA management firm needs to have the outlook and experience to be able to help you navigate these kinds of situations effectively.
Project Management Services
Projects must be managed effectively and doing so means making considerations and allocations in advance. HOA management hinges on doing this adequately since mismanaged projects lead to scope creep, financial waste, improper time management, and more.
It's bad enough when the projects in question aren't the most critical in the world, but when there are major reserve and capital improvement projects, the context is very different. In such cases, professional coordination is non-negotiable as the stakes are high.
Financial Services
A property manager is essential to the financial element of things too. Being late can be problematic for presentation, compliance, and auditing while having financials that are in disarray can ultimately lead to a gross misunderstanding of the HOA's position.
Accurate and early financials are a necessity because there may be questions and concerns that need to be ironed out with accounting before important meetings and presentations. Having a smooth process flow allows you the time to do this.
You'll want to ensure that all of the essential puzzle pieces are supported including collections, delinquencies, accounts receivable and payable, as well as customized reporting.
HOA Sustainability
This is more important to some HOA board members than it is to others. The same applies to HOA management companies. Some may handle it as a function of the agreement while others may have entire departments dedicated to the effort.
Remember that you want your HOA to be resilient, sustainable, and healthy. This may span areas such as energy efficiency, water conservation, recycling, composting, and even financial sustainability.
Here are some sustainability services that you may find useful:
- Sustainability assessments - Some HOAs don't even know what their starting point is, and if that sounds like yours, then you'll need an objective analysis of your sustainability status from both a financial and environmental standpoint.
- HOA board member training and advising - When the topic of training in this sense comes up, the thought tends to be around considerations for HOA board member certification for HOA, condo, co-op, etc., to meet state requirements. What about the kind of training that will equip board members with the tools and skills to design sustainability into their processes?
- Community and resident campaigns - The benefits of sustainability are meant to be felt by residents, after all. The HOA management service provider can work collaboratively with you to get the community properly engaged.
Emergency Services
Sometimes, a response has to come at the drop of a hat. What happens when it's the wee hours of the night or a holiday weekend and there is an emergency? You need to be able to lean on the expertise of the management company whether there is an injury, flood, or fire.
Assistance can come in the form of coordinating the process flow between the affected residents, emergency services, insurance adjusters, and restoration professionals.
What Are Some of the Recommended Community Management Companies in Colorado?
Whether you're in the Front Range, Colorado Springs, or elsewhere in the state, you now have a few ideas of what you should be looking for in the professionals you engage. With that said, you're probably now wondering what some of the recommended companies are that you can work with.
CAP Management
CAP Management is one of the premier choices for those who are looking for an organization that is truly willing to partner with their HOA to help it reach the next level through innovation and a heavy focus on the sustainability element.
The process starts with an assessment of the resilience and overall health of the association, after which the different services offered can be tailored to yield a workable solution. The services offered include standard HOA property management, emergency services, community planning, financials, and innovation initiatives.
Note that there are management solutions offered that are specifically geared towards smaller HOAs.
ACCU Inc
ACCU Inc. is another option, though it does not exclusively focus on HOA management services. It offers construction, developer services, consulting, and accounting too.
Nevertheless, it does an outstanding job of community association management. The idea is to understand the needs of the HOA and then put forward a solution that will work optimally.
It's also great that the company prioritizes working within the confines of the ever-changing legal landscape that governs HOAs. Colorado's local legislation is not the easiest to understand so this certainly helps.
Solutions are scalable, so the size of your association shouldn't be a huge factor. Interestingly, the usual management services are accompanied by a strong focus on community that specifically focuses on engagement and events.
Associa
Associa professes to help HOAs achieve more by being a reliable partner that simultaneously manages the large and the minute details that come with the operation.
The major categories of the service are finance and accounting, collection and enforcement, service contracts, elections and governance, homeowner communications, and insurance services.
Each of these classes boasts a series of sub-services that all come together to meet targeted objectives.
What About a Customized HOA Property Management Application?
While there's nothing wrong with hiring a professional company to help you meet your strategic HOA needs, what if you had a state-of-the-art HOA application that would support your initiatives either instead of or alongside such service providers?
DoorLoop happens to have an incredible and broad-reaching application that offers the following:
- Free HOA website - You'll get a free HOA website per property or community, complete with a free resident portal login.
- Management functionality - DoorLoop brings community management from an administrative standpoint to both board members and community managers.
- Payments - Say goodbye to troubled payment processes. Enjoy an easy and automated collection of homeowner association fees, maintenance, fines, rent, amenities, and more.
- Reporting - Your financials are easy to manage and you even get shareable AR/AP reports
- Synchronization - Thanks to a well-placed integration, synchronize with QuickBooks or directly to bank accounts
- Administration - There's no limit to the number of users that you can create and delegate management tasks to.
- Request management - Get easy oversight of architectural and maintenance requests.
The Bottom Line
If you're going to work with an HOA management company, you at least want to check what the offerings are and ensure that they are in line with what you need to achieve your strategic objectives. Reference the considerations and companies above for guidance.
Bear in mind though that you can get all the management functions you need from DoorLoop's HOA software solution. Want to see how it works? Schedule a free demo today!
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