Friday, December 20, 2013

What To Know About Hiring A Community Association Management Group

By Cornelia White


Living in a condo, townhouse or home complex or development that is managed by a homeowner group has a lot of significant benefits. The Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) keep the community running smoothly and ensures a uniform look. But sometimes the work to keep everybody in compliance can overwhelm the Board of Directors and that is when it makes sense to get help from a community association management group.

A community association management group (CAMG) takes the burden of compliance and other issues off the shoulders of the board. They will take on the financial, administrative, communications and maintenance chores, ensuring the complex runs smoothly and efficiently. They will also be on-call for any emergencies that need to be handled. This way the board can focus on larger issues.

Financial oversight is a core area of responsibility for a property firm. Developing comprehensive reports is time consuming and many times board members do not have the background or time to do this properly. This can lead to poor decision making or dissatisfaction among homeowners. The firm's administrative team will work with the board to develop and produce the needed reports and help ensure smart decisions are made.

Advising the board on critical decisions is another function of a property-management group. The professionals of the firm have expertise on a wide range of issues from financial to legal to operational. This ensures the board's decisions do not open up the complex to lawsuits or other legal entanglements. A firm representative will also work directly with homeowners to resolve disputes and issues in a timely manor.

Keeping the association property and physical plant running is a core part of this type of service. The firm makes regular inspections and reports finding to the HOA board. They will also screen and manage any vendors and maintenance teams. For large-scale work the managers can assist in developing RFPs and secure bids.

One of the areas that is a source of constant complaint among homeowners is the lack of communication and understanding about the board's decisions. Using a community association management group will help eliminate this problem. Board members generally just do not have the time or skills to develop comprehensive reports to members. All this can be handled efficiently and effectively by the group.

One of the most beneficial services is being on-call for emergency situations. There is nothing more frustrating for a homeowner than trying to track down help in the middle of the night during an emergency. Having a single point of contact that is available 24/7 is invaluable to the association's membership. The CAMG's team will promptly take care of any emergencies. They also have a wide range of resources to call on to address any issue.

If you are a board member or homeowner in a CC&R covered complex, you owe it to yourself to look into hiring a community association management group. The peace of mind you receive from having a true partner alongside to run things is simply invaluable. Being a board member is a difficult job even when things are running fine. There is no need to place the burden of vendor procurement, financial oversight and emergency response solely on the shoulders of the board of directors.




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