PACIFIC NW HOA CONSULTING SERVICES

Often self-managed HOAs or self-managed Condominium Associations elect Boards of Directors who do not have all of the training and/or experience needed to manage them.

For example, recently our services were requested because an Association's members were informed that its Board had decided that a $3.4 million special assessment was needed in order to make major repairs. However, based on information we received, most of the members could not afford to repay their share of this assessment, even if a loan was arranged for them to do so.

We made a number of recommendations, enumerated below, but the Association's problem started 20 years earlier when a special reserve account should have been created in order to generate the funds that would be needed to make future repairs that are not covered by  the annual operating budget.

Given the situation, our recommendations were :

(1) Survey the members in order to establish how much they could afford to pay in order to create a reserve account; and ask the members to list what  appeared to them to be 3 most important repairs that should be made as soon as possible.

 (2) Take bids from experienced contractors based on their assessment of the repairs that could be made today, along with  their assessment of the repairs that could be delayed for up to 5 years or up to 10 years. 

(3) Investigate sources of public funding because the Association is located within a city that has an urban renewal program that covers revitalization of homes.

(4) Based on this information from the members, and bidders,  attempt to lower the $3.4 million assessment.

(5) Determine if any work can be delayed for as many as 10 years.

(6) Determine if the budget for any items listed in the annual budget can be lowered and transferred to a new reserve account.

(7) Determine if public funding is available.

(8) Ideally, create a timeline for scheduling the repairs that will be made over the next 10 years, along with the annual cost and the sources of revenue.

(9) Submit to members for discussion and/or  approval. 

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HOW DO YOU CUSTOMIZE YOUR SERVICES FOR NICHE COMPANIES?

Owning a home within an HOA or Condominium Association is a popular alternative to owning homes elsewhere in places that are free of an Association's standards that control the design and maintenance of all of the homes, their common areas, and possibly infrastructure.

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Our niche market is the self-managed Association because there is very little oversight or assistance available for these Associations' Boards of Directors unless the Board's collective expertise matches our services that cover disciplines in planning, economics, accounting, and real estate. Therefore, if  an Association exhibits losses from home sales, or if there is evidence of lawsuits, foreclosures, unenforced standards, poor communication with members, or poor accounting and reporting practices, then at a minimum the Association is being managed inefficiently. In addition the risks are higher that the Association is not being managed in accord with its governing documents, state or county laws.

We advise our clients to have their attorneys review their governing documents for compliance with state laws and county ordinances. However, the  other professional work that a self-managed Association needs to perform is the basis upon which the Association will be viable.

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IS YOUR HOA STRUGGLING WITH PLANNING OR BUDETING IS MATTTERS ? LET US HELP.

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What do we do?

We target Self-Managed Associations- because we provide occasional services that a professional management companies do not ordinarily provide.. For example, compare the list below

Management Companies                                                             HOA-Consulting-Services

Accounting Services                                                                        Strategic Planning Service

N/A                                                                                                    Strategic Planning & implementation

N/A                                                                                                     Marketing Studies

N/A                                                                                                    Compliance Issues

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Accounting Services cover posting invoices and payments to the correct income and expense accounts, posting funds from the association’s members to each member’s account, and preparing periodic financial statements.

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Strategic Planning includes a review of the Association’s past financial statements, the annual operating accounts and reserve accounts. The annual operating accounts should include appropriately named “maintenance accounts” that will cover the cost of services that are performed annually. The “reserve accounts” are not ‘emergency accounts’. They are designed to cover the costs of replacing or repairing real property or infrastructure owned by the Association that normally depreciates over 10-20 years.

One major problem for a self-managed Association is that it may decide to use a Reserve Account as an emergency source of funding which should not occur, unless the funds are replaced within the next budgeting cycle. When the funds are not replaced, the Association is simply pushing forward a major problem and misusing the Reserve Accounts that can become habitual.

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Strategic Planning and Implementation Services usually occur after the members have decided to change a major feature of their Association (e.g., adding tennis courts). In many cases, the self-managed Associations vote to add a new feature to their Associations without considering the costs beyond the initial cost. Therefore, our services that may require obtaining approval from a state or local planning agency should also cover a complete cost analysis of the initial cost, followed by annual expenses needed to maintain the added feature.

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Marketing Studies may be needed when an Association’s Board of Directors or its members propose a change to a governing document that will increase the Association’s annual operating costs and possibly reserves. The ideal objective should be that it will improve the market values of every privately owned lot or home in the Association.  Therefore, a marketing study should identify if this is the case prior to voting on the proposal.

For example, changing a governing document that  increases the Association’s operating costs should be considered  against   at least one other similar HOA (similar in size, location, and amenities) because a prospective buyer of a vacant residential lot in one of the two “competitive” HOAs should  be inclined to choose the lot that has the lower HOA’s dues. Alternatively, the prospective buyer could be inclined to offer a lower price for the lot that has the higher HOA’s dues. Therefore, all decisions that  will increases to the HOA's budget  will not always improve the market value of every lot or home in an HOA.

A marketing study should also assess the degree to which a proposed change in a governing document would benefit certain lots at the risk of causing adverse impacts on other lots. If this situation exists,  the Board or members will either drop the proposal or decide how the costs will be covered.  

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Compliance Issues Management Companies are usually well informed about changes in state and local laws that can change over time. But, management companies do not usually instruct their clients about procedures for announcing their meetings, for handling their meetings; and for preparing the Minutes of their meetings. The procedures are stated in Roberts Rules of Order that an HOA's Board may not have read.  Although a certain amount of latitude is permitted among self-managed HOA’s, deviations from these Rules should be discouraged if they do not provide opportunities for members to object to the Board’s decisions that may adversely impact the members’ property.