How HOAs Protect Home Investment, Property Values

How HOAs Protect Home Investment, Property Values



Guidelines for Choosing Qualified Association Management

BY ELEANOR HUGUS



Special to the Business Journal

Whether you love them or hate them, homeowner associations have become a way of life for millions of homeowners. Currently, one out of eight Americans lives in an HOA, according to the Community Associations Institute, a trade organization based in Virginia. By the year 2005, federal projections show that one out of every three Americans will live in some form of HOA.






By best estimates, there’s more than 200,000 associations in the U.S., with about 12 million individual units, mostly in Florida and California. The California Association of Community Managers says the Golden State is home to about 32,000 associations, which means one out of every three people in California is living in some type of planned community governed by a homeowners association.






In California, there are perhaps 5,000 companies that provide some type of property management services. Some provide full-range property management services, while others do nothing more than collect dues.






Not all companies offer the same services, nor do they view the process of managing an association in the same manner. Most HOAs can benefit from professional management to oversee the maintenance of common areas, collect the monthly fees, pay the bills and work with board members, owners and vendors.






The majority of HOAs run smoothly. Most manage to keep controversy at a minimum. Serious conflicts and bitter disputes are the exception rather than the rule.






- What Are Covenants, Conditions And Restrictions?






These terms, commonly referred to as CC