No community is perfect, but some are certainly more pleasant to live in than others.
A homeowners association can do a lot for a neighborhood and its residents. Unfortunately, however, they often have a difficult time keeping up with all of their duties. An association manager can support and assist an HOA, ensuring everything is covered.
In this guide, we'll take a look at the role of association manager in Oakland, CA, so you can see how they could benefit your community. Let's dive in.
Finances
Finances can be complicated and typically cause a lot of confusion for HOA boards. If they don't have relevant experience (as is often the case) they likely won't have the best understanding of what's needed. This can lead to costly mistakes.
Association managers have suitable training and experience so they can handle community finances effectively. This will minimize the risk of mistakes, and they can often lower expenses to help save the community money.
Landscaping and Maintenance
Another way that association managers can assist is with general property maintenance. A key benefit of living in an HOA community is that they take care of general maintenance and landscaping. This typically consists of communal areas like parks, pools, and gyms.
Association managers tend to have plenty of experience with this, so they can take care of it. Their experience in this area means they usually have a good idea of who to contact when any work is needed. In many cases, they can even get better deals due to these connections.
Legal Guidance
This is often the most challenging area for HOA boards. They're made up of community volunteers and it's very rare for any of them to have a legal background. As such, they don't know how to handle any legal issues that come up.
Association managers have suitable legal expertise that can be very beneficial. If any legal cases arise, an association manager can offer expert guidance to the HOA board to make sure things are dealt with properly.
Policy Enforcement
HOA boards are responsible for community policies. These are rules they set for the residents to follow. Typically, they relate to disruptive behavior such as excessive noise, or things that may affect the community as a whole such as a lack of lawn care.
While they're not too difficult to establish, HOAs often have trouble enforcing policies. This is due to board members being community volunteers who usually know a lot of the other residents on a personal level. They may feel uncomfortable enforcing rules on people they see as friends.
Association managers, however, don't have this problem. They can act impartially and enforce policies as needed. This helps keep things fair and will ensure all residents follow the rules.
Does Your Community Need an Association Manager?
Some HOA boards can function effectively without assistance, but most struggle with the weight of their responsibilities. An association manager can make things much easier and improve life for all the residents within a community.
PMI Oakland offers professional association management services as well as various other real estate services throughout Oakland, CA, that you could benefit from. Take a look at our association management page today to find out more about how we can help.
