If you’ve read the previous posts, then taking over you HOA might start sounding fun.

Now comes the dreaded part: Picking your HOA board.

Your builder will usually help you navigate this, but you should take some care to avoid a few pitfalls.

Time for the HOA Turnover:

First, what are some of the pitfalls?

Your committees have been fun. They’ll foster a great sense of community. But now you need to pick a board of directors for you HOA. They’ll serve a limited term, electing one of their ranks to become president of your HOA.

Pitfall #1

Involvement. If you take nothing else from this, PLEASE, learn this!

If you’ve followed the advice in the previous post, you should be able to get good involvement. Having a community who is concerned about their neighborhood is not just nice, it’s necessary. Otherwise, it becomes far too easy for someone with singular motives to highjack your HOA.

You see this more often in HOA’s where a large percentage of the homes are rentals, but it can also happen in any community where there is little interest from the residents.

Pitfall #2

Get to know those people who want to be elected to the board.

Very often, those committees we spoke of last time, will each have someone from their ranks run for board election. We encourage this. Not only will most people know who they are, but they’ll also know how they will behave.

Even good people can have contrary opinions. By electing someone you know and understand, you can avoid them steering your HOA towards needless expenses and endless headaches.

Pitfall #3

Watch out for trolls.

No, I don’t mean the Tolkien type either. I’m talking about the lawyers and inspectors who prey on HOA’s. So many of them feed on pessimism and paranoia.

I’ve seen HOA’s spend a lot of money on needless inspections and go-no-where lawsuits that only serve to up the HOA dues and lower their peace of mind. Granted there are times when these things are warranted, but keep in mind, they make most of their money by telling you how terrible things look.

In most cases, the homes are built and inspected to code, and if there ever is an issue, lawsuits are for builders who don’t honor their warranties.

Pitfall #4

Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

There are plenty of great property management companies that can handle all the day to day maintenance issues of your neighborhood. They usually charge a minor fee for their services, but it’s well worth it!

Just make sure that there’s no conflict of interests. You don’t want your HOA president to also own the property management company.

Now it’s time for voting.

I won’t spend much time here. As long as you’ve done your job, been involved, and helped others too, this should be a cinch.

Don’t forget…

Once your HOA board is elected, you shouldn’t give up your committees. Living in an HOA community can be fun. But even more than that, a strong community cohesion helps your newly elected officers function well.

Not only do they need your support, but also your patience. They’re new to this and you don’t want to make them regret their service.

Last of all,

Relax. Have fun. Talking about pitfalls might scare you from moving into an HOA run community. Don’t let it.

Increasing amounts of HOA neighborhoods are being built every year. We’ve had great success in our 55+ active adult communities. The people are great and the HOA’s are operated wonderfully.

If we can help foster a successful and thriving HOA, you can too.

If you’d like to see this in action, we are only a couple of months away from turning over our next HOA to the homeowners in our Strawberry Creek Villas Subdivision in Pleasant Grove. If you’re considering a move, feel free to stop by and visit our sales office there. You might even be lucky enough to buy one of the last homes there.

In any case, our sales staff will be happy to talk to you about what’s happening and how that transition is going.