What You Should Know About a Community's HOA, Part 2
The
Georgia Club: United inside and outside the gates.
Just as you would tour the golf course, visit the fitness center and sample the cuisine of any community you may buy a home in, you should also take a close look at the community’s governing body, its HOA. We laid out five targeted questions on this topic last month. Here are five additional questions:
1. How well suited is the HOA to the task of conversion
of ownership to members/residents as the original developer departs?
One of the most basic
functions of an HOA is, in fact, to
facilitate conversion of ownership once the developer’s business interest
in the community ends. In most cases, the promotional material seen in
brochures, mailings and the community website will not include details about the developer’s build-out or
sellout schedule. When researching a planned community that is still
developer-owned (with the developer operating the HOA and taking receipt of its
dues), expect that you will have to make a specific,
direct inquiry regarding turnover. In cases where a community’s website does
include this information, it will probably be included under the “Frequently
Asked Questions” tab.
2. How able is the community to recruit and elect new
candidates to rotate onto the governing board?
As is so often the case, quality personnel is vital to operating
a golf community. The Palm City, FL community of Piper’s
Landing goes out of its way to stress the importance of member service
on the Piper’s Landing board of directors. The community website lists all board members by name and rank, and
even includes biographical information like their profession, hometown and the
college and graduate schools they attended. Another notable facet of the
Piper’s Landing form of self-government is its practice of holding open-forum “town hall” sessions before
each scheduled meeting of the board. In those sessions, club members can voice
their views and perhaps show their interest and aptitude for eventual board
service.
3. Does the HOA do a consistent, reliable job of
communicating to residents and members?
A well-designed, well-written
community newsletter that is published in a timely manner goes a long way toward
to keeping all interested parties well-informed about what’s happening with
events, projects and fiscal matters. Some communities are even starting up
blogs, a medium that is sure to improve the timeliness of new information. One
of the most thorough and conscientious communities when it comes to
transparency and keeping information current is the south Florida-based Jonathan’s
Landing. The newsletter put out by Jonathan’s Landing contains
important HOA matter divided into several categories. It even publishes the
minutes of committee meetings.
4. Does the HOA interface adequately with local
government outside the community gates? Wakefield
Plantation, in Raleigh, NC, is particularly adept in this area. It was recently honored by The Community Assocation Institute (CAI) of North Carolina as the
state’s best-run large scale homeowners’ association.
Statistics show that new
buyers in planned communities are drawn by the benefit of superior services and
maintenance. It only makes sense that well-run HOA’s would not only stay on top
of the services directly provided by the HOA in the community, but would also
monitor road projects and other municipal matters that directly affect the
immediate vicinity of club property.
It’s been noted by many that
a community that’s united to help
good causes does a particularly fine job of
working together inside the gates to handle the immediate needs of the
property and its amenities.The
Georgia Club, in the town of Statham,
GA, is a model of goodwill and good
marketing in its region. Particularly at the year-end holiday season, The
Georgia Club Foundation, a 501(c)(3) established by the community’s HOA, is
highly visible conducting tour-of-homes events that raise money for good causes
and add to the prestige and value of
homeownership there.
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