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Being Involved In Homeowners' Associations (HOA)
Easy ways for YOU to get involved with your HOA from afar.
The officers of homeowners' associations are responsible for the maintenance, upkeep, and financial management of common areas in condo complexes and neighborhoods where you own a vacation rental property.
Being involved in any homeowners' association generally means more than participating in the financial aspects. Becoming an active member of your association from afar isn't as difficult as your might think. Many vacation rental owners believe that since they live far from their second homes, it would be impossible to be an active member of the HOA. Most HOA's hold open meetings quarterly or annually. More often than not, your HOA board needs input and opinions from their owners.
Why Get Involved
- I'm a firm believer in community involvement; if you're not involved, you have no right to gripe.
- Don't sit back and expect someone else to do your job for you.
- You reap the benefits and rewards of a well-run association; and, in the long run, this maintains or improves your property value.
- It's a great way to network other vacation rental owners.
What You Can Do
- Coordinate the maintenance visits to your vacation home with the timing of your association meetings.
- Volunteer to handle small tasks that can be done remotely, like coordinating newsletters or compiling directories.
- Contribute by organizing a social event, researching items to be purchased or locating new maintenance services (landscaping services, pool cleaning services, etc.). All of these activities will be much appreciated and none require you to be at a board meeting every month.
HOA's biggest gripe of all: When voting on issues, not enough people send in their proxies, so they don't have the necessary quorum. Some by-laws have very strict guidelines concerning what needs to be approved by the board and what requires a quorum. If an HOA board can't get the quorum to vote, the board's hands are tied.
The main reason people don't send in their proxies is because they don't know who the board member candidates are. I think it's better to vote for someone you don't know than not vote at all. Again, not having a quorum can tie the board's hands.
Remember the saying: 10% of the people do 100% of the work? A homeowners' association wouldn't be so much of a burden to a few if everyone (especially vacation rental owners) took some time to take responsibility for some of the tasks. Get involved!
© Christine Karpinski 2006
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