Condo Association Management Blog

Here are three more ways that I have done or observed as a board member: 
 
Reduce or eliminate PRINTED communications: The web is becoming more and more commonplace, and most homeowners have a computer with internet access in their home. HOA's with their own website can save hundreds of dollars a year on printing, distribution costs and handling fees to management companies by distributing newsletters, minutes, and other documents entirely online. A good website should be easy for visitors to use, easy for the board/management to update, and many are starting to implement RSS feeds to deliver updates and news to owners and residents without using traditional email newsletters. For those without internet access at home, there is always their work, a friend or neighbor's house, and even the library or internet cafe. HOA's can even charge a small monthly fee for those people who still wish to receive a paper copy in the mail. Boards who deliver a large percentage of their communications through the web should discuss a discount with their management company for the reduction in printing, "envelope-stuffing" and distribution costs if the service is built into the management fee. Considering that most printed condo communications end up in the recycling bin, or worse trash, within a few minutes of being read, an HOA website not only saves money, but it's a green resource. 
 
Can your property make money? A friend of mine lives in a condo building in San Diego's Middletown neighborhood that was smart enough to have a cell tower added to their 5 story, 30 unit building. The cell company paid for and performed the installation, and pays enough each month to cover the entire HOA budget. In fact, they get a $50 per unit, per month dividend. Other ways to make money - solar panels and/or wind power. Collect rain water for sprinklers. The list goes on. 
 
Sell Something Depending on your covenants, you may be able to sell some of your under used guest parking spaces to owners in need of an additional space. Another San Diego/Mission Valley HOA I know of did this by moving their entry gate in their garage over enough to shift six spaces over from guest parking. These six new spaces were sold at a price of $15,000 each. The HOA used the $75,000 to make an emergency retrofit to the community that was required by their insurance company. The great news for the HOA was that the reserves were not touched, and the homeowners did not have to incur a special assessment.

While I don’t have answers for reducing expenses, I may be able to help with dues collection.  
 
 
 
My name is Paul Smoot and I represent AmStar Litigation Management, a firm that provides a powerful, low cost litigation package to homeowners facing foreclosure. Many of the readers may have association members that are facing this stressful situation and could use assistance. 
 
For associations, the negative effects of foreclosure have rightly caused concerns regarding the impact on your neighborhood and neighbors, let alone the financial implications.  
 
 
 
My firm provides support for homeowners in this situation, allowing them to remain and have budget for dues. We are NOT a foreclosure releif or modification company, though these options may ultimately become available to the homeowners through our service. We specialize in litigation management.  
 
 
 
We have found it very effective to meet with groups of homeowners who are now, or may soon be in this situation to help your associations avoid depletion of income from non-paying residents. If I can be of service, my phone is 954-895-2895 and my email is psmoot.amstar@bellsouth.net. Please let me know if I can be of service to anyone that may have challenges in this area to help make your association stronger. 
 

Telecommunication Revenue Generation for your properties 
 
We are a telecommunication property management company for all real estate businesses.  
 
 
 
Our core business? To make the life of our customers easier!  
 
We think it’s crucial that our customers are able to concentrate on their own business without having the worries about the GSM, TETRA, UMTS, 3G, and WIMAX telecom site build outs on their Real Estate by one of the active telecom carriers in the US market.  
 
 
 
Steele Consulting came to life to fill a demanding niche of business users who appreciate and rely on an outsourced Telecom Site Manager for all of their Real Estate. The company offers an increasing portfolio of Telecom Site Management services and related services towards Real Estate investing companies such as Housing Corporations, Building owners, Communities, Governments, and Private investors.  
 
 
 
We have a decade of experience in the wireless communication industry and development of multi-use antenna site facilities. I will send additional information to any takers.  
 
 
 

I work with hundreds of HOA's across the country and I can full-heartedly attest to the fact that providing MULTIPLE PAYMENT OPTIONS to homeowners is a HUGE boost to an HOA's cash flow. When you provide homeowners to pay with a credit card, an E-check, or recurring debit it helps a receipt of payments BIG TIME. It helps when homeowners are traveling for leisure, on business; if they want to earn miles on their credit cards, or they need to tap into their credit line to pay a special assessment simply..maybe they got laid off, or simply b/c they HATE writing checks. This is a sure fire way to help any association. 
 
William Corbera- propertyhelp@revopayments.com

Managing as a team -- your HOAs insurance broker, your attorney, the property manager -- can also lower expenses. These team members, working together, will see avenues for savings not otherwise immediately apparent. 
 
 
 
It may very well be time to re-examine your policy coverages, management philosophy or CC&Rs as they're written.

How do you do Automated Payment using credit cards if your management company doesn't support that feature?

Many banks offer automated payment services through your bank account. There also some on-line services, e.g. http://paytrust.com/

Couple more thoughts: 
 
- Put lights on timers to save $ and electricity 
 
- Landscaping to save water & upkeep costs 
 
- Rules e.g. mandatory thermostat settings 
 
- Always request multiple bids for work -- you'd be surprised at how much $ you can save by finding someone who will do quality work for cheaper

Just got off the phone with Paytrust and they only send out payments as a Bill Payer service, they don't receive payments. Is it a different company you are referring to? Thanks.