|
|
 |
How Do Your HOA's Assessments Stack Up?
January 2013
In Miami, the average monthly assessment at the 500-plus associations Ben Solomon advises is $250-$450, reports the attorney and founder of the Association Law Group in Miami Beach, Fla., who advises more than 500 associations and also represents developers through his second law firm, Solomon & Furshman LLP. The highest among Solomon's clients is $2,800 per month for an oceanfront condo in Bal Harbor. . . .
keep reading
|
Can You Just Change Rules You're Ignoring? Discussion Forum Follow-Up
August 2012
An HOAleader.com reader writes, "I'm part of a nine-member association in Minnesota, and we've been discussing reserves. We have a reserve provision in our bylaws but have historically used special assessments to pay for common area repairs (i.e., we have no reserves). Since our practice differs from our bylaws, we have agreed to change our bylaws to remove the reserve requirement and to restate what's common and what's not--to reflect how we actually behave today. So in the future we'd like to consider things like roofs to be aligned with the specific resident(s) vs the whole HOA. It's complicated in that eight of our nine units are really fancy duplexes, but we've agreed that we want to move expenses as close to home owner as possible and only share things that are truly common, such as our roads. Our complex is 15 years old. Aside from the risk of repair timing, variation, and likely neighborly conflict, are there any restrictions to us taking these actions? Also, what are we missing? I'm sure there are tons of things to think about (I've read the various documents on this website so I understand that our approach goes against convention)." Here our experts discuss the reserve issue and then the broader issue of ignoring your rules and then changing them to reflect your errant ways. . . .
keep reading
|
What's a Small, Self-Managed HOA to Do with Its Reserves?
March 23, 2012
In this week's tip, we offer insight to an HOAleader.com reader at a 32-owner, self-managed HOA in Virginia. Our reader wants to know how investing his HOA's reserves in an interest-bearing account or certificate of deposit will affect his HOA's nonprofit status. . . .
keep reading
|
Smart Reserve Investments for Small, Self-managed HOAs
March 2012
An HOAleader.com reader at a 32-owner, self-managed HOA in Virginia wants to know how investing his HOA's reserves in an interest-bearing account or certificate of deposit will affect his HOA's nonprofit status. Here we discuss the rules and risks of investing reserves. . . .
keep reading
|
Definition: HOA Reserve Study
"A reserve study is a study made of all the major capital systems in the association," explains Robert Galvin, a partner at Davis, Malm & D'Agostine PC in Boston who specializes in representing condos and co-ops. "It evaluates how much life they have left and how much they're likely to cost when they wear out. From that, you can calculate how much money the association has to set aside each year to have enough to replace those items when they do wear out." Discover more about a href="http://www.hoaleader.com/public/department87 . . .
keep reading
|
HOA Finances: Tips for Handling Your Reserve Account
March 2010
Are you putting enough money aside to pay to replace or repair your HOA's buildings and amenities? Is it possible your condo or homeowner association is putting too much aside? Does the HOA board know how reserves are supposed to be used? This article provides tips on how much to save and how to properly use association reserve accounts. . . .
keep reading
|
What Financial Information Must Your Association Disclose to Prospective Homeowners?
December 2009
One of your members has put her unit up for sale. She gets an offer and accepts it. You then get a request for all kinds of home owners association records from the buyer. What's your response? What must your association provide when prospective homeowners ask for your association's governing documents? What about your financial documents and minutes? What if the buyer asks the number of delinquent owners and the amount of the delinquencies? The answer to those questions depends on your state's law and your internal practices. Some states have rules requiring associations to provide extensive detail to potential buyers. Others are silent on the issue. Here's an overview. . . .
keep reading
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
Here's what our readers
are saying ...
"Your news and ideas have been a Godsend and so helpful, you can't imagine... Thanks for everything."
Saundra Ragona
Quail Ridge Owners' Association
"We really appreciate your publication. It's as if you had a spy at our meetings and over hear our gripes :). Keep up the good work."
Cynthia Ramnarace
Palmer's Landing HOA
"This is a great service."
Mark R. Benson
CAM, CMCA, AMS, PCAM
Past Chairman of the Florida Community Association Living Study Council
Past Member of the Regulatory Council of Community Association Managers
Past Vice-Chairman of the Advisory Council on Condominiums County Court Mediator
"I am a newly elect President of a small (10 units) HOA / Condo, and I am learning the business almost from scratch ... Thanks for your very valuable information."
Volodymyr (Vlad) Boryshpolov
1102 Avenue X HOA
"Thanks for all your great HOA tips! I am a new Board Secretary—your site is truly worth signing up for!"
Kathie Norris
Whispering Pines West HOA
| | |
|
Free Newsletter
Communications