Serving as the community manager or on the Board of a common interest community can be stressful, especially when you think about all the maintenance requirements that arise and all the regulations that change over the years. You already know how critical it is to maintain your community in order to retain the satisfaction of the homeowners as well sustain the property’s value. Failure to address maintenance needs in a timely fashion can result in homeowner dissatisfaction, a poor reputation, and serious safety issues.
Managing a successful common interest community takes a lot of multitasking. It’s important to delegate many of those tasks to a professional, especially exterior maintenance issues such as roofing, siding and decking. This article will address some of the latest “best practices” regarding common interest community maintenance protocols.
Encourage Proactive Behavior
When it comes to multi housing maintenance, preventing problems in the first place is key. This will cut costs and prevent premature breakdown of materials and structures. A slow leak in a roof, windows that are drafty or fog up, or a few missing shingles can translate to a very expensive fix later on, possibly costing thousands of dollars. Inspections for these issues should occur on a regular basis, and if problems are found a contractor that specializes in homeowner association maintenance, remodeling, and repair should be contacted. Be sure to work with a contractor that provides its team members with frequent training courses that keep everyone up to date on new methods, applications and materials.
Triage Issues as They Arise
When you have a multi housing property maintenance contractor on retainer, issues can be resolved in a faster, more efficient manner. Catching smaller problems when they start can prevent more costly problems down the line, including premature replacement of expensive components. Several maintenance needs may arise at one time, especially on larger properties. Having the ability to triage and prioritize issues to resolve the most pressing ones first will help prevent oversight, costly damage and serious safety issues.
Focus on Solutions, Not Symptoms
Many community managers and HOA Boards make the mistake of treating the symptoms rather than the conditions. Let’s say there’s a leak in the roof. This may prompt the manager or Board to patch the hole to address the immediate threat of rain that can leak into the building, rather than finding the source of the leak and fixing the core problem so it doesn’t happen again during the next storm.
Using a quick fix approach is a costly mistake that will only add up to more expensive fixes later. The root cause should be investigated as to why it occurred in the first place, which will provide an understanding as to how to keep the issue from recurring. For instance, letting one little leak go now could result in a mold issue later. Putting proactive solutions in place will ensure higher satisfaction rates of homeowners and will keep everyone safe.
Inspect For Widespread Problems
Approaching problems in a piecemeal manner leads to scope creep. When common complaints are received, managers or Board members should take a step back and consider how many homeowners are affected and treat the widespread problems rather than fixing each separate issue on a case-by-case basis. If there is a single issue that can be addressed at one time, such as pest infestation, money and time can be saved by resolving the entire issue.
If one owner encounters a problem in their home, it’s highly likely that a neighboring owner is experiencing the same thing. One-at-a-time treatment is not an effective means of getting the situation under control. Other issues aren’t prompted by problems but by seasonal concerns that must be addressed across the board, such as weather-driven maintenance, predictive maintenance, and snow and ice removal that affect many units at once in a certain geographical area.
Employing best practices related to common interest community maintenance, particularly when adhered to by professional contractors on a regular basis, can save time, money and hassle.
