August 2021 | Goodwin & Company

Community maintenance is one of the biggest projects that an HOA board and its management team oversee. Although most HOAs are always prepared for a maintenance need to arise, some can be caught by surprise and experience unexpected expenses.

At Goodwin & Company, we approach every community we serve with a prepared preventative maintenance plan that works within their projected budget. Here’s a closer look at some of our processes and how your board members can always be prepared for a community maintenance need.

Keep Track of All of the Little Problems

Once you know that your community needs a preventative maintenance plan, the first step to take is to survey the community and take inventory of all of the minor maintenance issues that exist in your neighborhood.

Remember, small issues can quickly become large and expensive problems. So, take the initiative and handle all of the minor maintenance issues in order to prevent neighborhood emergencies in the future.

Always Have Your Maintenance Information On-Hand

As you begin to develop a preventative maintenance plan, it’s essential to have the right information available. In order to ensure that your decisions are on track and on budget, some of the necessary maintenance information you’ll need to acquire include the following:

The association maintenance policy
A detailed list of the expected maintenance costs for the year
A copy of your association’s annual budget
Information detailing how to keep community equipment warranties valid

While this may seem like a lot of information and documentation, it’s essential to keep your community prepared for any maintenance requirements. Also, your community management team can help you gather all of the information you’ll need to complete an effective preventative maintenance plan.

Always Make Sure Your HOA Board Has a Say in Maintenance Plans

Preventative maintenance plans should always be in place, no matter who is on the board or which management team a community works with. If you are creating your community’s first maintenance plan, it’s essential that your board plays a large role in the final decisions of the preventative plan.

If your board is directly involved with the decision-making process, your community can always be prepared, even if management responsibilities shift to a new team.

Find the Right Maintenance Vendors

Exceptional vendors play an important role in your community’s preventative maintenance. With the right vendors on your side, problems can quickly be found and resolved without issue.

Fortunately, your HOA management team can help you find the right vendor at a bid that fits your budget. Over our decades of service, the Goodwin management team has established relationships with the best vendors in the industry.

Trust us to help guarantee that your community receives the exceptional service it deserves.

Prevent Maintenance Issues Today, With Goodwin & Company

Maintenance can easily become an overwhelming responsibility without the help of an association management team. The managers of Goodwin & Company have established vendor relationships and years of experience with assisting communities like yours with their maintenance needs.

We’re ready to help keep your community beautiful and help you attract quality owners and retain the wonderful neighbors you already have.

When most people think of HOA meetings, images of a town hall full of excited community members chanting for residential justice come to mind.

While most of the HOA meetings a board holds aren’t necessarily as action-packed as depicted in the movies, an HOA’s success really does depend on the decisions made at meetings held throughout the year.

If you are a member of an HOA and desire involvement within your community, understanding the meetings that keep an HOA grounded is a great start.

Here’s a closer look at the five types of HOA meetings and what makes each one unique towards benefiting those who live within its boundaries.

1. Annual Meetings

Much like a presidential state of the union, an annual board meeting brings to light some of the largest decisions and issues a community faces as it heads into a new fiscal year.

As the name suggests, these meetings are held once a year and involve both the HOA’s board members and all community members who are willing to participate.

Aside from forecasting upcoming decisions for a neighborhood, an annual meeting:

Presents the annual budget
Elects new board members
Announces new major projects

2. Board Meetings

These quarterly/monthly meetings are a board’s bread and butter for managing the responsibilities and addressing any urgent issues within the community. These meetings are open to all members of the community.

Everyone is informed of the meeting time and date ahead of scheduled meetings, and agendas are planned out to the minute. In fact the only topics available for discussion at these meetings are those that are on the agenda.

For this reason, the agenda is published ahead of schedule and delivered to the members of the community for review.

3. Executive Sessions

Not all meetings are available to the general public. Sometimes decisions are made and confidential issues are addressed behind closed doors.

At an executive session, the board of directors typically discusses and votes on the following topics:

Litigation issues
Delinquent payments
Internal committee problems, and other private areas of discussion

4. Committee Meetings

Larger HOAs may require committees to address specific needs within the community. From community watch to safety, and neighborhood events, there can be several committees assigned to a community that help make its cogs move smoothly.

Committee meetings are typically held annually or monthly (depending on the importance of the committee). At these meetings committee members and members of the board discuss prominent topics that pertain to the committee’s responsibilities.

Each meeting provides minutes that are accessible upon request by any member of the community.

5. Special Meetings

Special meetings are rare events that only happen when an emergency situation arises within the community. From natural disasters to damage to community property that requires immediate repairs, special meetings have shorter notice requirements than other meetings but only the specified topic may be discussed or voted upon.

These are not executive meetings and minutes are still taken at these meetings and are available to members who want to review them.

Organize Your HOA’s Essential Meetings With Goodwin & Company

As a board member, you have a lot of responsibilities on your plate. The stress of administrative services shouldn’t be one of them. The team at Goodwin & Company knows how important it is to have complete focus on the decisions that drive a community to success.

Let us help you tackle your key responsibilities as a leader while we handle the behind-the-scenes administrative work for you. We are well-versed in: