Congratulations on being elected to your condominium associations board. As a board member, you’ll play a crucial role in fostering a sense of community within your association. By organizing social events, addressing residents' concerns, and promoting open communication, you contribute to creating a welcoming and harmonious environment where everyone feels valued and connected. Perhaps most

We talk a lot about the importance of keeping your association's reserve fund healthy and the significant value that a well funded reserve fund can bring. In this blog post we wanted to touch on another tool for unlocking significant value for your association - FHA Approval. So, why should you care about FHA approval for your condominium community? Here are some key insights and benefits to

Hey there, fellow condo owners! Have you ever wondered about the financial health of your HOA? I sure didn’t, until I learned a valuable lesson about the importance of having adequate reserves on-hand. Let me share my personal experience with you and shed some light on why every HOA should prioritize this crucial task. A few years back, our community was hit with a major unexpected expense when

Underfunded reserves are one of the most critical issues facing condominium associations today. While there are a million and one reasons why this problem is so pervasive across the country, ultimately the root cause comes back to a condo board’s overly optimistic or poorly informed view of what it costs to maintain the common elements of their community. Case in point. When talking to other

Here’s a question that most condominium owners would prefer to never have to answer. How adequate is your association’s reserve fund? Can it meet it’s repair and replacement obligations? On the one hand, you probably don’t want to know because there is a high probability the answer is not good. On the other hand, you better find out. Quickly. Underfunded reserves can have a significant

There are currently 12 states in the U.S. that have enacted condominium or “Common Interest Community” laws that make conducting a periodic (usually every 5 years) reserve study a legal requirement for an association’s executive board. The 12 states are California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Washington State. Several of

When it comes to reserve fund planning there are a lot of interesting rule of thumb approaches many of us have heard over the years. “Set aside an amount equal to 10% of the annual operating budget”, “Do a special assessment of $100K to add a reserve buffer”, are just a few of the less than analytical approaches to reserve fund planning out there. Generally, what these approaches say is

Deferred maintenance and under-funded reserves are two of the biggest worries facing HOA communities today. Fannie Mae apparently agrees. A recent article in the Boston Globe shed light on a confidential blacklist Fannie Mae keeps on condo developments that they deem too risky to underwrite due to deferred maintenance related issues. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac support 70 percent of the mortgage