Managing a Homeowners Association is beneficial as you contribute to your local community, but it’s not without its drawbacks. Communicating with other board members and residents can take a large amount of personal time. . It is especially true in light of the statewide closures and social distancing measures. Many homeowners associations are still relying on paperwork, so modernizing the communication systems used by your homeowner’s association is essential.
Updating Homeowners Association Rules, Bylaws, and Resident Information
Updating the rules and bylaws of a homeowners association is a time-consuming process. It involves numerous back and forth discussions between board members, residents, and lawyers regarding exact wording and the effects of new laws. All of this is time-consuming, and it is expensive, notably if done by paper. Updating resident information is also a task that can easily be managed online, thereby saving you time and effort. Self-reporting or self-updating ensures that accurate information is received. Doing it online can automate the process that flows that information into the invoice system and the communications system.
Reducing the Amount of Work
Paper-based communication systems may seem like a great way to keep track of all the communications sent out to residents. Still, you will soon find yourself starting to drown in paperwork. Naturally, some processes and rules can be put in place to control it, but it all adds up over time. Modernizing your Homeowners Association’s communication system will lessen each board member’s workload thanks to the automation potential available by using modern technology. You won’t need to calculate or write out any more invoices. Flyers about an upcoming meeting don’t need to be designed, printed, and mailed out.
The Rules and Bylaws, when updated, no longer need to be printed out and mailed out either. All of this can be done online via a communication portal. Additionally, by offering all of this information online, residents can consume it at their own pace when best for them, resulting in better connections being created.
Maintenance Requests
Handling maintenance requests and updating residents on the progress is naturally much more comfortable online and more likely to result in things being attended to quicker. A paper-based maintenance request system will cause bottlenecks when the paperwork gets lost and even may be deadly. Having an electronic system for residents to communicate their requests and check on updates makes the reporting process easier for residents.
It gives them the best chance of all details being recorded. This information can then be passed onto the repair person who can diagnose the issue and fix it. An electronic recording system can also keep track of previous repairs better than a manual system. Silvercreek Association Management has a full-time maintenance division that accepts electronic maintenance requests and undertakes the work. Having an electronic plan in place to accept the repair communications acts as a preventative, saving the HOA money while also streamlining the process.
Homeowners Associations Meeting and Events Reminders
Ensuring all residents are aware of events coming up is a tricky thing if you have to call everyone manually. This hassle can be overcome by modernizing the communication system used by the Homeowners Association. Turning to online communication forms to get the word out about upcoming events cuts out the need for you to call every resident to confirm their knowledge. Keeping on top of this is especially important regarding meeting attendance. There may be severe repercussions for forgetting to inform residents of HOA meetings where they want to raise. Sending out reminders or putting a notice on the HOA message board and implementing a system where residents must acknowledge they have received the notices can protect you from complaints.
Cost Savings
Although modernizing communication of the Homeowners Association naturally involves an outlay, it also saves money. You will longer have to arrange the printing of hundreds of notices for each event, every reminder, and each invoice. Since modernizing communication means turning to online forms, ink, and paper is saved. The printing and mailing of meeting minutes highlight why turning to online forms of sharing such information is better overall.
As part of most, if not all, HOA requirements and bylaws, a resident must receive a copy of meeting minutes. If you were to provide 100 residents with a physical copy of a 5-page meeting minutes document each month, that would result in you having to print and mail out 6,000 pieces of paper each year. Just for meeting minutes. Not any other notice. Looking at it like this shows that cost savings that have come about due to turning to online communications are not something to be taken lightly. Significantly when you extend the calculations to every other item, you must send them out to residents.
Turning online rather than continuing with paper is a significant cost saving. It can make it easier to handle the financials of the homeowners association.
Payment Systems
While not directly connected to “communication,” modernizing the homeowners association by moving communications online can also positively impact its financial basis. It makes sense even to set up an online payments system when setting up the online communication system. Allow residents to make payments online. You will no longer have to deal with processing manual payments or handling cheques or cash. Not only will this save you time, but it will also help you keep a more straightforward track of which resident has paid and which hasn’t. Invoices and reminders for payment can be sent via email or uploaded to the online communication system saving you from contacting people asking for overdue payment awkwardly.
While modernizing your Homeowner Association’s communication systems may seem like a hassle, initially, it will not only save you time and frustration in the long term. It will also ensure better governance, control, and relationships with members.
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