HOA INSIGHT: CREATING A PLAN FOR YOUR COMMUNITY

I grew up taking road trips with my family every Summer. We would all load into our Ford LTD station wagon with the trailer hitched up and then headed off! I’d often ask where we were going. My Dad would show me a map and walk me through each destination, how long it would take to get to each location, and our activities once there. I was always delighted with his plans, and I knew it took him weeks to create it.

What does that have to do with creating a plan for your community?  Without a truly defined destination or plan, you are probably going to miss out on great stuff. Without creating a map or plan that you can easily navigate or understand, you’ll find frustration along the way. Creating a plan for your community is similar to a road trip. You can drive on cruise control and be surprised by what’s ahead, or you can make a plan that is thoughtful for everyone in the car.

As a board, one of your thoughtful plans and responsibilities is to preserve and promote property values. In order to do that, you need to be thinking about where you are today and how you are going to keep up tomorrow. You need to strategically map out your plan. 

Here are 6 ways to plan ahead:

1. Do you have a plan to renovate the landscape about every 10 years?  Plants do have a finite life span and in order to keep your curb appeal up, this should be in your strategic plan.
    
2. If you have technology, are you seeking new innovations that benefit your budget and community?  If you are still using Medco keys, does it make sense to upgrade to a fob or card system to track use, and add to your violation procedure?
    
3. When you review your reserve study are you thinking about whether the life expectancy of those components should be either extended or increased given their actual wear and tear, and appearance?
    
4. In the age of Lifestyle Communities, are there opportunities to bring the community together that are not being considered or talked about?
    
5. Are you seeking feedback from you community members to see what services they might want to see the board incorporate into the management program?
    
6. Every year at budget time, and again around mid-year, it is a great time to talk about how your budget is performing and the changing needs of the community. Be open minded to feedback. As people move on and new owners come in, the dynamic and desires of your community shift for members that you are elected to serve.

Change starts by looking around for opportunities, seeking feedback, using your experts and forging a plan. I’m here for you any time to discuss how we can do all the above, and more, for your community. Email me at margo@CH-pm.com 

Wishing you, your board, and community continued success throughout the year!

-Margo Crummack

About Margo Crummack

It was over 19 years ago when Margo saw a need for a more customized and personalized approach to community management and formed Crummack Huseby with Sandra Woods Huseby. Their mission was a breath of fresh air within their industry:  to create an open dialogue with communities, to focus on the core of a community, and to customize management styles to suit what’s best for that particular community. 

As an expert in New Project Development, Margo is often invited to consult from day one. Her work ethic is respected and valued—when she says she’ll do it, it gets done. One of Margo’s crown jewels is the beautiful 20-Merchant Builder Master Planned Community that she consulted on back in 1999 and still manages today.

Always advocating for continued learning, Margo encourages an environment of “training, motivating, and innovating” for herself, Crummack Huseby’s employees, and their clients. She is also a well-respected speaker and educator within the industry, serving on the Education Committee for CAI-OC and CACM’s Education Review Committee.

About Crummack Huseby

Crummack Huseby Property Management was awarded "Best Places to Work" three years in a row by the Orange County Business Journal and Best Companies Group. They have added value to communities throughout Southern California by working with HOAs, homebuilders, and land developers through their collaborative and customized approach. Their personalized philosophy to community management has allowed them to successfully discover and develop one-of-a-kind programs for new and existing communities. www.ch-pm.com