Translating Personal Annual Goals Into Community Goals

A Message from Sandy

To help start my work week off with a positive attitude, I have consistently made an effort to go to the gym on Mondays. In October, November and December I crawled out of bed, drove down the street, and parked my car near the entrance of the 24-Hour Fitness where I work out. I would then hop onto the machine closest to the door. There were always plenty of spots to park my car and many machines to choose from.

On Monday, January 6, 2014, I arrived at the gym and found the front of the parking lot was completely full! I parked further away than usual and hiked to the door. I walked in to find not one free machine. I realized the reason for the crowd was that it was a new year and all these people were there to start the year off right. They were making an effort to stick to the "New Year's Resolutions" they had made.

One thing that came to my mind that morning as I drove to work was how challenging it can be to sit down and develop resolutions/goals for the upcoming year. I was thinking that in my 25+ years in the community management industry, I have truly enjoyed developing annual goals and resolutions for the communities I managed. I loved implementing these goals and seeing communities reach them.

The funny thing about most of my personal goals is that as challenging as it was for me to hone in on them and commit to achieving them, almost everyone else I knew had very similar goals. I'm certainly not alone. The same can be said about a community; communities largely have the same goals.

With that in mind, let's take a look at how associations can reach their community goals. Community and personal goals can be achieved!

First: Developing a Plan

If you happen to have a December 31 year end, you have worked diligently over the last 6 months to develop a plan for your community. You started by gathering the below people to assist you:

• CH Manager
• Community Vendors
• Reserve Study Consultant
• CH, VP Finance

Next Up: Asking For Help

The first step in developing this plan was retaining the professional assistance of a qualified reserve study consultant. Once the board hires the consultant the manager provides the consultant:

• Current financials
• Contracts and other documentation from work conducted form the reserve study that year and upcoming work.
• Any pertinent information that the Association Vendors have with regards to status of the reserve items that may impact the cost of the component.
• Any cost estimates for replacements or upgrades the board has determined they would like to plan for.

Now What? Analyzing the Plan

Once the Reserve Study has been completed, the board will be able to determine:

• Is the reserve funded adequately to ensure we are protecting the reserve components and will be able to replace the necessary components as needed?
• What reserve work is scheduled to be done that next year and the estimated costs involved.
• The time frame involved in doing cost saving replacements or enhancements to the community?  (For example: changing out lighting to LED bulbs to save money, landscape upgrades to monuments, etc.)

Once the board has this tool, the manager can assist the board in developing a budget, strategy and overall management plan for the next year. This is done by approving the budget for your fiscal year and the task of the development of your associations’ annual calendar.  

Finally: Implementation

The Management plan for your individual community is in essence your annual calendar. The annual calendar consists of:

• Corporate and Civil Code compliance deadlines
• Schedule of Reserve work to be completed with goal dates for work to be completed.
• Insurance Renewals
• Special Project and other items that may be unique to your community.

Ready, Set, GO!

ABOUT CRUMMACK HUSEBY PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, INC.
WE ARE BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS & GROWING COMMUNITIES.
Crummack Huseby utilizes a personal approach to create and develop one-of-a-kind property management programs for new and existing communities. Our award-winning talent would be honored to present their unparalleled methods in property management and builder services to your team or board. For more information, please visit ch-pm.com or call 888-399-9430 Toll-free

Crummack Huseby Property Management, Inc.
25531 Commercentre Drive Suite 100 Lake Forest, CA 92630