THE SECRET TO A GOOD HOA: KEEP IT SIMPLE

Homeowners love simplicity. A good homeowner’s association Board member’s job is to keep the communication between their governance and their homeowners as simple as possible. 

Creating and avoiding situations that complicate matters work negatively on homeowner engagement. Homeowners want to love their community, and it was important for Board members to keep their role as simple as possible for three reasons:

1. If homeowners are emotionally attached, they engage in it. 
2. If homeowners develop love for their subdivision, they tell their neighborhoods and family how much they appreciate it. In turn, their neighbors and families spread the word. Homeowners internalize association ownership which translates into adherence to the rules of the community and higher collection of dues.
3. The homeowner association will withstand when bad times come.  If homeowners are emotionally attached and love their subdivision, it will withstand through difficult times, because homeowners will sustain their love, even through those times.

Control yourself

It is easy for Board members to get carried away.  Those who become Board members usually run because they had been or were personally involved in an incident with their HOA. They are highly motivated, but they attempt to address too many things at one time, creating confusion and complexity. Good HOA Boards control their behaviors and avoid turning a simple process into a challenging one.

Do fewer things better

HOA Boards should not attempt to tackle all the issues at once.  They should avoid spreading the workload over many projects. Proliferation creates complexity and doing too many things can complicate decisions for homeowners.

Steve Jobs of Apple Computer used to say, “Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to remove.” Simplicity works best, especially when applied to governing homeowners.

Keep it small

Smaller governing has better management controls, because processes and procedures are kept simple and decisions are made much quicker.

Being simple is not simple

Being complicated is really simple. Don’t do anything, and everything will turn complicated.

Simple is not simple and can be harder to achieve. To become a successful HOA, a Board has to work hard to make it simple. But it is worth it in the end, because once you get there, your community will thrive and home values rise.

A good example of a professional management company that keeps things simple is MGM Association Management. MGM is one of the largest homeowner association management services covering the western United States. Proudly serving Idaho for the past 16 years, MGM Association Management differentiates itself by providing exceptional customer service on basic accounting services to the full-service management of common interest developments such as subdivisions, neighborhoods, townhouses, condominiums and homeowner associations.

For more information regarding homeowner association management services, call (208) 846-9189, or visit MGM Association Management at www.goMGM.com.