Estimate of Roles, Costs, & Hours by former HOA Presidents and Property Management Company
HOA Requirements
|Condo/HOAs are the first line of government for those that own property managed by an association and registered with the state of Washington.
The Board of Directors must adhere to a set of laws in the state of Washington for the management of the common property (link below).
Small HOAs can often manage with less, but an HOA for our 614-home community would require (at least) the following:
- HOA rule adherence and conflict management
- Finances, reports, bank account, annual statements to the membership, etc.
- Annual Budget
- Contractors for landscaping, repairs to buildings, streets, etc.
- Reserve funds for substantial property assets: fencing, painting, roofing, private streets, etc.
- Insurance for Common Property
- Collections and Liens
- Attorneys (if needed) for collections, suits against homeowners that refuse to abide by covenants they signed upon purchase of property, etc.
- Special Assessments which may not be covered by reserve funds (no one likes unexpected large assessments for roofing, painting, streets, curbing, irrigation repair and replacement, etc.)
- Errors & Omissions insurance to protect Board members from being personally liable in lawsuits initiated by HOA members over disagreements.
- Architectural Committee rule adherence
- Approval and denial of arch applications
- Annual meetings
- Mailings of dues statements, collections, and accounting of funds
- Elections of Board members: typically 5-9 Board members
- Separate committees to manage architecture, landscaping, budget, legal, etc
- Professional Management company to ensure adherence to state laws
Professional Management company HOA costs nationally run between $10-$20 per unit, per month.
For a comprehensive look at Washington state law pertaining to HOA management and compliance, click link below.
https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=64.32
Note: In our current situation with the golf course, they manage and are responsible for these items under our fees.
There is a minimum of 2 people per committee to ensure no single person is making important decisions on their own. And there is no less than 7 board members based on size of our community and need for an odd number of board members.
Estimated HOA Board Size Number of Members Hours/Month/Person Total Hours/Month Minimum 7 board members determined by number of homes & number of committees required 7 7 49 Committee Assignments Landscaping: Manages contractors, repairs, budgets, quotes 3 10 30 HOA Architectural: 76-100 arch requests per year; painting, roofs, landscaping, estimated at 6-8 per month 5 30 150 Budget: Plan annual budget, may include reserve studies & investments 5 2 10 Publications: Create newsletter & manage website 2 5 10 Annual Meeting: Plan meeting, create agenda including upcoming major projects, each board to present reports, send notice to members 3 5 15 Legal: Work with lawyers on liens, collections, lawsuits, etc. 2 10 20 Total Volunteer Hours per Month: 284 Comparison of 3 small HOA’s in Lynden can be found on website’s blog
The cost breakdown has been organized into a spreadsheet: