The Super Hero Inside

Face it, out there for the rest of the world, an Association Manager is considered someone that could not get another job, most people have no respect about our profession and know very little about the incredibly large amount of knowledge and responsibilities we carry. I have been told hundreds of times that an Association Manager is a ‘maintenance’ person without knowing that we are extremely dedicated individuals who get stressed on a daily bases because we are the association’s enforcers, we are the experts in building maintenance and repairs, we are the experts in common areas and homeowner responsibilities, and that we have an ultimate duty towards each one of the homeowners who live at each association we manage in addition of the Board of Directors to make sure that their association runs the way it should.

With nearly three decades in the property management business, I have been gathering knowledge about my profession and what I truly love about it. My family has thought along the years that I am some sort of masochist who likes to be tortured every day without realizing that most of us, who work in this business, love organizing, presenting and most of all accomplishing goals. Every challenge I ever had, every unjustified insult from a homeowner, every disrespectful comment towards me, every problem I helped resolve, is an accomplishment and the satisfaction of being efficient is what feeds my spirit every day, thinking that little by little I am making a difference in the Association Management world.

I came to the conclusion a long time ago that an efficient Association Manager has many responsibilities, which are not to only prioritize urgent maintenance issues but always inform owners about their responsibilities, to take care of all the property details, supervise vendors, analyze better alternatives of cost efficiency within maintenance and projects and have constant communication with the Board of Directors and Committees. Trust is very hard to build, and it is only accomplished when we demonstrate our commitment.

An Association Manager should not only attend all Board meetings, but be responsible to provide them with administrative support, prepare agendas, minutes, and distribute Board packages with agreed upon lead-time and to always provide our research about agenda items prior to each meeting, since some homeowners might raise questions about the Association and who most times they have never read their own property governing documents. Organizing meetings is challenging but when those meetings result in a success, even if we are not recognized for the effort, it is a huge build to our ego.

Along the many years as a manager, I learned the hard way that we need to respond within 24 hours to Board requests directed to me, the Community Manager. I always tried to provide not only the Board President with timely status reports, but kept all the rest of the Directors in every communication. New association managers have asked me what is my ‘secret’ and how I build trust, which is essential in this business. I always respond with a short sentence: It is extremely important for the Board to see quick proactive action.

I always review all the Board meeting minutes for accuracy prior to distribution and if time allows, I also try to create a weekly management report to email to all board members on the status of projects, attend committee meetings as appropriate and most of all, I always make sure to supervise work at the properties I manage. There is nothing worse than attending a meeting where Board Members or homeowners have pictures of issues that the manager should have been the first one to know about. We should always be the prime liaison between the Board and the association’s vendors.

Among our many duties, we need to manage Annual meetings, mail voting proxies and ballots to owners in a timely manner and perform other associated paperwork to document the financial status of the association. An annual meeting is the time to shine for a Manager, mostly when the Board excels in front of the homeowners. A smooth meeting speaks loudly about the efficiency of the association manager. Remember, we get paid but all the Board Members are volunteers who should rely on us.

Board consideration with a brief evaluation of each option and not only because the bid is lower, but because it is extremely important to know and present cost comparison, contractor’s reputation and references. During the bid process a specific report of what type of work is intended is important, at the time when the Board selects a vendor they should be able to compare ‘apples to apples'. This process is what makes us knowledgeable about everything that has to do with building codes, construction defects, proper solutions to every problem and we learn along time everything that has to do with pools, landscaping, plumbing, roofs, insurance, budgets and a huge array of different knowledge that makes us experts.

Finally, it is our ultimate duty to educate Board members on the State’s law requirements, about how to conduct meetings and the importance of keeping corporate records to improve the Board’s effectiveness and efficiency. In addition to providing direction to the Board with information and research of each subject, this should be a priority.

The outside world, where most people buy into a property because it looks great, the reality is that less than 15% of prospective buyers request from their real estate agent any information about the Association prior buying into one, and are nothing but surprised that Rules and Regulations are enforced. If they live in a townhome or a condominium association, they truly think the HOA pays for everything ‘outside’ and forget that homeowners have responsibilities.

We are aware that there are only 24 hours in a day. An Association Manager has little time to even have lunch at times or take a vacation; there is never a really good time to stand up and leave. If you are dedicated to your job, you are simply ‘on call’ all the time, but at the end of each day, we are all simply “SUPERHEROES” and we should be extremely proud of it.

Lina Caggiano-Boer, CMCA, AMS, PCAM