This post is part of a series examining takeaways from the 2022 Community Pulse survey. The survey uncovered top challenges and business growth strategies among HOA management companies.
The association management industry is undergoing rapid change, with new obstacles coming from multiple directions. Hence the need for an industry-wide survey to help property management owners and professionals take stock of the challenges facing association management and the strategies peers are employing to navigate these obstacles.
The good news: The industry is growing. 83% of respondents reported that their firms added more community associations last year.
The bad news: That growth is accompanied by new and heightened challenges. And topping that list is widespread concern about keeping up with rising homeowner demands.
Residents want more, and they want it faster than ever before. They want to see action being taken regarding their requests and visibility into that progress. Homeowners want to feel heard. They want requests, tasks, and payments to feel easy and be accomplished without friction. They want to remain informed and want HOA communication tools that provide convenience and keep them in the know.
The data also pinpoints the areas that homeowners feel need the most attention:
– 85% expect faster response times
– 57% expect more convenient ways to pay
– 56% expect more transparency into requests
We shared these findings with several association management veterans, and none were surprised. Frank Pelot of Leland Property Management pointed to technology as a critical component of the management company’s response. As he put it, “[homeowners are] asking for technology to allow instant gate access for their family and friends. They want a community app to reserve rooms, pay their assessments, generate work orders, notify the manager, and receive community news.”
In summary, community managers overwhelmingly ranked “homeowner communications” as their most time-consuming task, and the onus is on their leadership to alleviate the burden. That message is getting heard, and a growing number of management companies are prioritizing the homeowner-facing components of their technology stack, upgrading key HOA communication tools such as community portals and HOA mobile apps.
Download the full report to learn about other pressing challenges.
