What are /r/HOA's favorite Products & Services?

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We opened last summer, removed furniture, one family per one hour session. The pool is unmanaged and we use free tool https://calendly.com/ for scheduling. Technically no one prevents anyone to get to the pool any time, but our residents are nice and follow the rules. I own the whole process and checking it from time to time.

The pool usage was very low last year. 100 units, but only 4-5 families were using the pool.

What is your budget? Most industry solutions are designed for bigger HOA's and management companies. Buildium starts at $50/month. Appfolio starts at $280/month. Propertyware starts at $250/month.

At 6 units, you can probably get by with free software. Microsoft Office is free if you use the online versions. Wave Accounting is free.

Keep neighborly issues separate from HOA issues. There should be a very clear distinction between:

• Casual social chitchat amongst RESIDENTS (who may or may not be owners) concerning local issues such as package delivery, safety/security, garage sales, community involvement, etc. None of these are HOA issues.
• HOA management tasks which concern only OWNERS (who may or may not live in the area) should be confined to HOA-specific areas such as meetings moderated by the board or your management company. That way the HOA can limit the discussion to appropriate topics.

A good way to deflect all the neighbor-type issues is to point people to nextdoor.com. This is a good site for neighbors to communicate in a local fashion with each other, whether they live in the boundaries of your HOA or not. Remember crime doesn't start and stop at the boundaries of your HOA! Nextdoor also has their own policing/moderation policies which your HOA doesn't have to be involved with.

If your HOA owns or sponsors any other social networking group (Facebook, Yahoo, etc.), you should shut that down to eliminate any confusion or liability issues.

QuickBooks isn't really overkill, since even small HOA's need to track income and expenses, produce a balance sheet, stick to a budget, and track accounts receivable and payable. This means you need real accounting software, not just a spreadsheet.

You might try Wave Accounting instead, it's a free online accounting package designed for small businesses. It even integrates with your bank to make reconciliations easy.

Remember, the goal of a HOA treasurer is not just to keep track of who's paid this month, it's to keep accurate records of all financial transactions in a form that can be understood by owners, prospective purchasers, your auditor, and your successor.

15 foot hedge!

More seriously, a small bed of light-colored rocks in a contrasting color can be a good visual marker. It may or may not be approved, though.

If you're willing to be nasty, you could get a motion activated sprinkler. It's not a permanent installation, so it probably doesn't need approval. It hooks up to a hose. It is designed to deter stray cats, so you can say that's your main concern and trespassers are just incidental.

This book has been very helpful and was written by an attorney well-versed in HOA law.

https://www.amazon.com/Homeowners-Association-Manual-5th/dp/1561643130/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=Homeowners+association+manual&qid=1646157019&sr=8-1

>Whether is be that I'm cold intolerant, or I'm just complaining, they feel that they have NO obligation to work on fixing the problem that directly affects me.

Not endorsing this particular product but maybe getting something like this can help prove your case that your heat is colder than others' heat if no one wants to visit by to see that your heat is lower temperature than neighbors:

Thermometer for HVAC Air Temp

I saw the pros using something like this when our HVAC was blowing warm instead of hot.

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>I'm going to recruit one other person I know will do it with me, and then hopefully one of the new owners.

This is a good idea. I don't like the idea of friends working together on the board because there won't be enough objectivity. However, it beats the situation where people can't get along. It's hard to find a balance where people can say they disagree but still get along quite fine. With your situation, I agree that it would not be easy if you were to serve with one or two of these people who are against you.

Best of luck with this going forward for the HVAC and joining the board.

They might not have to prove that the stain comes from op's vehicle. If it's op's responsibility to maintain the parking spot, it doesn't necessarily matter much how the stain got there. The HOA could simply fine for lack of maintenance. I am not saying it's right, just saying how it can end up.

As I suggested in another reply, if it's really no op's vehicle doing this, op could try asking for a parking lock to be installed, maybe at their own expense. But this is a double edged sword : if the stains continue, no way to say it's because of someone else...

Op, if the issue is really about other cars parking into the spot and staining it, one solution I can suggest is asking the HOA for the permission to put a parking lock on that spot.

If they deny, my perception (I am not a lawyer) is that it weakens their case that you can be held responsible for the stains, since they refused you a reasonable mean to ensure that noone else would use the spot.

Of course, if they accept and you still produce stains, then you have no way to escape from the liability...

Another possibility is to ask for the garage floor to be covered in epoxy. It looks great, and it is super easy to clean (vs concrete which is porous). But it is expensive and it is likely the HOA will refuse to pay for it for the whole parking, and they will likely refuse that you do it just on your spot.

Finally, a possibility could be to add some concrete sealant, which blocks the pores of the concrete, making it much less susceptible to stains and much easier to clean. If your HOA is sensitive about stains on the concrete, they should really consider doing this. But if it is outside, the lifetime of this is limited.

Hope this gives you some ideas/pointers.

What are the payment processing fees and who pays them?

Our HOA collect about $150K a year from 50 owners. Most people pay monthly, so that's about 600 payments, and we pay $1 per ACH, for a total of roughly $600/year in payment processing fees.

Assuming you don't have preferential pricing from Stripe (0.8% per their pricing page), moving that $150K via ACH will cost $1200, or double our current processing costs, and an amount that is 3x your platform's annual fee. So the cost for us to move to RunHOA is not just the $400 you're asking, it's $400 in platform fees + $1200 in payment processing fees.

That $1600 is basically the same price we pay to Buildium today ($1000 to the platform and $600 in payment fees), and honestly, even though it looks like your platform has more HOA-specific features (which we like!), it appears much less mature. We would not consider switching to RunHOA in its current state as there would be no cost savings and a step down in experience.

Unused to work for delorean in Texas. Can’t tell you how many cars had non functioning engines. But no problem. Just rent big think movers blankets to protect the cars and then put wheel dollies under the wheels. You can push the cars out by hand fat enough out of the spot to let a tow truck take over.

TRIL GEAR Set of (4) 3" Tire Wheel Dolly Dollies Tire Skates Vechicle Car Auto Repair Moving Diamond Red https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YHG7W5F/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_KK1W7C3463NV504RPM5H

If you have shared walls with other units, yes it’s the HOA’s responsibility unless your governing docs say otherwise.

On a personal note, last summer I had a monster ant infestation in my house. After trying every portable ant bait (and none of them worked) I used Optigard ant bait gel. They were gone in a week and never came back.

OptiGuard Ant Gel, 4 x 30-Gram Tubes https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075G2JP5H/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_VAT54K8PRCQH4REGTQ76?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Although Excel is OK for tracking short lists of financial transactions, what you really need is a small business accounting solution. The HOA's financial concerns are identical to any small business: keeping track of income/expenses, budgeting, taxes, and reporting. This means you don't really need something specifically built for HOA's.

We use a property management platform called Buildium which includes accounting and a bunch of other HOA-specific functionality like roster/contact management, violation tracking, and online payments capabilities. But I think their minimum charge is around $50/month, so not really suited for ultra-small HOA's like yours.

QuickBooks is the grand-daddy of all small business accounting software. Their lowest plan is $25/mo, so still probably too expensive for your small HOA, plus they really squeeze the features in the low end to convince you to upgrade to a higher tier.

One alternative worth considering is Wave Accounting. It's a free online accounting platform, with plenty of features and all the reporting you will ever need. You don't need to be an accountant to use it (although it would help to have someone with SOME bookkeeping/accounting experience to help get you set up). And it really is free. It will help you apply good accounting principles like accurately recording your liabilities, documenting expenses with attached invoices, and properly reconciling your records.

I don’t think so. But I would mention it on your disclosure, the hoa is in the process of some outlets stuff, but I don’t really understand all that.

But if you wanted to test/mark your outlets.

Klein Tools RT210 Outlet Tester, Receptacle Tester for GFCI / Standard North American AC Electrical Outlets, Detects Common Wiring Problems https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AKX8L0M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_96W985N0XGMCA5YXTCQ7

That will trip the circuit. If it doesn’t trip your fuse box it’s not your power. (Or a really unsafe installation)

Do you have fences outback? If so, you can make it impossible for the cat to get out

Kitty Corral Cat Fence Conversion System 100' https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KU35LBE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_KN6YS5PT94XXQ6CRSW22?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Or you could do a catio

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Zoovilla-Cat-Enclosure-Climber-House/458743657

Lots of ways to fix this issue

Also, as a cat lover and owner of feral outdoor cats, everyone’s cat should be fixed.

If it's the same one I have, there's a clear version for this reason (link below). But ya, most HOAs and apartments have rules about anything being visible from a window. Ours even dictates the color of the window treatments.

TV antenna: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078S4YL8Z/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8rAIAbN73B9PG