Professional property managers bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table that can end up saving homeowners thousands in unplanned expenses and lost property value at a cost to each homeowner of just pennies a day.

Experience with insurance, contractors, maintenance, enforcement, and legal issues can save an inexperienced volunteer hundreds of hours of research. Professional property managers can keep issues of assessment billing and rules enforcement from becoming “personal”. Finally, a well run, professionally managed Association can retain its attractiveness to potential buyers, resulting in higher property values.

While it is true that homeowner volunteers can perform some of the functions of a professional property manager, it is also true that volunteers often lack the experience to effectively take on the duties of Association management; collecting dues, paying bills, handling maintenance, record keeping, and rules enforcement. A professional manager can help your Association avoid costly mistakes.

There is also the issue of fairness and risk. Association management is a mandated function under most Association CC&Rs. Asking a single member to provided mandated services free of charge places an unequal burden and costs on that member (fairness) while the costs of errors and omissions on the part of that volunteer are borne by all (risk).

When you consider the potential costs to the Association of poor or inconsistent management, financial mismanagement, poor record keeping, inadequate reserves or insurance, inadequate maintenance, volunteer burnout, inconsistent rules enforcement, and falling property values then the advantages and true value of professional management become more and more apparent.