When it comes to managing housing units such as apartment complexes and residential tower blocks, more and more developers are turning the management of such properties over to housing associations, in order to better manage both the properties and the residents inside. I have had personal experience with this here in Arizona, and we have had numerous Phoenix HOA management companies looking after our apartments in the last decade alone. So why are so many of these companies outsourcing this aspect of their business? Let’s take a deeper look at the benefits which a company such as a housing management firm can bring with it.
Professionalism
The first thing to note here is that like with any outsourcing arrangement, companies look to teams of experts who can properly manage an aspect of their business. When it comes to housing developers and agents, they rarely want to deal with the minute of day-to-day management of their projects once they have been completed, so will instead turn to a housing association management company, experts in their field, to look after the residents and ensure that they are getting all that they need.
Maintenance and Repairs
In many housing complexes throughout the world the same issues occur, repairs not being carried out, maintenance not sufficiently completed and many residents who fail to pay their fair share of maintenance payments. When it comes to a HOA management firm however, they are already aware of this and they have processes in place which seek to ensure that repairs and maintenance issues are fixed and carried out with speed and regularity, and that any collections which are necessary are dealt with swiftly and with a firm hand. In my experience, it was only once the HOA management company came in that I started to see windows cleaned, painting work completed, repairs fixed and those who hadn’t paid maintenance brought to book. When we refer to the minutiae that the developers don’t want to get bogged down in, this is it, and these are yet more reasons why they will call upon professionals to deal with the properties.
Cost Effective
Of course, housing association companies will take a fee for the work that they do, but in the long term it is far more cost-effective for developers to use these services. The reasons for this are that they won’t have to pay, train and manage staff, they won’t need to pay for on-site offices and the costs that come along with that, nor will they have to pay a legal team to ensure that they are on the right side of the law when making changes. Because HOA companies already have this infrastructure in place, it is also a cost-effective agreement for them as well, making the deal a win-win all round.
If you are living in a location which is about to be taken over by a homeowner association, you should look forward to it rather than be apprehensive, more often than not they will improve your current living conditions.