How to Create A Strong Community In Our Homeowners Associations
Finding a sense of community is an essential part of life. From churches and families to work and neighborhoods, we are driven by a need for belonging and connection. Often, homeowners living in an HOA managed neighborhood, may underestimate the value of this type of organized living, perhaps thinking HOAs are merely an extra payment on top of their mortgage. With a collaborative HOA Management Company and board working together efficiently, this confusion and sense of isolation doesn’t have to exist.
Building a Strong HOA Community
The goal of any HOA is not just to fix things; it’s to also work with everyone within that community to become invested in one another, creating strong, neighborly ties.
Consider a community of bees. Their success in living together is that each bee understands their individual role, but also that they are willing to accept some of the responsibility for the prosperity of the entire hive. Whenever necessary, they can expand their role.
Homeowners, too, can contribute to the overall well-being of the community, by recognizing the interrelationships that exist between ourselves and our neighbors, and how that can have an impact on our overall quality of life.
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HOAs are there to protect, preserve and enhance our community assets and property values. Sometimes that may require members of the community it serves to expand their role.
For example, we all agree to obey our governing documents. We may opt to expand our role by choosing to become a voting member of what is in those documents in the first place, therefore becoming a participating member of what decisions are being made.
While individuals certainly play a role in their own involvement, there are additional ways boards themselves can create healthy communities. Here are a few ideas:
- Create a welcoming common area to entice interaction between members. As a member, take advantage of these areas.
- Be open communicators. Clearly state the HOA rules and provide a channel for feedback from members.
- Set up fun events. This can be done around holidays, seasonal events or even just because it’s a Friday.
- Put together a welcoming committee. Consider putting together a team of volunteers to welcome new residents into your community. Not only does it create goodwill among homeowners, but it may also entice them to become a board member of the association in the future.
- Get digitally social. Create a website, send email newsletters, or even set up a private Facebook group to stay connected online.
We are all members of any number of communities which may be around family, work, neighborhood, fitness, or any number of places where we find common ground with other human beings, and we will constantly move in and out of them, as life is constantly changing. We find comfort and a sense of purpose in our communities, and HOAs are no exception.
We hope these ideas have encouraged you as a Board member or resident to work together to build a strong sense of community in your association!
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About RS Fincher
Instead of seeing ourselves as an outside provider of services, we embrace the perspective of both the Homeowners Association Boards and the homeowners, themselves. Our expectations are high, and yours should be too. We hold ourselves accountable to fair pricing, upfront communication and professionalism – all of the things we would expect as residents. And it’s not just a theory. Since we live in the area, we conduct ourselves in a manner that lives up to the face-to-face test. The process might be more expensive in the short term, but it pays dividends, with average client relationships of more than 10 years. That consistency directly relates to more smiles and more revenue, and less cost due to turnover.