Greater Transparency Leads to Healthier Condo Communities

Living in a community managed by a good condo association can be life-changing. Residents enjoy meaningful community connections, excellent maintenance, and good property values. Well-managed condo communities offer social events, maintain clean and safe properties and amenities, and foster a spirit of respect and camaraderie among neighbors. Unfortunately, living in a community managed by a bad condo association can also be life-changing. Residents may experience unexpected fees, delayed or unsatisfactory maintenance, and inconsistent policy enforcement. Most condo associations aren’t intentionally frustrating their residents—leaders may be overwhelmed or using outdated methods that can’t keep up with a modern community’s needs and expectations. The good news is, condo management software provides a great solution for condo associations seeking to give their communities the best care. Software can help you communicate transparently, manage resources effectively, and build true community. 

Condo Association Accounting Software Provides Residents with the Financial Transparency They Expect

Nothing undermines trust or sours relationships like misunderstandings about money. Poor communication about dues and fees often tops the list of condo residents’ grievances. Here’s where condo association accounting software like PayHOA can step in to save the day (and the relationship): 

• Go digital (and simple): Versatile software helps your condo association leave cumbersome manual spreadsheets behind and enjoy the ease of software built specifically to meet your needs. 

• Communicate clearly: With automated digital invoices, residents know what to expect and when to pay. Fees are clear, dues transparent, and deadlines anticipated. Clear communication reduces complaints and increases on-time payments.
• Make payments easy: Residents don’t want to slog through multiple time-consuming steps to pay condo association fees. Thanks to condo association accounting software, residents can simply log into their resident portal to pay their bill. They can even set up auto-pay.
• Build trust with financial transparency: Easy-to-use reporting tools make financial transparency a breeze, which builds trust with your community. A robust condo association accounting software can quickly compile your financial reports and send them to residents so everyone feels up-to-speed. 

Simplify Communication about Condo Maintenance and Repairs

When residents wait days to get a leaky toilet repaired or send multiple emails begging for maintenance on a broken air conditioner during a summer heat wave, they may get hot under the collar, both literally and metaphorically. Condo residents need easy ways to submit maintenance requests, and condo associations need streamlined strategies for tracking and fulfilling those requests. Communication tools keep everyone on the same page and organize conversations in their proper place. Here are some advantages you’ll find in the PayHOA suite of communications tools:

  Help neighbors have conversations in the right places (with the right people):

Residents want to communicate with condo management and with each other—but those conversations often need to happen in different places. Have you ever seen a community social thread get derailed by unrelated comments and side conversations? Maybe a simple question about recycling schedules morphed into a complaint-fest about neighbors letting dogs off-leash, or an invitation to a community potluck devolved into a discussion about which paint colors are prohibited. Condo-specific software like PayHOA allows you to set up a variety of communication channels so neighbors can direct their concerns and questions directly to the appropriate people rather than to the entire community. You can use software tools to:

• Initiate repair requests.
• Set up message boards.
• Form smaller community groups. 
• Organize conversations.
• Provide opportunities for private community discussion away from public social media platforms.

Communicate directly to residents in ways that work best for them

Software tools allow a condo association to communicate clearly and directly to residents about schedules, fees, policies, and more. Communicate in a variety of ways to reach all your residents. For example, software makes it simple to: 

• Send mass emails. 
• Reach out with SMS texts.
• Send automated phone calls (a great solution for residents who don’t regularly check email).

Enforce condo policies equitably

People purchase homes in condo communities for many reasons. Whether they’re searching for the convenience of community-managed maintenance or seeking a sense of connection and belonging with neighbors, they’re looking for a better life. Condo policies play a key role in providing and preserving the benefits of condo living. Policies exist to keep property values high and keep neighbors neighborly. But when policies, processes, and expectations are confusing or inconsistently enforced, it leads to frustration and even conflict. Condo association management software can help your association communicate policies clearly, thanks to versatile tools:

•  What’s the new pet policy? Can guests park on the street? Owner portals and document storage allow you to post policies for residents. Keep a single version of community guidelines on the same page—one source of truth for the entire community.
• Who’s going to tell Neighbor So-and-So to put his trash can away? Condo association volunteers no longer have to knock on doors as the “bad guys” enforcing violations and fees. Automated violation management means handling violations digitally or by mail through the PayHOA mailroom.
• Does anyone remember if that violation fee got paid? Where are those records? With condo management software, you can add and track fines from the violation page on your HOA portal.
• Those Smiths and their noisy parties! Is it time for a warning or a fee? Software can help a condo association keep custom statuses for each resident, documenting each violation. This facilitates warnings and appropriate fees—with the goal of protecting residents’ health and happiness.

Solicit structured feedback

When residents feel their complaints are ignored, they may “shout” louder, more frequently, and publicly to get help or effect change. But when residents know how and where to communicate their questions, needs, complaints, and ideas, stress levels stay down, and community connections stay strong. A transparent, easily accessible community platform assures every resident that their concerns are heard and the community is well-managed. Self-managed condo associations can protect the health of their communities by providing easy ways for each resident to give input into how the community runs. Software can facilitate communication in multiple ways:

• Custom request forms: Create your own forms to solicit feedback or information from your residents. Collect feedback digitally, then let the software compile the results, log information, or initiate a maintenance workflow. You can design forms for anything:

o    feedback on possible policy changes

o    maintenance requests

o    architectural requests

o    ideas for your next social gathering

• Distribute polls and surveys: Hoping to enact a new policy, but not sure how the residents feel? Planning to host an event but not sure what residents want? No need for paper surveys or counting votes by hand—you can custom-design polls and surveys, deliver them digitally, and easily track the responses. 

If your condo association wants simpler management methods, more transparent communication, and a happier, healthier community, a powerful solution is ready and waiting. Condo association accounting software can help you achieve the transparency and simplicity you’ve been looking for. Contact PayHOA to find out how you can give our tools a try for thirty days.