Summer Planning is Key for HOA Community Management

When school’s out, it’s time to hang out at the pool or under a shady tree. It’s also time for HOA management to dive into summer planning so that everyone can have a safe and enjoyable season of sun-filled fun.

Before everything heats up, it’s a good idea to take a look around the neighborhood to make sure facilities are ready to host summer crowds. You might need to get in touch with vendors to touch up the paint around the clubhouse or send out reminders to residents about the HOA’s policies concerning guests.

By taking everyone’s summer fun seriously, you can:

• improve community safety
• increase property values
• enhance the community experience 

Kids are great at making their own fun on hot days, but they’re not always good at looking after their own safety. HOA community management involves fixing potential safety issues. Something as simple as posting and sharing all of the pool rules can go a long way to keep the party going.

Long days also provide plenty of light for maintenance personnel and construction workers to accomplish tasks that need to be done. It’s a good time to dive into your PayHOA maintenance chart and start knocking off projects that improve the look and feel of the neighborhood while also increasing property values.

And don’t forget the parties. If your leadership team hasn’t created a party committee, that should be a No. 1 priority. The Fourth of July isn’t far away. Before then, you probably should host a pool-opening party, and you certainly don’t want summer to end without one last gathering with friends and neighbors.

Sun time is a fun time, but one of the joys of HOA living is having volunteer leaders working behind the scenes to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible.

Pool Security

A community swimming pool is a definite plus for your homeowner’s association during the summer months. It’s also a potential challenge for HOA community management.

Good, old-fashioned play can become worrisome horseplay if people aren’t on watch. That’s why the American Red Cross recommends establishing and enforcing rules:

• Don’t enter head first unless in a pool that has a safe diving area.
• Stay away from drains and other openings that cause suction.
• Swim with a buddy.
• Only swim when supervised by a water watcher.
• Swim sober.
• Supervise others sober and without distractions, such as reading or using a cell phone.
• Stay clear of danger during thunderstorms.

Your list of rules and regulations should include opening and closing times. You also might want to include the rules for non-residents using the pool.

In addition to posting the rules at the pool, you can use your PayHOA software to send reminders to all of your homeowners. It’s a quick and easy way to enlist parents to make sure your pool’s regulations are followed.

If you have a vendor who looks after the community pool, you still want to make sure he or she is taking care of the tasks that need to be done. A quick conversation followed by a text or email provides a digital “paper trail” that helps to ensure everyone is on the same page.

It’s good to have a list of guidelines for cleaning and maintaining the pool and surrounding areas. Someone should be responsible for conducting and logging regular inspections, and PayHOA software makes all schedules easy to access.

You also need to assign responsibility for handling

• pool chemicals
• pool cleaning
• general maintenance
• trash removal

For added safety, a security gate with a combination lock and fencing work to keep unwanted visitors out of the pool area. The American Red Cross advises using a four-sided isolation fence with a self-closing and self-latching gate that small children can’t open.

On the technological side, consider installing security cameras. Door alarms could also help scare away adventurous youngsters and oldsters for that matter.

Lake Communities

Lakefront property is beautiful, but it comes with its own concerns for HOA community management. Leadership needs to assign people to regularly inspect docks, piers, and other water-related structures.

Depending on the size of the lake, you’ll need to post and share guidelines for the use of boats, jet skis, and other water-based vehicles. 

Alert swimmers to potential hazards, such as drop-offs and underwater obstacles. Provide an enclosed area for swimmers with floating barriers. As with the pool, let your resident know to take thunder and lightning seriously and stay out of the water during storms. 

Serious Steps

No matter how many good-faith efforts HOA community management takes, there’s no way to prevent all mishaps. The leadership team would be well served to make sure all insurance policies and liability waivers are up to date. As with other documents, these can be filed and shared with PayHOA management software.

All the rules and regulations around the pool and other bodies of water in your neighborhood are about maintaining safe environments. Ideally, everybody has fun and goes home happy. 

However, the Red Cross makes the following suggestions during a potential drowning situation:

• Recognize the signs of someone in trouble and shout for help. 
• Rescue and remove the person from the water (without putting yourself in danger). 
• Ask someone to call emergency medical services (EMS). If alone, give 2 minutes of care, then call EMS. 
• Begin rescue breathing and CPR. 
• Use an AED if available and transfer care to advanced life support.

Visitors and Workers

There’s no point ruining summer with unnecessary conflicts, so take some proactive steps to make sure all residents understand the visitor policies on your books. A quick email and a post on your community forum can inform residents about guest hours and parking restrictions.

Security cameras and security guards can help ensure all visitors to your neighborhood are expected. In addition, guest registration forms keep track of comings and goings.

You’ll want your common areas looking their best, and that means scheduling landscapers, trash removal, and pest control. PayHOA’s software can help you manage and schedule visits from vendors as well as keep track of invoices.

HOA Community Management in the Summertime

Students and teachers get summers off, but just about everyone tries to have their own version of fun during the hottest season. For some of us, fun involves sitting in the shade and not doing much of anything.

When you accepted a role on your HOA community management board, you didn’t give away your free time. However, you did agree to step into a role of responsibility. As mentioned, your summertime work involves:

• improving community safety
• increasing property values
• enhancing community experiences

One way to do that while also maximizing your own summer enjoyment is to make full use of PayHOA’s tools. From scheduling maintenance to spreading the word about upcoming parties, PayHOA software simplifies the process of community management.

As part of your summer planning, you can use our software to invite all or a select number of residents to brainstorm at the start of the planning process. Once the plan is made, you can easily share it with everyone who needs to know what’s going to happen.

There’s no reason for any homeowner to claim ignorance of policies and procedures because those can be easily shared by email as well as posted digitally for all to access.

Our software also makes it simple to alert residents to violations and keep track of all correspondence. Nothing is lost, and there’s no need to wrestle with paperwork when digital records are a snap to create, share, and search.

It’s your summer too, and it’ll be easier to enjoy when you know you’re also fulfilling your duties to your friends and neighbors with help from PayHOA.

PayHOA offers an HOA management software solution for HOAs of any size or managerial priorities. To find out if PayHOA fits all your HOA management needs, try our software free for 30 days.

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