IV. First Days of Self-Management
While the subdivision officially became self-managed on March 1, 2019, much was done during the month preceding that date, after notice of termination was delivered. The board wanted to make sure that there would be no disruptions of any kind, but rather a smooth transition. That goal was not only met, but exceeded. Prior to the subdivision’s new “birth date”, they had already accomplished the following:
- All resident data was imported from the management company’s files. Considerable cleanup was necessary, as the old files had management company employees mixed in with residents, along with missing and inaccurate data. However, this entire process was completed in less than 2 days, resulting in an accurate, up to the minute database of all residents.
- The new resident data was exported into a clear and concise Excel spreadsheet for general board use, and into MailChimp, one of the top online mail list management systems. For less than 2000 addresses, it is a free service. After the export and a small amount of setup, the subdivision immediately had at its disposal the ability to send professional emails to all residents with ease.
- A local bank was chosen, and two bank accounts were set up. One was a checking account, the other a money market account paying (at the time) 1.98% interest. Among the many services included was free online bill pay. In a matter of a day or two, all recurring bills were set up on auto-draft, meaning they would never again be paid late. (This was something that the management company failed to do in an entire decade!) A monthly auto-transfer was scheduled so that HOA funds would remain in the money market account, earning interest, right up until they were needed. On the set day each month, the necessary funds transfer into the checking account, and a day later the bills are paid. This process is all automatic.
- The existing master liability policy was reviewed. It was discovered that by the management company using THEIR address on the policy (and everywhere else) it could provide a loophole by which a claim could be denied, since technically the address was false. This was corrected immediately!
- Ownership of the subdivision’s domain name was transferred back to the HOA.
Note: For most of the 10+ years under the management company, their website for the subdivision had NO way of contacting the HOA board, not even an email address! (This is a way of forcing all communication to go through the management company.) Right after the new board was seated in October 2018, SHOAR’s founder had registered an alternative domain name, knowing it would be months before the official domain would be back in their hands. That website was set up and announced immediately to the subdivision, with clear contact information for all board members as well as announcements and updates. - QuickBooks Plus, an online version, had been set up, and once the clean new resident data was available, it was imported into QuickBooks. This software only cost $50 per month initially, and the first 3 months were free. Some time later the price went up to $70, which is still a bargain. QuickBooks ties in to the bank accounts, so expenses and income are imported without the need for manual entry. Though it was only about 3 months after starting on their own, QuickBooks invoicing was used to smoothly generate the annual dues invoices which are billed in the first week of June. Both paper and email copies were generated. The emailed invoices contain a payment link, so residents can pay online with ease. Payments started coming in almost immediately.