Community associations should incorporate preventive maintenance and structural inspections into their reserve studies—the important budget planning tools that identify the components a community association is responsible for maintaining or replacing, indicate the status of the reserve fund, and provide a stable and equitable funding plan to offset anticipated future major common area expenditures. The recommendations are part of new Reserve Study Standards released by Community Associations Institute (CAI), the leading international authority on community association governance, management, and education.

In July, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac released updates to project eligibility standards for condominiums and housing cooperatives.

Architectural control sets the “bar,” if you will, or expectation of design and structural aesthetics within a community. Maintaining architectural control within a planned community is critical for everyone – Think about it: you have owners trying to sell their properties at the highest values, you have buyers that want to purchase a well-maintained home surrounded by equally well-maintained homes and common areas. You also have professionals for hire and volunteers (Community Managers, Legal Counsel, Business Partners, Board and Committee Members, etc.) that are needed to aid in the operation of a community. If you are someone from the aforementioned groups, would you want to sell, purchase, or work with a community that has lost sight of maintaining architectural control and compliance? Probably not.

There is a widespread belief among homeowners who live in associations, that if their assessments stay flat and do not increase, their community is in good shape and the Board is doing its job. And while it’s easy to understand the appeal of a historically flat budget, a lack of increases in an association’s assessments could be an indication of rough seas ahead.