Please log in to view this content.
If you currently have and Accessory Dwelling Unit/Jr.ADU in one of your common interest homes, we would like you to join this forum and survey platform. Although ADUs are less typical common interest developments, the Junior version may start appearing in communities. This property type is being addressed in state capitols across the country, with respect to common interest properties. This forum will track the impact of changes in local and state laws.
CID specialty companies, like CID management, insurance, landscaping, law firms, etc, are usually of interest to community Board members, who are responsible for contracting with these services. When anticipating changes, boards typically find prospective companies to receive an association RFP through interest searches or other direct solicitations, unless a board member or an owner has submitted a recommendation. HOAhomepage facilitates the owners in making a recommendation or, at least, weighing in on current service providers. Wise boards pay attention to their constituents or those in neighboring communities.
Through HOAhomepage, management professionals (for example) can write articles, or have access to self-directed surveys, polls, and forums, to brand themselves with all property owners.
Individual professionals develop relationships with the CI owners, so we do not emphasize company profiles. We are not interested in overtly promoting companies, however, it’s more informative for property owners if their key people can do that for them. Portfolio managers, or other professionals, know which community types they best serve. The manager’s (or individual team member’s) name becomes more recognizable to non-board owners than a company’s name, so owners are more curious than critical of the individual. Our CIDpro platform encourages an emphasis on a more open line of communication between the owner and governance of the community.
We generally refer to all Common Interest Developments as Homeowners Associations, simply because the majority have this in their name. but can also have Condominium or Condo in the name. These community names are used to help owners group themselves.
The use of HOA, Condo, or other CID type in the community name in our database is only for reference and grouping purposes; HOAhomepage is not involved in community governance. However, Board members and committee members are part of the governance special interest group, so we do provide a variety of community, organizational, and communication tools. We believe that part of their fiduciary responsibility is providing more transparency, and we try to help.
If you are looking for a site for Board Members, which provides resources for governance, there are dozens of sites available, both free and paid. We help board members understand what each offers and compare costs that may be incurred by the other community owners.
Make sure if you are a board or committee member, to join our government group.
We have a number of benefits in mind for common interest tenants, who are prospective owners. We would like to help tenants, not only interact with the resident owners, we also want tenants to access to the same professionals we vet for the owners. So, we have created a special interest group for tenants. These tenants are connected to the community they live in, through the rental agreement, but we include them in the communications and information loop.
There are about 9 million common interest properties that are rented in the US today. These rentals offer people an opportunity to live in communities, that are usually populated with a high percentage of owner occupants. Most tenants appreciated the resident owner’s “sense of community”, and felt more secure than apartment living or SFH. Neighbors, resident owners, know which units are rented and watch them for violations of the community rules, but not with the initial intent of initiating a formal violation, but personalizing the reason for such rules. We noted this to be the case far more commonly in “Self Managed” communities vs professionally managed communities. Fairly or unfairly, resident owners are not going to easily accept tenants as part of the community. We are making an effort to change how residents view tenants, generally. However, we also believe that these landlords have an obligation to make sure their tenants will be good community members.
The CIPOA views tenants as future property owners. In fact, about 60% of all current CI Tenants will purchase their first home within 5 years. We want them to have a favorable view of community associations and the industry needs more owner occupants. This begins by inviting them into the social network within the community.
The HOA tenant issue will be mainly resolved with an open dialog between residents, owners and tenants. Our non-resident owner group focuses on helping these owners find the right tenants for the individual community and help avoid issues with the HOA.
Through the resident owners in each community we identify the community priorities regarding the behavior of the residents.
The reason common interest developments exist; is the notion that common maintenance can be scaled to save money for the property owner. HOAs group the owners and pay for landscaping, amenities, or management, for example. There are numerous subgroups in every HOA; we call them Special Interest groups, like Non-resident owners (investors), resident owners or tenants, or even by services like security or any other service used by more than one individual.
Instead of savings, assessments have risen twice as fast as inflation over the last 30 years. And with recent inflationary trends, it is time for some communities to explore austerity. HOAhomepage is, in essence, a National Property Owners Association, an owner-driven advocacy network, developing ways for owners to save money. Nationally, there are approximately 26 million dwelling units in the CID industry. In comparison with the general residential real estate, it is a niche market, with a relatively small population. However, it’s a manageable size for applying more robust internet-related security for protecting privacy, conducting interactions, or transactions. HOAhomepage is not focused on soliciting membership of all property owners, although we provide free tools for organizing life in a community association. But we are focused on avoiding increases or reducing assessments, so we cater to the volunteers in the community. Board and committee volunteers are motivated to do the best they can for their fellow owners. Budgeting and some other tasks can be complicated and overwhelming at times, so we concentrate on those tasks. If a board is motivated to freeze assessments or even reduce assessments, we will get you there.
Associations are faced with growing statutory compliance requirements, which can cost thousands per year. Many states seem to constantly add new laws to control CIDs in general, even if there is no problem to solve. In our opinion, these one-size-fits-all laws do not serve the interests of most community associations. We intend to help associations lobby their state capitol for common-sense reforms to CID laws, to take into account the size and scope of the community’s responsibilities.
Investors in residential common interest developments are primarily local investors, rather than commercial investors, like trusts. The reason is that common interest properties are relatively easier to manage, so it attracts small investors. Currently, over 90% of the common interest investment properties are owned by portfolios of less than five units. These investors will welcome the expertise that our appraisers offer, allowing them broader access to the market. For the first time, these investors can consider investing more actively outside of their state of residence.
The 1031 exchange element of our property exchange will be used more by the institutional investors, because we will offer replacement properties from all 50 states, so meeting exchange time limits, will be much easier for these investors. And our appraisers will be the reason.
CID governance, maintenance or owner services like real estate are included. Individual professionals, regardless of service type can join HOAhomepage. There are conditions, however; no solicitation or advertising, but they must agree to be vetted by the CIPOA. And those who want to provide newsletters, host forums or podcasts can become local, regional or national editors. We focus on individual professional profile, not company profiles. Professionals, like community managers, and their team members, CID attorneys, accountants, or other professionals who work directly with the owners are welcome to participate. CID real estate professionals as well.
HOAhomepage offers a CIDpro designation as well as a published profile- viewable by the all owners, other CID pros, employers, CID Developers and the general public .
–
* Publish a blog and interact with visitors, with the ability to collect followers and send scheduled email newsletters
* Volunteer to help coordinate the development a community’s public profile page- branding on the community page
* Tools to author and publish newsletters and interactive blog pages
* Interact with other CIDpros locally or nationally.
* Link articles or other documents or videos to your profile
–
We want to encourage owners to meet the professionals who serve the community. These professional profiles, articles, forums etc is visible to all owners on HOAhomepage as well as the general public.
–
The CIDpro platform is designed for portfolio managers to network directly with CI owners, anywhere in the country. And interact with their professional peers, if you like. This invitation extends to management support staff, as well. We provide the tools to create a public profile and make connections. All managers agree on the importance of promoting a sense of community, but out of necessity “community” takes a back seat to the business aspects and governance of the association.
Interacting with owners, outside of the scope of professional service contracts, provides a more personal connection with the people who can influence the Board of Directors.
The Community Association Institute is a very important contributor to the CID industry. Although it welcomes homeowners as members, it is primarily focused on the professionals who participate in the industry. If you are a professional looking to offer products or services to community associations or builders, the CAI is essential. https://www.caionline.org/
Although the CAI was formally established in 1973, the groundwork for CAI began in 1964, when the Urban Land Institute (ULI) published Technical Bulletin No. 50: The Homes Association Handbook, authored primarily by Byron Hanke, a key figure in CAI’s founding. This document was the first systematic study of planned communities and called for a national organization to serve as a clearinghouse for ideas, best practices, and education for the community association housing market. In 1965, the ULI, alongside the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), developed a model planned-unit development statute, further highlighting the need for structured support for these communities.
In 1964 this was very forward looking, with less than 6,000 common interest developments in the US. Today there are approximately 350,000 CIDs and hundreds of thousands of professionals of all types serving the industry. An industry that has evolved into a $94 billion dollar per year industry.
The community association name is used as a tag to connect both owners and non owners. If the association you are looking is not in our database, this form will allow you to create the association name tag, for yourself and others that visit.
Every region of the US has some looming natural disasters, from hurricanes and tornadoes to earthquakes and wildfires. When common interest associations face these challenges, they automatically respond as a community, but we find regional groups of communities, coordinating their preparation and response to these disasters. This forum and networking platform will support formation and communications within these groups.
Owning CI properties (as well as other real estate) in a family trust offer many tax advantages and other options for holding property. We created this group to help these trusts manage their portfolio of properties. We recognize that this form of ownership will continue to grow, and will provide individuals considering this form of ownership with vetted attorneys who are versed in common interest properties, as well as articles, forums and connections with other trust administrators. Additionally, family trusts can participate in our Owner to Owner (O2O) exchange, to initiate 1031 exchanges or negotiate purchases directly with current owners.
Duty of Loyalty: The fiduciary must act solely in the interest of the beneficiary, avoiding conflicts of interest or self-dealing.
Duty of Care: The fiduciary must act with the care, diligence, and competence that a reasonable person would exercise in similar circumstances.
Duty of Good Faith: The fiduciary must act honestly and with integrity, ensuring their actions benefit the beneficiary.
Duty of Disclosure: The fiduciary must provide complete and accurate information to the beneficiary, avoiding misrepresentation or withholding material facts.
Duty of Prudence: he fiduciary must manage the beneficiary’s resources wisely and responsibly, considering the long-term best interests of the beneficiary.
Each State has a set of common interest specific statutes. These laws are created with best intentions, but this industry has very diverse communities, ranging from small associations with less than 10 units with limited common areas to master associations with thousands of homes, collecting millions of dollars a year in assessments. A one size fits all solution does not make sense. Logically, the law makers should make sure that these laws take this into consideration. Most of the increase in assessments over the last three decades, is due to added administration costs to comply with new laws which are not applicable to all CIDs in the state. This group could, for example, lobby for the ability of the community members to opt out of specific laws, with a super majority of the owners agreeing. Those who join this group will have access to survey and polling tools, for their own community, which will be combined with other surveys from communities in the state. If an issue has a following, the results of these surveys can be shared with legislators, who support the effort.
Many local communities are impacted by improvements, changes, or lack of maintenance of municipal infrastructure. This group allows owners from multiple CIDs to join forces and lobby for the changes that benefit their communities. This group can create localized surveys, upload documents and reference articles that support their positions. For example, from time to time, owners will find that CI property owners through their association are paying assessments to maintain community infrastructure, at the same time paying property taxes to cover streets and other infrastructure. Owners can explore whether their property taxes have been adjusted to reflect this division in responsibility.
The objective of our CI property exchange is to remove the complexity of purchasing or selling out of state properties. It provides insights into each subdivision, that are always fresh, direct connection with owners and many other data points. And it shortens the turnaround on all elements of the transaction. There are over 26 million common interest residential properties in the US, about 9 million are owned by investors. This owner exchange allows them to place their property in the exchange for investors and other owners who are actively looking for replacement properties for a 1031 exchange, or general acquisitions to negotiate directly with other owners. We are not a real estate company, we provide tools for owners to hire a RE professional if desired, but can add or remove their property in the exchange, without representation. The exchange also allows owner 2 owner contracting of short-term property use agreements. We provide this simple arrangement in the exchange, but there are apps that provide for this need, which are rated by our members who have used them. As well as links to ratings sites covering the topic. /p>
Retiring seniors start planning years in advance of retirement. One of the most important elements that’s considered is real estate. Where will their primary residence be located, downsizing, second homes, investments etc. If these seniors see a common interest property in their plans, we can help. Seniors, just like our first time buyer group, can research communities all over the country and follow market changes in these communities. As retirement approaches you will be well prepared to make these changes, in a well organized way. You will be able to communicate directly with resident owners in any community you are following.
This platform encourages seniors to tag as many interesting communities they would like (anywhere in the country) and receive community updates posted by the owners, regarding their community. Once connected with these associations, seniors can interact with the owners, connect socially, plan tours, etc.
A group of individuals (Not Companies) who share, in common, a particular interest, activity or need. HOAhomepage groups it’s members and provides member benefits based on the needs of these groups.
While we were researching the common interest industry, between 2016 and 2019, we were focused entirely on resident owners, those who decided to abandon common interest living, and why, and those who anticipated living in a common interest development and why. As a result, we identified the common needs of these individual groups of buyers and sellers of common interest properties, But along the way we identified many other special interests needs. Resident vs non resident owners, in particular. Owner occupancy stabilizes communities, but unfairly vilifies tenants. We setup a “Tenant” group to encourage community engagement, but statistically 60% of these tenants will purchase a common interest property within five years.
Please, if you plan to register as a visitor, make sure you select one of our special interest groups, we are going to want your input on the subject. For example if you are a real estate agent, you can better serve your clients if you can learn more about the motivation of a potential common interest buyers and contribute your expertise. We have a Special Interest Group for “First Time Buyers”, that you would benefit from. New community members provided us with useful insight on their buying experience and what they would change.
>Our intent is to serve individual owners and anticipate their needs identified by special interest groups. For example, the Home Maintenance Special interest Group identifies the component (like roofing or HVAC), identifies communities facing this replacement then scales a solution, like Publishing a bid request for installation (thru HOAhomepage) or negotiating a bulk purchase from the manufacturer. HOAhomepage finds the homes that fit the criteria, and reaches out to the owners. All of the special interest groups drive similar efforts.
Urbansweat is a forum for urban groups, professionals and politicians to discuss the use of Common Interest tactics in urban renewal.
–
The mission of this initiative is to create a sustainable vehicle for repopulating our inner cities with owner-occupants. And reverse the trends that lead to instability and blight.
–
We intend to drill into the Urban renewal efforts made in the past and find plans that have passed the test of time. When something works we need to replicate it.
–
The Common Interest Property Owners Association (CIPOA), helps owners make the most of common interest property ownership. We believe urban renewal can be accelerated by using common interest developments, to scale products and services shared by owners within the CID and as the vehicle to interface with municipalities and other agencies.
–
The forum will help test our hypothisis.
–
We welcome first time buyers, even if you are years away from attempting to purchase a home. We want to chronicle the experience through blogs, images and videos throughout your experience and publish those entries. Your challenges are shared by every new owner.
You may not want to blog about your experience to the public, but any images you upload is saved to your private archive.
We help first time common interest buyers reach their goal of ownership in a community association. The platform is designed to extend up to five years prior to entering the market. We help these individuals understand and prepare for a home purchase in a HOA. The platform allows them to choose any community, anywhere in the US and follow that community and local market changes, assessment changes and other issues faced by the community. Buyers can interact with existing property owners, and other members.
Through this group, the CIPOA helps these future owners, prepare themselves for buying their first home. The group links forums, Q&As, articles and tools to test their readiness.
No Assumptions: Every expense must be justified, starting from zero. Previous budgets are not taken into account as a baseline.
Cost Justification: Each department must provide a detailed explanation of why a particular expense is necessary and how it aligns with organizational goals.
Priority-Based Resource Allocation: Resources are allocated based on current needs and priorities rather than historical spending patterns.
Decision Packages: Departments often create “decision packages” that include proposed activities, costs, and expected outcomes. These are ranked by importance before funding is approved.
Efficiency: Eliminates unnecessary or outdated expenditures, ensuring resources are used effectively.
Cost Management: Encourages accountability and cost control by requiring justification for every expense.
Alignment with Goals: Ensures spending is aligned with strategic objectives and current priorities.
Adaptability: Allows organizations to respond to changing market or operational conditions more effectively.