Winter storms have the potential to cause billions of dollars in damages. This can represent a real threat to homeowners associations. All too often, homeowners and HOAs will simply wait for winter damage to occur before repairing it.
However, the reality is that there are lots of property maintenance tasks you can do during the winter that will protect both individual homes and the community at large.
In this guide, we'll walk you through how to navigate HOA property maintenance once the weather turns cold. That way, you can prevent thousands of dollars worth of damages which can be put back into your community.
Know What Your Responsibilities Are
Different HOAs will have different winter maintenance responsibilities depending on the specific community. For example, in some neighborhoods, they might only be responsible for roads and public buildings in the community.
Other times, in rental HOAs, you might be responsible for the units themselves. If you aren't sure what your responsibilities are as an HOA board member, check with your charter.
Or, if you want to change the responsibilities, consider organizing an HOA meeting. That way, you can get input from the community.
Schedule Snow Removal
If you live in an area with a lot of snow, then an important part of being an HOA involves removing it from the community. There are plenty of services that can help with this.
However, you don't want to wait until the day off to schedule it. Instead, make sure you deal with vendors months in advance. That way, you aren't left hanging on a snow day.
Keep Your Community Informed
One of the biggest winter threats to homes is frozen pipes. To keep the homes in your HOA safe, it's important to make sure that everyone is aware of how to prevent it.
As this guide notes, the key is to keep faucets dripping through the night while ensuring that your home is properly heated during cold weather. Consider making flyers to help keep your community members aware.
Or hold an HOA public awareness meeting. You should also talk about additional winter maintenance tricks, like HVAC system inspection, power outage preparedness, and fireplace cleanings.
Use Association Management
One way to make HOA property maintenance easy is to hire an association management group. These professionals will handle all the necessary winter maintenance that's required to protect your community during the cold months.
What's more, they can also help with preventative repairs that will save your HOA thousands of dollars down the line. As such, it's worth reaching out to a HOA property management company if your budget allows.
Need Help With HOA Property Maintenance During Winter?
We hope this HOA manager guide helped you learn more about navigating HOA property maintenance during the winter. Here at PMI LA Pacific, we're lucky to escape some of the bad winter weather that hits the rest of the country.
However, depending on where your HOA is, you may still require winter maintenance (or other forms of property maintenance).
Luckily, we're here to provide you with decades of expertise in homeowners association management. So if you're ready to get the maintenance that your company needs, contact us today.
