Moving Into an HOA? Here’s What You Wish You’d Known (And How HOA Software Helps)

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Moving is stressful under even the happiest circumstances, but knowing what to expect and planning ahead can lessen some burdens.
• Americans are more connected than ever online, but many feel more isolated in real life, making some neighbors more reluctant to meet than in previous generations. HOA community management software can make community events and services more accessible to new residents and long-time homeowners alike.
• Some 30 percent of American homes are currently governed by homeowners associations or condo associations, so adapting to your HOA’s regulations and culture may be a novel experience for many newcomers.
• HOA community management software can help ease the transition into the neighborhood for new members by providing HOA information from billing records and annual budgets to community calendars and Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions (CC&Rs).

That new family that just moved into your HOA community? They’re probably stressed. 

Chances are good they have packed and unpacked a lifetime of belongings and are gradually adjusting to a new job, school, grocery store, gym, church, pharmacy, hair salon, and veterinary clinic (to name a few). And they may be sad at having left a beloved home and a circle of friends in their former community.

Adjusting to Life in an HOA

And then there’s your homeowners association. As the new folks settle into their new routine and surroundings, they also have to acclimate to living under an new HOA, maybe for the first time ever, as roughly one-third of American homes are currently governed by an association. One way to make their transition into the neighborhood as painless as possible is by using HOA software to familiarize them with your unique community’s amenities, events, rules, and vibe.

There’s a learning curve for new members of an HOA community. Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) are adopted by each homeowners association, and the variation among them can be as wide as the governing state’s laws allow and the community approves. Try to imagine the daunting task of learning such regulations as these:

• Cleanup requirements after events
• Architectural and maintenance requirements and exclusions
• Hours and levels for amplified music or other artificial noise
• Amounts of fines for specified violations
• Grace periods
• Assessments and processes regarding non-payment

New residents will also need information about the HOA’s amenities—most basically, what and where they are. If your neighborhood has a picnic pavilion, tennis or pickleball court, walking trails, or other recreational infrastructure, quality HOA community management software can make it easy for newcomers to find photos, maps, hours, and regulations for use, as well as contact information for any committee that may oversee them.

Meeting the Neighbors

Ah—and then there’s the challenge for every newcomer of getting to know the neighbors. Assuming an absence of difficult people adjoining or across the street (1 in 4 Americans with neighbors dislike at least one), newbies can try some obvious ways of making connections:

• Friendly waves. A quick “Hello” and nod can continue in that mode, but making just a little time to stop and introduce yourself can change the next-door dynamics. Try to notice something unique about your neighbor’s place that could open a conversation: “I see from your license plate that you’re retired military. Where did you serve?”
• Knock. If you rarely see the neighbors, work up your nerve and simply knock on their front door for a brief face-to-face greeting. “Hi, I’m Samantha. My husband Matthew and I just moved in next door,” will do nicely. (A basketful of homemade muffins is probably even better.) A couple of minutes’ conversation, if it seems comfortable, could set up a subsequent visit that takes acquaintance to the beginnings of friendship. 
• Take walks. Late afternoon strolls are an ideal chance to meet neighbors beyond next door. Both the leisurely feel and the proximity to other walkers or to people in yards or on porches make it easy to stop for a quick introduction or a real chat. (Walking your dogs—on leashes, of course, and always cleaning up after them—will make conversation with you automatic for most other animal lovers.)
• Sit or work in your yard. Let others do the walking, and take each encounter from greeting to conversation when there’s an appropriate opening.
• Learn the HOA regulations. Knowing when you can play pickleball, what the restrictions are on outdoor amplified music, how to pay HOA assessments online, and what fence styles are acceptable (among other rules) will show you take the community’s values seriously and win you a measure of respect. One of the best ways to learn the HOA’s requirements is on a website, which the board can launch and update via HOA community management software.
• Attend HOA meetings. Not only will you meet more neighbors, but you may also get a chance to volunteer for a committee, from architectural review to ad hoc work groups for special projects, that will introduce you to even more community members and make you an instant insider.
• Invite the neighbors over. Whether watching the big game together, sharing wine and charcuterie on your deck, or preparing your favorite supper menu for an evening of getting to know each other’s stories, there are few faster ways to foster friendship than sharing meals.
• Make a play date. Kids are a natural connection between families in similar stages. Spending a few hours at the pool or park with another parent and their children gives the new kids a chance to make new friends without the competition and cliques so common to schools, and the bonus is that the parents may also find they like each other.
• Join an affinity group. Whether your passion is local politics, scrapbooking, softball, feeding food-insecure people, or books, there’s likely a group near your new home that can make that both a source of fulfillment and a way to connect with others in your new community.

How HOA Community Management Software Can Help Boards and Residents

As outlined above, new residents have to put on their big-boy or big-girl pants and take some initiative to fit into their new community, but there’s one major help that an HOA board can offer. By using HOA community management software such as PayHOA, homeowners association officers can provide a host of information in one place that helps both established residents and those with furniture still coming off the moving van.

That “one place” description is key. Whether a particular resident prefers connecting with the homeowners association on a PC through the HOA’s website or on a smartphone app, the right software provides property owners with the community’s Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) and their compliance, financial information, events calendar, founding documents, outline of amenities, emergency information, and key contacts in one convenient package. HOA software can even be customized to send “welcome packets” of the most crucial documents to new residents via email or text.

Digital onboarding for new residents means they input their name and contact information one time, and the software plugs it into the right places. (It also makes corrections and updates scalable and effective across the entire platform.)

It’s perhaps in the communication tools that HOA community management software really stands out in the perspective of homeowners. HOA assessments and dues can be paid online, and digital forums mean easy back-and-forth for any groups from the board itself to a committee planning a 4th of July parade and barbecue to the entire community.

With HOA community management software, every HOA household has multiple means of access to every bit of community information that they need through programmable email and text capabilities. Such software even takes much of the work out of creating an online newsletter.

Your HOA can be more effective in building community among both existing residents and newcomers with PayHOA. Start your community’s free, no-obligation, 30-day trial today.