March 2022 Newsletter

March 1st, 2022

HOA Living – How to Prepare your Home for a Vendor Project?

About 22% or roughly 74 million people reside in a Home Owner Association (HOA).  60% of new housing is form of HOA, with 6,000 new HOAs created yearly.  Owners in HOA enjoy this style of living as it affords handling of many aspects that other forms of home ownership do not; such as maintenance of common areas, paying shared costs, and planning living aspects in the community. What you can do to prepare your home for projects is vital.

Preparation requires a few basic things.
1) Understand your HOA Rules, and CC&R. Read these carefully.
2) Prepare required documentation and notices for your planned work for submission to the HOA.
3) Determine the scope of your planned project to ensure it is only your property (and not involving the HOA’s property).
4) Store valuables, personal items that you want to safeguard and protect from potential damage or loss
5) Establish Timeframes for Work with Vendor and HOA

Like owning and living in a property not part of an HOA, owners must handle many aspects of their property, particular items inside the property. Unlike owning outside an HOA, owners in an HOA oftentimes must comply with HOA requirements when doing work items inside their home.

Cautiously, Read and Comply with your HOA governing documents (often called Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions). These are essentially the laws for your HOA and describe what you can and cannot do inside your home, and what you must do when undertaking projects. The HOA requirements vary widely and require, in most instances, notification to the HOA of work you plan to complete. The requirements may vary from HOAs require submitting forms for approval to the HOA before work starts, to requiring proper insurance and licensing of vendors performing work, to submitting project plans for approval when work may impact other units or areas of the HOA.

The concept of asking for forgiveness versus permission does not work well in HOAs; and particularly not well when doing work in your home. As a member in an HOA, you must follow what the HOA has set forth to ensure your project is completed successfully without running afoul of the HOA requirements.

Home is where the Heart Is. And also where valuables are, whether it is money or personal items. Store these items away from the work area, and even offsite if this is more secure and comforting to you. Insurance can cover some things, but often not many things that one would consider valuable, and even then not to replace personal items with importance and meaning to you. So remove these from your property even before the Vendor reviews prior to even starting work.

Staying involved in your project does not mean micromanagement when you select the right vendor(s) and service, but deferring to the opposite end of Out of sight out of mind is not the best approach in HOA home projects. From making sure neighbors are not disrupted to vendors inadvertently doing something to run a foul of HOA guidelines, to making sure timelines are completed. To many, staying involved also means understanding what is being done and education.


THIS MONTH’S EVENTS

Daylight Savings Begins – Spring ForwardFlowers_bloom

Don’t forget to set your clocks forward one hour on March 13th, giving us more light in the evenings.

First Day of Spring

Mark your calendars for March 20th, the 1st day of spring in 2022 – or otherwise known as the Spring Equinox. It’s that time of year for longer days and warmer temperatures.

 

St Patrick’s Day

Clovers_St_Patrick's_Day

St Patrick’s Day is the celebration of the life of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It has become a celebration of Irish culture and heritage by those all over the world. Find St Patrick’s Day events in cities near you.

Savannah, GA: March of Dimes Shamrock Run

Hoboken, NJ: St Paddy’s Leprecon Crawl

New York City, NY: NYC Saint Patrick’s Day Parade

 

 

 


RECIPES

Spring Asparagus Pancetta Hash

Light, yet savory and delicious.

Show me the recipe!

 

 

 

Spring Salad with Fennel & Orange

The gorgeous colors of green, bright orange, purple, white, and red make this delicious salad so enticing! The combination of the sweet citrus taste with the tangy salad dressing will be a big hit with all of your guests!

Let’s get cookin’!

 


COVID CORNER

Interested in the daily status of the Corona Virus? View our nation’s updates on COVID-19 here: www.cdc.gov

 

JSP Toolbox is an online suite of tools and resources that empowers homeowner associations (HOAs) to manage themselves, easily and affordably. Learn more about JSP Toolbox