July 6, 2023 – This post revisits an article originally published in the Washington Post by Professor Evan McKenzie on July 2, 2021. Professor McKenzie is the author of two books on common-interest developments (CIDs), and one of the country’s most vocal critics of privatized residential developments. In the aftermath of the June 24, 2021…
The percent funded metric is arguably the most misunderstood concept in the lexicon of HOA financial planning. The Community Associations Institute (CAI) National Reserve Study Standards (NRSS) defines the term percent funded as follows: The ratio, at a particular point in time related to the fiscal year-end, of the actual (or projected) reserve balance to…
As of the end of 2020 the number of common interested developments (CIDs) in the United States was estimated to be 355K. 35%-40% are condominiums. 58%-63% planned developments, 2%-4% real estate cooperatives. (CAI-2020-2021 Statistical Review) Forty Years of Growth In 2000 the number was estimated to be 222,500. By the end of 2010 the number…
Bring up the subject of homeowner associations (HOAs) and the conversation is almost certain to lead to a discussion of special assessments. Special Assessment – What is a special assessment, anyway, and why is the subject ever-present when conversations turn to HOAs and condominiums? The term “special assessment” refers to non-scheduled assessments that the…
In previous posts we have talked about a tipping point for the U.S. housing market and subsequently, many of the homeowner associations in the country. Back in 2009, when CIDA’s founders introduced the tipping point thesis to the industry dialogue we were referring to the year 2020, at which time the majority of the homeowner…
Budgeting for a homeowner association (HOA) typically involves two elements: 1) Annual operating expenses; 2) Intermittent or non-annual replacement reserve spending. Annual operating spending in turn, typically includes spending on recurring maintenance that is expected to occur at least once of the course of the typical year. “Operational” maintenance spending is a separate category of…
Most people who purchase a home in a homeowner association (HOA) have no idea what a reserve study is, or why it is important. In spite of the critical role reserve planning plays in the long-term sustainability of the organization, many HOAs have never conducted a reserve study and do not maintain a reserve account.…
Fifty years ago, the term “homeowner association” or HOA for short, was relatively unknown in the United States. Various sources have estimated that the total number of HOAs in the U.S. as of 1963 was perhaps no more than five hundred. Other than a handful of large, established planned developments such as Rancho Santa Fe…
In the first installment we examined the evolution of the common interest development movement beginning with the publication of Ebenezer Howard’s 1902 book Garden Cities of To-morrow, which was a revised edition of Howard’s 1898 publication To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Reform. Fast forward sixty years to 1962, there were perhaps 500 HOAs were scattered…
In 2009, CIDA’s founders introduced the subject of the Tipping Point in response to an invitation from the Community Associations Institute (CAI) to submit a proposal for an educational presentation at the CAI’s national convention. The tipping point thesis was that by 2020 the majority of the homeowner associations (HOA) in the United States years…