Economy dampens Boomers' retirement dreams – USATODAY.com

Boomers aren't moving as much. How will that affect active adult communities?
Economy dampens Boomers' retirement dreams – USATODAY.com

Home Builder or Community Builder?

I know a number of great home builders, but few of them are good community builders.  That distinction is lost on most, who presume that building a collection of nice homes begets a nice community.  But in this era of shared amenities designed to attract homebuyers, the community is a significant driver in the buying decision.  Builders who do it well recognize that communities draw people together.  Highlighting these attributes helps potential homebuyers see their families building relationships.  Delivering a well-run, harmonious community that meets those expectations drives referrals and builds on the desirability of one community versus another.  

One of the most gratifying roles we have as community managers is to understand and reinforce the vision for a community before it is built.  This is where the nuances of entitlement and development are essential to the big picture.  Governing documents and budgets are an afterthought to the homebuilder, simply punched out from a template of their previous community.  But the community builder sees these details as an opportunity to bring a distinct personality to each community, one that can be championed throughout the sales and construction period and retained for the future through quality management.

You can create a good reputation by building nice homes in desirable locations, but you can build much more by focusing on the intangibles of each community.  This is an opportunity lost on most, but those who get it recognize that each community is an opportunity to build relationships and reputations as well as homes. 

LandArc Newsletter to Community Board Members

Success Stories

Whenever we have a victory at LandArc, we call it a Success Story.  Celebrating our accomplishments and the success of our customers helps encourage our staff by seeing the fruit of their labor.  The attached letter is a nice one that deserves special recognition.  This community came to us just over one year ago with a number of challenges.  We recently held their annual meeting and celebrated a number of accomplishments, such as getting a quorum for the first time (ever!), increasing their reserve fund by $100k, and reducing delinquencies by over $65k. 

Much can be accomplished in a short time with the right priorities and a committed team!

LandArc HOA & Condo Management Systems

Taking Pride in the Appearance of Your Community

One of the best jobs I had as a kid was mowing lawns.  As a perfectionist, seeing the product of my work in a perfectly manicured lawn was very gratifying.  Now that I am in the business of property management, I find that I am naturally critical of landscape maintenance vendors and always looking for the product that “pops” – perfect turf, beautiful flowers, clean edges, well trimmed shrubs, etc.  

These convictions resulted in the creation of our vendor scorecard system.  Simply stated, we grade our vendors on 26 components of quality landscape maintenance.  Each of these components receives a letter grade, and then all 26 grades result in an overall vendor performance grade.  

We decided on an electronic scorecard system (see photo below) for couple of reasons.  First, it allows our managers and quality assurance staff to complete the scorecard on their smartphones and immediately transmit the results to www.landarc.com.  Next, we log all of the historical results in our database and transmit the latest results directly to the vendor.  This is important because the vendor contract stipulates that a grade of C or below automatically places them on probation with the potential for replacement without further notice.  Finally, we make the results available to board and committee members who take an interest in their grounds maintenance and show the average grade on our monthly dashboard report. 

This may seem like a lot of work – and it is – but the appearance of your community is a reflection certain standards that ultimately affect perception, which in turn impacts realities like property value.  So set high standards for your community and demand that vendors meet them.  This will set your community apart and reassure owners that their board is adding real value to their community.

Why Hire Professional Landscaping

Maintaining common areas is one of the board’s most basic responsibilities. To fulfill that responsibility, the board contracts with a professional landscaping company. The board seeks bids from several potential companies, carefully considering the competence and expertise of each company and comparing fees. These fees may seem like an added—or even unnecessary—expense; but, in the long run, the additional cost will be less than the losses you would face without professional help. Consider the advantages:

Professional Expertise: It takes more than a green thumb to maintain attractive and functional landscaping. Your contractor employs professional staff and trained labor crews. This expertise translates into a cost-effective and successful landscape maintenance program for your community.  

Bulk Purchase Savings: Your landscape contractor purchases plants and supplies in bulk quantities at reduced prices and passes the savings along to you.

Improved Plant Survival: Trees, turf, shrubs, and other plantings are costly. Without proper care, they don’t survive, especially immediately after installation. The landscaper guarantees newly planted shrubs and trees for a specific amount of time, usually one year, so you don’t have to pay for replacing dead plants.

Reduced Liability: The association’s landscape contractor is properly insured and knowledgeable about—and in compliance with—all local and federal environmental requirements and safety regulations. Your contract shifts responsibility to the contractor and reduces the association’s liability.

Landscaping is very important to the community’s quality of life and its image and value. Is it worth what the association pays for these services? Yes! In fact, failing to invest in professional landscape maintenance is a false economy because curb appeal makes your neighborhood desirable and contributes to the value of individual homes.