Looking for bids and would like to get a listing of all houston area mgmt companies.

I only know a few, Prestige, Associa, JDH. Any others?

And any thoughts on a 55 home community going without an HOA? What would be needed to cover the bases?

Our old community was Associa and they did an okay job. What I liked about them was that our manager knew our HOA bylaws well, so she was able to respond directly to the frequent (and often baseless) gripes that some community members have.

Perhaps you can reduce dues not hiring, but it is a lot of work and you have no one to point the finger at if things go wrong.

Beal Properties/Management in B/CS will work with you.

Our neighborhood (~1500 homes) used to be PMG/Associa previously. It now uses Sterling Managment. Both suck as far as I am concerned.

Inframark. Chaparral Management.

We used to have AVR, but the neighborhood switched to Goodwin

BMX Bandit said:

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And any thoughts on a 55 home community going without an HOA?

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The American Way.

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An inhouse HOA I guess would have been a better way to put it. This is an existing gated neighborhood that has been in existence since 2007.

Jack Klompus said:

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Our neighborhood (~1500 homes) used to be PMG/Associa previously. It now uses Sterling Managment. Both suck as far as I am concerned.

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We have Associa, they stink and they are expensive. Looking for one that doesnt stink as much and is cheaper.

Jack Pearson said:

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BMX Bandit said:

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Quote:

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And any thoughts on a 55 home community going without an HOA?

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The American Way.

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An inhouse HOA I guess would have been a better way to put it. This is an existing gated neighborhood that has been in existence since 2007.

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Not to nitpick but do you mean an in-house HOA manager? The HOA already exists. You just need a mgmt company? With that small of a neighborhood go with a small, personal mgmt company. I'd be leery of residents acting as HOA manager. Gated, I assume, means affluent. Hire professionals to manage it.

We worked with a large, national company and it was terrible because all resident calls go funneled through an out of state office. And they frequently rotated the manager who was assigned to the neighborhood. Each new one was worse than the previous one.

NoahAg said:

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Jack Pearson said:

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BMX Bandit said:

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Quote:

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And any thoughts on a 55 home community going without an HOA?

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The American Way.

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An inhouse HOA I guess would have been a better way to put it. This is an existing gated neighborhood that has been in existence since 2007.

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Not to nitpick but do you mean an in-house HOA manager? The HOA already exists. You just need a mgmt company? With that small of a neighborhood go with a small, personal mgmt company. I'd be leery of residents acting as HOA manager. Gated, I assume, means affluent. Hire professionals to manage it.

We worked with a large, national company and it was terrible because all resident calls go funneled through an out of state office. And they frequently rotated the manager who was assigned to the neighborhood. Each new one was worse than the previous one.

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Correct managing it ourselfs. Affluent or not this neighborhood has not been managed very well and needs to build up its reserves for when these roads need to be repaired one day. Hard to build it up without some major cut of expenses and one of those could be mgmt fees.

Jack Pearson said:

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NoahAg said:

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Jack Pearson said:

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BMX Bandit said:

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Quote:

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And any thoughts on a 55 home community going without an HOA?

---

The American Way.

---

An inhouse HOA I guess would have been a better way to put it. This is an existing gated neighborhood that has been in existence since 2007.

---

Not to nitpick but do you mean an in-house HOA manager? The HOA already exists. You just need a mgmt company? With that small of a neighborhood go with a small, personal mgmt company. I'd be leery of residents acting as HOA manager. Gated, I assume, means affluent. Hire professionals to manage it.

We worked with a large, national company and it was terrible because all resident calls go funneled through an out of state office. And they frequently rotated the manager who was assigned to the neighborhood. Each new one was worse than the previous one.

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Correct managing it ourselfs. Affluent or not this neighborhood has not been managed very well and needs to build up its reserves for when these roads need to be repaired one day. Hard to build it up without some major cut of expenses and one of those could be mgmt fees.

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Why would you want to do that to yourself? What happens when some of the Board members who claim they will help suddenly become "busy" or move? Then all the work/responsibility falls on 1 or 2 Board members. That's not sustainable. Get a management company and raise your dues. If you live in a gated community, you should be able to justify increasing fees for reserve fund for future road repairs. That's not a want, but a necessity.

IDaggie06 said:

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Jack Pearson said:

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NoahAg said:

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Jack Pearson said:

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BMX Bandit said:

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Quote:

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And any thoughts on a 55 home community going without an HOA?

---

The American Way.

---

An inhouse HOA I guess would have been a better way to put it. This is an existing gated neighborhood that has been in existence since 2007.

---

Not to nitpick but do you mean an in-house HOA manager? The HOA already exists. You just need a mgmt company? With that small of a neighborhood go with a small, personal mgmt company. I'd be leery of residents acting as HOA manager. Gated, I assume, means affluent. Hire professionals to manage it.

We worked with a large, national company and it was terrible because all resident calls go funneled through an out of state office. And they frequently rotated the manager who was assigned to the neighborhood. Each new one was worse than the previous one.

---

Correct managing it ourselfs. Affluent or not this neighborhood has not been managed very well and needs to build up its reserves for when these roads need to be repaired one day. Hard to build it up without some major cut of expenses and one of those could be mgmt fees.

---

Why would you want to do that to yourself? What happens when some of the Board members who claim they will help suddenly become "busy" or move? Then all the work/responsibility falls on 1 or 2 Board members. That's not sustainable. Get a management company and raise your dues. If you live in a gated community, you should be able to justify increasing fees for reserve fund for future road repairs. That's not a want, but a necessity.

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Its a small community.

Fees are already high, dang close to $1500 a year for a gated entry, some ponds which double as fire water ponds and require a ton of yearly expense, and a 50 ft right of way to the water front.

IMO, trying to do it yourself is asking for things to either be mis-managed/ignored by whomever is supposed to be keeping an eye on things, or to be micromanaged to death by a Karen-type. You need a nice middle ground that keeps things from going to hell, but also keeps busybodies from trying to send violation letters when a trashcan is still left out at 5:01pm on trash day.

People love the amenities of gated access, ponds, etc. until they see what maintaining those types of things costs. Be open and honest with people about what it truly costs to maintain the amenities while also stressing the need to put some $$ in the piggy bank for when more expensive items (i.e. road repair/replacement) come due.

People may *****, but as long as you're not trying to hide things, they'll generally accept it and move on. Inviting complainers to Board or finance committee meetings is the quickest way to shut them up. Tell them that you're always looking for new/better/different solutions, so if they have some knowledge or experience that would help, please come and share.

Also, as someone who lives in a community that had Board members asleep at the wheel for years on years, we're paying for it now. We're having to increase fees a lot to cover decaying infrastructure as well as try to save for other big projects that we know are on the horizon. If those tight-asses on the Board 20 years ago would have put a little money into savings each year, we could have avoided a ton of expenses now and been in much better financial shape. Instead, we're having to constantly triage different items to determine where the biggest/most pressing problem currently is while putting a band-aid on the others.

They were our cheapest option!

Avoid Vanmor at all costs. Happy to share a bit via PM if you need more context.

OnlyForNow said:

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They were our cheapest option!

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Does Beal work in Houston area? Looks like they only handle B/CS?

They quoted us out in Richmond/Fulshear and were very competitive. They want a Houston-ish presence, so I would bet they'll talk to you.

They do have some communities just north of Houston, I believe.

IDaggie06 said:

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My neighborhood of about 1000 homes switched to Crest Management (one of the larger ones in Houston) about two years ago.

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Crest used to monitor our neighborhood monthly in an unmarked car with two people -- one driving and one taking notes on a laptop and using a 35mm camera with a long lens to take photos of "issues."

It was unnerving. There's nothing like noticing a car sitting outside your house with people taking photos and writing notes.

They probably still do, but are more sneaky about it. That was just creepy.

Jack Pearson said:

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Jack Klompus said:

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Our neighborhood (~1500 homes) used to be PMG/Associa previously. It now uses Sterling Managment. Both suck as far as I am concerned.

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We have Associa, they stink and they are expensive. Looking for one that doesnt stink as much and is cheaper.

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If you find one, let me know.

Agz_2003 said:

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Inframark. Chaparral Management.

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From experience, Inframark's quality is very manager dependent. Some good, some terrible. I guess that's probably true of most of these operations, though.

Booma94 said:

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Agz_2003 said:

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Inframark. Chaparral Management.

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From experience, Inframark's quality is very manager dependent. Some good, some terrible. I guess that's probably true of most of these operations, though.

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This is 100% the case with HOA management companies. It all comes down to how good your manager is and how many other Associations they have responsibility for.

After seeing first hand how bad so many of them are run, a friend and I have been toying with the idea of starting one or buying one to improve.

We have Associa and as already mentioned, it comes down to the Manager. Our board interviewed the manager candidates and had the final say on who is the manager.

They are all trying to make money and it seems like their biggest money maker is how many letters per month of violations they can send out. When I was on the board, we reined this in as they went a little overboard.

We also have lots of ponds and the maintenance is a crazy cost. We do offset this cost some as Our MUD owns the water and they compensate us for a lot of the maintenance, up to $250k per year. Something to look at if possible.

Montage Community Services ask for Craig
281-232-7659

HOA management associations don't exist for any other purpose than to make their owners wealthy and protect HOA boards from getting sued.

So as a homeowner its really a question of how much do you want to be screwed over. A lot or a little.

Not to dig up an old thread, but seeking input. Any thoughts on Goodwin after a few months?

Also seeking more input on Montage. Interviewed them for our HOA and they say the right things, but would like actual feedback if there is any.

They have been super aggressive - for better or worse. The neighborhood is looking better then it did under AVR's management, but the residents are furious. Example - nothing in our deed restrictions talks about grass. However, we're doing hundreds of letters a month about dead grass. I have mixed feelings about this one - I think we should allow desert landscapes or not require turf grass. It's hot and uses a lot of water.

If the residents pushed back they could win since it's not explicitly in the deed restrictions, but so far it's just complaining at monthly meetings but lots of new lawns going in

Thanks. I'd be interested in knowing more if you have time. Email me at user name @ yahoo dot com and we can exchange info if you'd be free and willing to elaborate.