Is it possible to be a long distance HOA board member?

Not all owners live within the boundaries of their Homeowners Association (HOA). Some live in nearby homes, others farther away in other states and a few overseas.  Some live in the association yet have duties and responsibilities which requires extensive travel. This raises the question "Can these off-property or very busy owners serve as board members?"

Here's my experience. I've been on an HOA board since the fall of 2010. The demands and requirements of my business have been considerable and require frequent travel. To further complicate this I currently spend part of the year in the southwest US and part about 110 miles from the HOA. In other words, I'm not a typical live-on-the-property board member.

Our HOA holds 11 regular monthly meetings, a budget meeting, and an annual meeting.  The 14th meeting in December is "to be decided" and is optional. The purpose of a December meeting is to deal with any issues which cannot wait until January.  In recent years with improved controls, the December meeting has been unnecessary. However, every year is the possible exception.

There is a requirement that board members "attend monthly meetings" and "each director shall serve on at least one committee."  In general, board members should not miss three consecutive meetings. The language of the board member agreements changes from time to time.

There is no requirement that any board member has any means of communications. A phone, personal computer, access to email and the internet, calculator, etc. are not required. Attempts to change this have been rebuffed by some board members.  There are practical reasons, I suppose. Having minimum requirements allows the most owners to participate in some way.  On the flip side, in an HOA of 336 owners, we have great difficulty getting seven to participate on the board. That leads me to question the "conventional" and oft promoted wisdom at BLMH. There is the opinion that lowering standards makes it easier for owners to participate on the board. I think that might be incorrect. A failure to embrace modern technologies may actually make it more difficult, and prevent owners from participating. I'm relying on the data, not the hyperbole.

Achieving attendance and participation
There are different methods for board members to attend a meeting. Physical presence is preferred but the association management does have access to electronic means. For the board member, this is optional because there is no requirement for any board member to own or to use any form of technology.

In my case, I do own several operating cell phones, personal computers and a Verizon Jetpack wi-fi hotspot with 30+GB monthly bandwidth. I can attend meetings physically or via electronic means. Our professional manager has allowed me to phone in to attend a meeting, or other board members to phone in to cast important votes.  Other board members have not yet attempted to block this.

Not all board members have or are willing to provide this kind of technology in accomplishing their duties and responsibilities.

It would seem that one of the reasons for such lax standards at  BLMH is best summed up by the positions of some past board members which were "We never did it that way, before." There hasn't been a consensus on the board to make improvements. Expanding requirements could put some board members at a disadvantage.

It is possible to create things for board members who are not present. Of course, doing so does require time. Even our "communications director" didn't make videos of the following type. To do so requires a few things:

• Time to do so.
• Skill to accomplish.
• Available technology.
• Inclination or Willingness on the part of one who presents.
• Interested Audience

Physical presence
To function on a board does require some physical presence on the property. To attend meetings does require some physical attendance.  That is the greatest impediment for owners who live off of the HOA property. Of course, if one can come and go intermittently that may be adequate for certain positions. The Treasurer, Architecture/Projects, Maintenance, Landscaping and Rules Directors do need to make certain types of physical observations of the property. However, it is obvious that Landscaping and Projects do shut down for the winter.

As a consequence, some board members may be able to be off of the property for long periods of time. Most on site work occurs in mild, warmer weather. By mid-November, things quiet down and may not get moving until mid-March. For that reason, certain board members may not be needed on the property at all for about four months of the year.

Other board positions may also have little need for physical presence in order to perform specific duties. Past Communications and Welcoming directors had few on-property tasks to perform.

However, during good weather, when maintenance, projects and landscaping are underway, there is a need for most members of the board be available to observe these, observe the property, meet with management and contractors, discuss specific rules issues and so on.

Some board positions do require going to the offices of management. Our treasurer must frequently sign checks. However, there is no excuse for a board member camping out in the management offices. That has happened in our association.  This is not a hobby and worse, spending time in the management offices can be a distraction and interfere with management's completing their duties in a timely and accurate manner. Yet, we have had board members who feel that they can and should come and go anytime it pleases them.  I guess the belief is that management works for them.

There are advantages to physical presence. When attending meetings I find that looking board members in the eye and reading body language is essential. In particular when there are attempts made to undermine or obfuscate. Attempting to discern voices and positions when board members are talking (or shouting) at once is difficult to impossible via electronics such as a cellphone. Of course, there are those on the board who know this. Some may use this to have their way.

On a large property of 40+ acres and 44 buildings, it is also essential that board members frequently walk the property. This is vital for architecture, maintenance, rules, and landscaping. Board members need to be aware of what it is they are voting for or against. Yet, even full-time resident board members may seldom walk the property.  There is no excuse for this, but "it is what it is."

As one of the obfuscators once stated: "We shouldn't cater to the lowest common denominator." That individual was referring to our owners but missed the irony of that statement.

Technology
Modern technology provides some additional tools and some have been very helpful. particularly when board members don't walk the entire property.

The above video is an example. This was made while walking the property in a recent spring (April 2015). The video was made to be presented to the HOA board and was made available via the URL. It resulted in certain stream repairs, including a large sectional replacement in 2017.

I have made these videos of certain aspects of the property including details of projects and I have posted those on YouTube. These were posted as "unlisted" and were accessed via personal computer so board members could see what the issues were. I have also made extensive "slide shows" including photos, charts, diagrams and so on. These can enable board members who will not or cannot walk the property to fully participate and make good decisions. Obviously, this approach could be applied to allow others off of the property to be aware of certain things.

The impediments to technology include 1) someone has to own it, 2) someone has to be willing to use it, 3) others need to be willing to observe what was produced.

At BLMH there has been only modest board interest in technology improvements. Some board members appear to be disinterested. One has argued that "I did this on columnar paper" when discussing spreadsheets.

Current technology options
Options would include cell phones, personal computers with groupware or similar communications software, spreadsheet and word processing software. Skype, for example, is free and will run on any Apple, Android, and PC products.  The nearby community college and the public library does have personal computers available. Library access only requires a library card, which is free. However, attending the library to read emails or to prepare spreadsheets or documents is not convenient and doesn't provide daily access, unless one is willing to go there, which some board members will not.

Making it easier
I think boards and HOAs can make it easier for owners to participate. Based upon my experience, there are board members who do as much as the can to make it difficult for anyone to participate.

3.77% under budget is how we got a 0% fee increase in 2018

We do our annual budgeting in October, which can be difficult because we don't have year end figures.

In October 2017 we projected a significant budget surplus. In other words, our total expenditures for 2017 would be substantially under the projected expenses. We didn't "skimp" on anything or hold back expenditures for the next year. The numbers reflected the actual, real and true expenditures, to the best of the knowledge of the board.

Of course, there are always year end surprises. For example, a nasty December can push up snow removal costs for the year. Significant icing can push up maintenance costs as we clear ice from roofs. Last minute bills can also have an impact. So I am inclined to think of 1% as within the "noise band" which is about  $13,500. We have to do substantially better to consider holding fee increases at 0%.

BTW, the change in our painting schedule and approach in 2011 has saved this association nearly $9,000 each year. That's an example of how we've achieved these results.   These things add up. I'm always preaching incremental, continuous improvement, but not everyone on the board believes this. The long term results speak for themselves. There are lots of gimmicks that our boards have used to achieve short term results. Shame on them!

When our association is under budget, any surplus is put into reserves. However, this can also be used to the benefit of the owners.

In January 2018 we got the final numbers. We were 3.77% under budget for the year. In other words, our 1.50% fee increase in 2017 was unnecessary.  We can't turn back the clock and I certainly don't want to undershoot in any year. In fact, some seasoned board members continue to adhere to the unsubstantiated belief that we need fee increases of at least 3% each and every year.

However, during the budget discussions in October 2017 which I prefer to call "negotiations" it was apparent that an increase was unwarranted. Those present voted for a 0% fee increase based upon 2017 data and 2018 projections.

I want to point this out: what we saved by a lot of hard work over a period of years reduced expenditures in 2017 by an amount equal to a 3.77% fee increase.  I'll let that sink in.

There is micro-management and then there is effective management. I prefer to be effective, which is reflected in this chart. Blue are actual fees per month per owner and red is projected. I joined the board in 2010.

Wind, Snow and Rain

Updated March 6, 2018.
Brrr! We were supposed to get wind, rain and snow. Possible 2-4 inches on top of freezing rain. But, all we got was a dusting. Better than the alternatives. Currently 33F.

Original Post March 5:
Another storm front on the way from our Canadian friends. Which is why there are so many of them in Arizona right now!