If you are creating a plan to help you preserve your property, then having a professional perform a condo reserve study is the first step. However, one of the biggest mistakes that homeowners associations (HOAs) make is assuming that the reserve study will include everything they need to keep their condo in pristine condition.
While a necessary starting place, a condo reserve study is not nearly enough information for an association board to take action. Instead, a comprehensive building assessment alongside a reserve study is the best alternative.
In this blog, we will discuss why reserve studies are not enough and what you can do to maintain the structural integrity and lifespan of your community’s common property, which inevitability protects your investment.
Take Additional Steps to Preserve Your Property
Before delving into the steps you should take to preserve your common property elements, it’s important to first discuss condo reserve studies and what they include.
A reserve study gives you an estimate of the remaining useful life and replacement costs for all the common property within your community. The association’s master documentation will specify exactly what that is, as it differs slightly for all - think septic systems, tennis courts, pavement, etc. The largest portion of any reserve study is dedicated to the individual components that make up your building envelope - roofing, siding, etc. Together, they create the largest capital need for associations.
Currently, 13 states - California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Washington - legally mandate that condominium associations conduct regular reserve studies or establish a formal reserve schedule. Other states, such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Illinois, do not require a recurring study but do mandate that associations maintain or disclose adequate reserve funding within their budgets.
However, the reserve study estimate only provides a part of the picture when determining the remaining usable life of your building.
If an HOA reserve study is insufficient, what additional step needs to be taken?
Performing a comprehensive building assessment can help you get a clear idea of the condition of all the exterior elements that make up your envelope. During this process, your repair experts will remove some parts of the siding and roofing in order to determine whether the protective barrier has been compromised.
Through this, your repair experts can assess and monitor damage across specific sites and implement preventative maintenance to combat these wear patterns. Additionally, your maintenance experts can keep track of changes and time between repair cycles to determine how frequently you will need to make these improvements.
Forecasting the Financial Impact of Your Plan
Building a comprehensive and successful condo maintenance action plan also requires you to assess the financial impact of the improvements you’re making.
A professional condo repair company can help you review repair costs for the last decade, including additional painting and spot maintenance. Your experts should look for patterns that may reveal additional information, for instance, whether or not repairs or exterior spot repairs are becoming more frequent.
It’s important to understand that the closer your building envelope gets to the end of its usable lifespan, the less sense it makes to perform aggressive or large-scale repairs, and instead makes sense to plan for replacement
Aging Is Inevitable, But Planning Makes a Huge Difference
Every building will face natural aging—and condos are no exception. But while the process itself is inevitable, poor planning doesn’t have to be. With the right insights and support, your HOA can create a proactive plan that addresses the challenges of an aging structure before they become critical.
By leveraging comprehensive building assessments for condos, tracking changes over time, and relying on data rather than assumptions, you can make informed decisions about when to repair, maintain, and replace key components.
The goal is to plan not just for today’s problems, but for tomorrow’s as well, so that your community is prepared to take care of repairs and replacements that become necessary with time.
Unexpected Costs: How to Plan for Unforeseen Issues
Even the most detailed reserve study or building envelope strategy can’t predict everything. That’s why it’s crucial to plan for unexpected costs when building your long-term condo maintenance strategy.
From water damage to improper installation methods and premature component failure, your building envelope is vulnerable to sudden changes that can quickly lead to large expenses. Instead of reacting to emergencies, create contingency budgets and keep emergency funds separate from your primary reserve account.
Analyze historical maintenance patterns and fluctuations to anticipate where surprises are more likely to happen and work with professionals who can help you stay ahead of the curve.
Make Your Plan Flexible and Not Static
A static plan is only effective until the moment something changes, and in condominium property management, change is constant.
That’s why your condo maintenance plan should be flexible, with clearly-defined checkpoints and a process for revisiting decisions as new information becomes available.
With a flexible plan in place, you can adjust your priorities without having to start from scratch each time. Consider revising your plan annually based on the latest inspection results, financial forecasts, and performance data to make sure your community always stays one step ahead.
Ready to Create a Plan for Your Condo Beyond the Reserve Study?
There is no doubt that creating a maintenance plan for your condo is necessary to preserve and extend the usable life of your property. That said, there are no standardized methods that can help ensure the longevity of your condo, which is the reason why many HOAs and condo associations simply opt for reserve studies.
While extremely useful, it’s important to understand that reserve studies only provide part of the picture when it comes to the state of your building. By performing comprehensive building assessments and extensive analyses of your envelope as well as other vital parts of your building, you can have a better idea of all potential issues, their underlying causes, and what you need to do to fix them.
At SPS, we have helped communities and HOAs navigate the challenges of condo maintenance and preservation since 1990. Contact us today to learn more about creating a comprehensive plan that goes beyond your reserve study and allows you to take care of your building exterior.
Learn more about how to future proof your community, download our guide now.
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