5 Tips For Handling HOA Architectural Requests

Introduction

HOAs are responsible for maintaining the safety and aesthetics of their neighborhoods. Having a consistent way to deal with your architectural requests will help your community association. You might need residents to get approval before painting their front door a different color or building an addition to their house. We know it can be challenging to keep track of all the architectural requests in your community, so here are some tips for handling your HOA architectural requests! 

Educate Your homeowners On Your Policies

It’s essential to make sure your homeowners are aware of your policies. Ensure that they are fully informed about the rules, expectations of any fees, as well as how to submit requests for their property.

Outline your policies in an easy-to-read document, so it’s not confusing for homeowners. You can minimize the number of rejected requests by simply creating a clear policy document!

Make Sure HOA Architectural Requests Are Uniform

The first thing to consider when managing HOA architectural requests is whether or not they are uniform. Ensure that all architectural requests are submitted in one format, so you can be sure that any request is handled consistently. If the format of your architectural requests is inconsistent, there will be confusion among board members when reviewing them. You also want to make sure that all architectural request forms are clear and easy to read, so no one misses an important detail while reading them.

Make Sure You’re Timely in Your Response

If you have a board member dealing with the request, be sure that they are responsive to residents’ questions and concerns. The quicker you can respond, the better.

It’s also important to let residents know when your board will be reviewing their request and if there will be any delays in making a decision. If it helps, you can set up regular meetings with your Architectural Committee or Board of Directors. This would allow them to make decisions on all requests at once instead of having several people come forward with individual requests that need separate considerations from other projects being considered by the Architectural Committee or Board of Directors. 

Timeliness is critical for handling HOA architectural requests. If you don’t respond to residents about the status of their request within two weeks, they may assume that it’s been rejected, which can lead to frustration and low perception of your responsiveness.

Be Consistent in Approvals and Rejections

It’s important to be consistent in your approach to architectural requests and in the way you communicate decisions. This is especially true for the more common requests, such as changing front door colors, adding shutters or columns, installing a new mailbox post, or adding fencing. If you reject one request because there are too many similar ones already on the street, then it’s important that you also reject subsequent requests for those reasons.

If a homeowner submits an application for approval of plans for an addition or modification and it fails on some technicality (such as not being complete), don’t automatically grant approval just because other homeowners were able to get theirs approved without any problems. You need to maintain consistency so homeowners understand how they can get what they want while staying within HOA guidelines.

Use HOA Software to Help Manage Requests

You can use software to help manage the approval process. HOA Software enables you to track requests, save time and make your life easier!

• It helps you manage the approval process by tracking all requests uniformly so that everyone knows what’s going on.
• It also helps with consistency: when using software for approvals, it’s easy to have consistent standards across all projects and homeowners because everything is managed from one central location.
• Board members will be able to directly vote on architectural requests online from anywhere at any time, making the approval process quicker.
• Residents will be able to submit architectural requests online from a centralized location and track the progress of their requests from their resident portal.

Are you interested in architectural software? Check out more information about SmartArchitecturals. 

Conclusion

These tips should help you handle HOA architectural requests more efficiently. We know running an HOA is stressful, but Smartwebs is here to make it easier! With our software, you’ll be able to track, manage, and approve architectural requests from your residents. Schedule a demo with our team.