HOA Management Company (Dallas, Fort Worth, Spring: HOA fees, condos, homes)

[RussHill]

My community is considering a professional company to take over our HOA. I'm hoping to find others in the area who have had their HOA turned over to a management company. Was it a good idea, or a mistake? If it was good, then please share what company your neighborhood went with. Do you have any advice or suggestions?

I can Google all day, but the information I find will not be nearly as valuable as the first-hand experience I hope to find here.

Thanks in advance for any info you care to share.

Russ in Hillsborough

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edit:
I see that I have perhaps broken a rule with my first post. If it is against the rules to ask the questions I have asked, please feel free to IM me if you care to share an experience, recommendation, etc, concerning a HOA management company.

Thanks again
Russ

[nsumner]

How many homes in the community? Moving it to a big company will likely result in a hike in the HOA dues too... are you prepared for that?

[RussHill]

Hi nsumner, thanks for the reply. We have 148 homes in the HOA, not very big compared to other communities in the area (Heritage, Woodland Springs, etc). Yes, I think most homeowners in the area realize dues will increase with a management company running things however, they may not be aware of just how high the dues could go.

[Squirl]

Colony Square Condos has been very happy with Excel Management; there are 100 homes in that community.

[RussHill]

Thanks for the reply Squirl, I'll give Excel a look. Where are the Colony Square Condos, I'm not finding them on my map?

[nsumner]

Here is a link for Excel Management. Excel AM - Home Page

The other "big dog" company is PMG, Principal Management Group Principal Management Group: An Associa Company

Here is a contact for Acclaim Management, a smaller company Acclaim Management Group, Colleyville, TX 76034

And lastly
Select Management HOA Community Manager Dallas Fort Worth - Home Page

Do your homework about each. Good luck.

Naima

[RussHill]

Thanks for the info Naima. As for doing my homework, that's why I'm here, I was sure hoping to hear a few personal stories and/or opinions, etc. about these companies. I'm a bit surprised that there is so little discussion of them, honestly. Maybe there will be more people chime in during the week...

Thanks again!

[Squirl]

Colony Square Condos is in Dallas. I own an investment property there; don't live there. But attended their annual HOA meeting so I learned how happy the residents are with their PM company.

[SafetyGuy]

I live in the Saratoga subdivision and we have CMA (Community Management Associates)Management for our HOA. That is who the developer hired originally and we are stuck with them until we have enough home ownership to take it on our own.
I don't know that the HOA has been that highly regarded with responding to concerns of homeowners.

[TxBrn&Raised]

We live in a newer subdivision and our HOA is run by a management company. Next to us is a more established community who USED to be run by the same management company, but the HOA is now managed by the residents.

Both communities have one community pool, no other amenties. The more established neighborhood has larger lots, more expensive homes, and is located across the street from the city park. While our neighborhood has smaller lots, more affordable homes, and located down the road from the city park. With that information, you would think the more established neighborhood would have higher HOA fees, right? Wrong! Their HOA dues are $100 less each year...yet they have a nicer pool, a nicer neighborhood.

The HOA management company is more concerned with keeping relationships with their landscaping company and pool man instead of shopping around for more affordable prices, which is what the more established community has done (they fired the pool guy our community uses because he wouldn't lower his prices). If we have an issue with our pool, it's immediately closed for days/weeks...when the resident-run HOA had a problem with their pool, they made immediate changes to the security around the pool to keep it from happening again.

The resident-run HOA has a website with information, which our management company has said they don't have the time/money to do something like that. The "want" isn't there, the personal connection and desire to make our community the best it can be isn't there...because they don't care. They don't want to spend the money to maintain a website, but want to spend over 2K a year on FLOWERS in our ONE flower bed that doesn't even have flowers in it during the winter months, lol

From OUR personal experience, a resident-run HOA is the way to go. I'd much rather have residents in those positions than people who work over 30 miles away and have no personal connection to the community, other than answering the phone every once in awhile and putting together meetings twice a year.