Notes from the maintenance chair.
Practical writing about running a small HOA: maintenance, money, email, and the software glue. By people who chair committees, not just build software for them.
Every post, newest first
October 6, 2026 · 5 min read
HOA minutes: write down what was decided, not what was said
A copy-and-paste HOA board meeting minutes template that follows the agenda, a filled-in example, what to leave out, and how to approve and keep them.
October 6, 2026 · 7 min read
Twelve HOA software options, priced for a board like ours
What 12 HOA software products cost a self-managed board at 50 and 150 homes, what homeowners pay to pay online, and who each one is built for.
October 6, 2026 · 10 min read
Two numbers that tell a board whether its reserves are enough
How much an HOA should have in reserves: the two numbers that answer it, a worked example, where the 10% rule comes from, and what state laws require.
October 5, 2026 · 9 min read
Georgia's new HOA law, and the older ones still in force
Georgia's Property Owners' Bill of Rights takes effect January 1, 2027. What it asks of HOA boards, the older laws still in force, and what to do now.
October 5, 2026 · 6 min read
The reserve study, explained for a volunteer board
What an HOA reserve study is, the three kinds, what one costs a small community, how percent funded works, and what to do with a study once you have it.
August 21, 2026 · 8 min read
What the Georgia POAA changes about your records
Georgia's Property Owners Association Act is opt-in, and most boards do not know which side they are on. What it changes about the paperwork you keep.
August 21, 2026 · 6 min read
An HOA board meeting agenda that actually ends on time
A copy-and-paste HOA board meeting agenda in the order that keeps volunteers awake, the four items boards forget, and an agenda for the annual meeting.
August 21, 2026 · 7 min read
How long HOA components actually last
Service lives for the things an HOA maintains: roofs, paving, paint, fences, gutters. What the ranges are, and why your own records beat every table.
August 18, 2026 · 6 min read
The board handoff: what actually has to survive you
Every annual meeting loses a piece of the association. The seven things a departing board should hand over, in the order that hurts most when they go missing.
August 14, 2026 · 5 min read
Leaving Wild Apricot: an honest guide for HOA boards
Wild Apricot is built for clubs and nonprofits, not HOAs. What to export before you cancel, what you will and will not miss, and what to move to.
August 11, 2026 · 6 min read
Two kinds of HOA software: which one do you need?
HOA software splits into books-first and operations-first. A ten-minute exercise tells you which your board needs, before you sit through a single demo.
August 6, 2026 · 5 min read
What an AI-first HOA platform actually does
AI in HOA software is usually a chatbot bolted onto a portal. What AI-first means when it is designed in from the start, and the lines it must never cross.
July 28, 2026 · 4 min read
A board approval workflow that survives busy volunteers
How small HOA boards can approve maintenance spending quickly, keep a clean record, and stop losing decisions inside reply-all threads.
July 23, 2026 · 6 min read
Before you let anyone collect your HOA dues online
Four questions before a platform touches your assessments: where the money lands, who pays the fee, what happens to old balances, can you still take a check.
July 17, 2026 · 5 min read
How to send HOA email people actually read
Deliverability rules, unsubscribe law, and plain-language habits for HOA announcements, from a board that sends real ones.
July 9, 2026 · 6 min read
Repair or replace? How our townhome HOA decides on roofs
For HOA boards responsible for roofs: when a repair is money well spent, when it is money after bad, and the one spreadsheet that settles the argument.
June 30, 2026 · 6 min read
The software stack a self-managed HOA actually needs
Most self-managed HOAs run three tools that do not talk to each other: a work-order app, a form builder, a membership platform. What that costs, and the fix.
June 11, 2026 · 6 min read
The first violation notice, written so it works
Most first notices are written in a voice that guarantees a fight. What belongs in one, what never does, and why you log the ones that resolve in a weekend.
May 19, 2026 · 6 min read
The maintenance calendar every small HOA needs
Volunteer boards run on reaction. The short list of recurring work a small HOA should keep on a calendar, and the two rules that keep a schedule alive.