Key Differences Between Property Management and Association Management

October 24, 2022

Rental property management and HOA management both involve helping people live comfortably in a community.

However, many people take this one broad similarity and mistake each position as offering the same services.

Property and association management has several key differences that make each management style successful for the specific type of property they serve.

Goodwin & Company specializes in community management and does our best to ensure each client understands the different responsibilities between a community manager and a property manager.

Here’s a closer look at how our management team impacts the communities we serve and why it’s easy to mistakenly lump each service together.

What is an Association Manager?

Association management is when a management team, like Goodwin & Company, joins forces with an HOA’s Board of Directors to ensure the clean execution of a Board’s decisions throughout the community.

Think of the board as the community’s face presenting excellent ideas and association management as the group behind the scenes ironing out the details of keeping the community running successfully.

HOA Boards comprise volunteers who may not have the experience to cover every detail of HOA management. This is where the key responsibilities of a management team come into play.

Financial and Legal Assistance

Association management comprises professionals ready to help with any issue involving HOA law and a community’s finances.

From assisting the Board with annual budget approvals to helping resolve conflicts between the HOA and an owner, community management is an investment that goes beyond serving the needs of an individual and puts the greater good of the community at the forefront.

Supervises Community Maintenance

HOAs and condominium associations are known for shared community spaces like parks, recreation centers, and swimming pools. Your association management team is responsible for providing vendors and oversight for maintaining these community spaces and ensuring they remain pillars of your community.

Administrative Tasks

Your Board needs a team to represent them when community members have questions, requests, or problems. An association management company can provide quality services, including emergency response, community meeting organization, dues collection, community alerts, vendor billing, and more!

What is a Property Manager?

Unlike in an association where homeowners are generally responsible for the upkeep of their personal property, a property manager manages renters on a landlord’s property.

Property managers directly influence rent collection, finding quality tenants, and managing tenant issues like repairs and maintenance as soon as possible.

What Are the Differences Between the Two?

A property manager is responsible for keeping private owners or companies that own rental property happy. This means keeping great renters in homes and providing them with quality service when the needs arise.

One of the key differences between the two is the level of power each has. A property manager must follow all community rules and can only enforce rules against the tenants they manage and no one else.

An HOA community management team has more power with regard to its reach in the community. It is responsible for enforcing a community’s CC&Rs amongst all association members and ensuring that the community remains as uniform as possible.

Manage Your Property to Perfection with Goodwin & Company, Today!

Whether you’re part of an association Board in need of direction or are a new landlord renting out your first property, you need a reliable management team on your side.

Make sure you make the right choice for your association and work with a management company that specializes in community care. Goodwin & Company exclusively offers community management for HOA and condominium associations across Texas and is ready to put our expertise to work for you.