5 Ideas to Increase Property Value Under 10k

(00:00) Speaker: It's time for AMG's 2023 Community Leaders Series Podcast Edition. Over the last three decades, AMG has worked to make the role of community leaders more effective and less of a headache. Seminar topics are a response to our Executive board members have requested.

(00:17) Speaker: My experience has very much been that when you freshen things up with the project, you're similar or like what you're talking about that that tends to really increase the morale in the community where people feel like their community is being well taken care of.

(00:33) Speaker: And now here's your host and CEO of AMG, Paul K. Mengert.

(00:38) Paul K. Mengert: Good afternoon, everyone. This is Paul Mengert with the AMG Community Leaders Podcast, Five Ideas to Increase Property Values for Under $10,000. Today, my special guest is AMG President, Dacy Cavicchia. Dacy, welcome to the Community Leaders Series.

(00:57) Dacy Cavicchia: Thank you, Paul. It's one of my greatest pleasures to be a part of this.

(01:01) Paul K. Mengert: Dacy, this episode is proudly sponsored by NAC Inc. doing business as Page Concrete and Outdoor Services. Make your outdoor vision become reality. Whether it's your home or business, Page Concrete solves problems and creates wonderful work and living spaces. For information about Page Concrete and Outdoor Services, please visit their website at pageconcretenc.com or give them a call at (336) 442-6481. Today's podcast, Dacy and I will be discussing five ideas to increase property values for under $10,000. I'm honored to have Dacy with me to discuss this important topic and to sum it up, Dacy, what we want to talk about is ways to have high impact value for members, at a low cost to the association budget. A lot of times association leaders spend a lot of time thinking about and planning for the long term, which they should. But how do they show their members what they're getting today? Dacy is way of background, has been with AMG for over 25 years. She is a CMCA, an AMS, and a PCAM, a professional community association manager. Daisy oversees all of the AMG operations and I've just been a real honor and pleasure to over these decades work with her and I admire her organizational skills and ability to consult with and assist clients and lead our staff. So Dacy, it's a real pleasure to be here. Let's jump right in. Give me a couple ideas of what our clients can do for under $10,000 to make a high impact.

(02:53) Dacy Cavicchia: We hear every day in our industry homeowners saying, what am I paying for? What's the bang for my buck that I'm giving every day? And they don't see the behind the scenes like insurance and water and reserves. So, what we try and do is go to the high-profile areas that everyone sees on their way in. Two of those things is the entrance signage and the signage in the community. And if they don't have them already, flags at the entrance, whether it's the North Carolina flag and the United States flag. Or if they have an emblem or symbol for their community, they can put flags up with that information as well. But for very, very low cost, going to the entrance, monument signs, pressure, wash them, touch up the pain or give it a bright new color to make them more visible and more noticeable so that every time that the homeowners are driving through the community, the very first thing they see is a bright entrance sign or new flags - don't ever let your flags get tattered. It's very inexpensive to put a new United States flag or a state flag up in your community. Those are two of the things that we see that make the biggest impact immediately. Entrance flowers. You can put in a few extra flats of entrance flowers to make the community really stand out the moment these owners are driving through their front gates.

(04:30) Paul K. Mengert: Dacy, I love the ideas. Tell me about what you've can you correlate any of this to sales and property values and what kind of impact would this likely make in your experience to values in the community?

(04:47) Dacy Cavicchia: When potential buyers are driving into a community, it's the very, very first impression they're going to get. So, when they come into a community where the lights aren't working, the flags are tattered, it looks like the community needs a lot of care. The first impression they get is going to be their biggest impression. And especially with new homeowners when they're selecting these communities where they move into, they are saying to you, we think your community is the best of everything we could choose. So, you really want to make sure that has the highest impact and looks the best, right when they're driving through the front entrance. Otherwise, they're going to turn around and you're going to lose sales in your community.

(05:37) Paul K. Mengert: Yeah, great ideas. Dacy, thanks for those ideas. We're now going to take an AMG Community Leader Series newsbreak and we'll be right back.

(05:46) Speaker: And now it's time for your HOA Solutions Today newsbreak.

(05:50) Newsbreak: A planned community’s HOA in Dallas, Texas, has ignited a high stakes civil rights battle by enacting a ban on renters who receive federal housing aid. This contentious decision raises serious concerns about fair housing and potential racial discrimination. A recent incident involving a single black mother of two brought the issue to the forefront. Reliant on housing aid, she rented a spacious, over 2000 square foot home, in a new master planned community within Denton County. However, her hopes were dashed when she received a notice from the HOA, prompting her to seek alternative housing immediately. Texas is no stranger to such practices, as state law does not explicitly prohibit property owners from denying tenancy to individuals participating in the rental assistance program known as Section Eight. Compounding the matter, federal anti-discrimination law does not afford voucher users the same protection status as categories like race or sex. While over 100 cities and countries, along with 16 states, have passed local laws to protect voucher holders from discrimination, just over half of Section Eight’s supported tenants live in areas where the source of income discrimination is prohibited. The situation in Texas is exacerbated by a 2015 state law that prevents local, city, and county governments from enacting their own safeguards against source of income discrimination. Despite this, federal protections still exist against policies that disproportionately harm specific racial groups under the legal doctrine known as Desperate Impact, the ongoing dispute now stands as a test of civil rights and fair housing principles, and it remains to be seen how the legal landscape will unfold in this complex battle between the HOA's decision, federal protections, and the fight against housing discrimination.

(07:29) Paul K. Mengert: We're back. I'm Paul K. Mengert and I'm here with Dacy Cavicchia discussing the five ideas to increase property values for under $10,000. Dacy, you were just mentioning these high impact projects could have on potential buyers in the community. But let's talk a little bit about the residents who aren't buying or selling. What have you found these kinds of projects; how do they impact just the regular owners who are there every day?

(07:58) Dacy Cavicchia: Well, I think one of the big items that I see makes the biggest impact is landscaping. When the community freshens the pine needles or the mulch in front of each of the units, that makes an impact for every single person in the community. It's not just up at the pool. It's not in specific areas. It's covered community wide. So, when the shrubs are trimmed, fresh pine needles put in, the pompous grass, and the different grasses in the community, when they're well maintained, trimmed, or freshened up, it makes a huge difference in front of every single unit. If it's a single-family home subdivision, they might have pergolas or park areas. Refreshing that mulch in the playgrounds and parks typically is in the low, low $1000 to $2000 range. But it gets a big impact that the majority of the community will be able to use and see. The pool areas, another great idea is to freshen up the flowers in front of the pool area or even have, if there's not a lot of area, have little planters where there can be fresh flowers put in, sometimes just for a few hundred dollars.

(09:22) Paul K. Mengert: Agreed. I think those are great projects. I also wanted to talk with our community leaders a little bit though, about how these kinds of projects impact how community members feel about the association. My experience has very much been that when you freshen things up with the projects, you're similar or like what you're talking about, that that tends to really increase the morale in the community where people feel like their community is being well taken care of. It's, you know, it's hard for residents to see the money that's being spent on insurance or being deposited into the capital reserves or even on new roofs, sometimes. Those are hard to see when you do these kind of high impact projects, people really can feel them. So, my experience has been it really does elevate kind of the community feeling about the community association. Have you had the same experience?

(10:20) Dacy Cavicchia: You hear all the time when the homeowners are saying, this is my biggest investment, I want to be house proud. I want people to appreciate where I live. I want to have this as a statement piece when my family comes into town, when my friends come into town. I want them to buy in this neighborhood because they see how beautiful it is. So, when you're talking about a person's biggest investment they're going to make, we want to make sure that they are proud to show off this community to all of their friends, neighbors, and family.

(11:00) Paul K. Mengert: And I know that just over the years, my experience has been our community leaders really want to please the residents of their neighborhood and their neighbors. And these are important projects. So they may be not things you do every year or every season, but, you know, occasionally doing some of these high impact projects I think really is one of the tools in a community leader’s tool bag to raise satisfaction in their community and, you know, needs to be done in a balanced fashion because we certainly don't want to divert money inappropriately from the capital reserves for community flags. But on the other hand, we kind of have to balance both of those, and sometimes people can pay a little bit more and get a little bit more. And it really raises their satisfaction greater than if they were paying less. My experience has been communities that try to really charge the lowest often end up with pretty high dissatisfaction because most of the community members really don't want the lowest level of services. So, it's of course it takes a great balance. And that's the art of being a director, of finding efficient spending, yet ways to give community members what they what they really want. Let's hold these thoughts just a minute. We've got another HOA newsbreak and then Dacy and I will be right back with a couple additional ideas.

(12:34) Speaker: And here's another HOA Solutions Today newsbreak.

(12:38) Newsbreak: Florida's Chapter 718 statutes have introduced significant changes to rental restrictions in both condominiums and homeowner associations, impacting property owners who wish to lease their units for short term periods. Under the existing Chapter 718, condominiums have provisions stipulating that any new rental restrictions approved by the membership through amendments to governing documents would only apply to those who voted in favor of the changes or to those who acquire property after the amendment’s approval and recording in the county public records. Similarly, Section 718 .110 14 of Florida statutes for condominiums, specified that amendments restricting unit owners from renting their units or altering rental durations would only apply to consenting unit owners and those who acquired ownership after the amendment’s effective date. Now HOAs have adopted new short term rental restrictions under these revised statutes. These restrictions are applicable to all property owners and limit rentals to a maximum of three times a year, with each lease period being less than six months. For property owners under the HOAs who voted in favor of these amendments or acquired ownership after their effective date, further restrictions come into play. These include rental restrictions of six months or longer, or limit of 3, 2 or 1 lease per year. As these rental restrictions come into effect, the affected property owners must adapt to the changes while the real estate market and communities adjust to the new regulations.

(14:05) Paul K. Mengert: Welcome back, folks. I'm Paul K. Mengert here with Dacy Cavicchia discussing five ideas to increase property values for under $10,000. Dacy, thanks for joining me today. I know you have a few other ideas before we wrap up this episode.

(14:22) Dacy Cavicchia: Well, the other items that we have that have created large satisfaction, but things that we typically wouldn't think of: painting your fire hydrants, if you have dumpster areas, painting those, freshening those up, pressure washing the area around there, the high profile places that people drive by every day that almost blend into the landscaping, you don't even notice they're there. But when you add a fresh pop of color, especially on the fire hydrants, the dumpsters, the dumpster areas, if you have those. Painting the front of the columns of the cabana area or their pool areas, those are things that can be relatively inexpensive. A few things that cost nothing. Driving through the community and flagging any streetlights, any power lamps that have gone out, making sure that your area is well lit at night also increases satisfaction. And that if they're still under contract with the energy companies, that's a free thing that you can do to make sure that it's something that people can see immediately. And that, I think, is the biggest impact of this. What can we do that is a vast impact so homeowners can see what they're paying for. That's the biggest complaint that we get. What am I paying for? And when they see these new things, pops of color, light, landscape, it just makes such a huge difference to the owners. It just truly does. And when we can do those kinds of things, cleaning up the playground equipment, if there's a group of people in the neighborhood that want to go in and clean up the playground equipment or hire somebody very inexpensive to go in and pressure wash the playground equipment.

(16:26) Paul K. Mengert: I love the ideas. Let me throw out one other that I've seen a few associations do. And this can be done as simple as just typing something up, or it can be as elaborate as hiring a designer to make a pamphlet. But some communities have taken on the idea of creating like a community fact sheet that can be used by people selling or used to welcome people into the community and of course AMG has a nice welcome kit that talks about community amenities that many of our clients use. But the community fact sheet is aimed at when people are selling, sometimes they don't have the facts right and giving them a sheet or a brochure that talks about the amenities that the association has and what's included in the association's assessments. It seems like a really good idea to help people understand what they get for their association. I've had buyers I've talked to that have bought into a community and not knowing they had a pool and cabana area. So, educating the potential new community members on the facilities of the association can be as cheap as a photocopy. Of course, it can be as elaborate as a four-color brochure, but I think that's another idea that community leaders might, you know, again, put in their tool bag. So, if you're, you know, trying to do something new for your community, you know, very low cost, it could almost be a no cost idea to kind of heighten the value of your community.

(18:02) Dacy Cavicchia: Absolutely. And the thing that will cause the fastest dissatisfaction in the community is when someone comes in expecting something that they're not going to get. So, giving them complete, accurate information is absolutely crucial. You hear all the time, well, they told me I would have this, and it doesn't exist, but that would be absolutely essential, Paul I love that idea where if it's a community fact sheet that's created by the community, these homeowners are these potential homeowners and potential buyers, they know exactly what they're going to get. And that absolutely does not only create satisfaction but prevents dissatisfaction.

(18:51) Paul K. Mengert: Right. I remember well, it has been a long time ago, but two neighboring communities with very similar names and they were both for sale, new development at the same time. And one of the communities had an elaborate swimming pool and cabana clubhouse area and the other one did not. And the sales reps for the community that didn't have the pool told many of the buyers that they had access to the pool when there was absolutely nothing that implied that, other than the names of the two communities were similar. Boy, that was a mess to unsort and, you know, cost somebody a lot of money for misleading buyers about what they were getting. So, to your point about a sure way to create dissatisfaction is to make people think they're getting something or make them think they're going to have something that, in fact, they don't have. Even if it's a minor thing, you've got to be careful never to overset expectations.

(19:55) Dacy Cavicchia: Absolutely. Absolutely.

(19:56) Paul K. Mengert: Dacy, we're going to take our final newsbreak. And we'll be right back with some closing thoughts on how to make high impact adjustments to your community, ideas of things you can do for less than $10,000.

(20:10) Speaker: And now our final HOA Solutions Today newsbreak.

(20:14) Newsbreak: In a significant development, the Idaho legislature discreetly revamped homeowner’s association laws, introducing a Comprehensive Homeowners Association Act that consolidates various provisions into one coherent framework. The bill received overwhelming support, with the House voting 63 to 3 and the Senate, 34 to 1, ultimately earning Governor, Brad Little's signature. The newly enacted Homeowners Association Act includes critical additions to enhance transparency and financial disclosures within HOAs. Members of HOAs are now entitled to receive a detailed rundown of fees annually before January 1st. Furthermore, the HOA must provide each member with a copy of the Association's financial statement yearly. Moreover, HOA members possess the right to request an up-to-date financial disclosure at any time which the Association must furnish within ten days. This consolidation of Idaho Code pertaining to HOAs streamlines information, making it easier for board members, administrators, and residents to comprehend and navigate the laws that govern their communities. The updated code also establishes that Idaho State Law supersedes any HOA rules or CCRs. Notably, homeowners cannot be prohibited from installing solar panels, although some reasonable design and location restrictions may apply. Political signs are also safeguarded, except when they pose political health or safety threats, violate other laws, or come with accompanying sound or music. Additionally, HOAs are barred from prohibiting flags of the State, the United States, branches of military or POW/MIA flags. With these updates in place, Idaho seeks to strike a balance between safeguarding property rights and fostering a transparent and harmonious environment within the homeowners’ associations throughout the state.

(21:55) Paul K. Mengert: We're back. I want to thank Dacy, the president of AMG, for joining me today to talk about ideas of how community leaders can increase value with high impact projects that don't cost very much. Dacy, I think we've had some you know, you've had some really great ideas. I want to give you a chance to kind of sum up your guidance to our community leaders in this area. And I'll just kind of throw out a couple takeaways I have from today's discussion. You know, and maybe these aren't things that boards do every day or even every year, but I encourage them to periodically look around the community and see if there's some things that can be done for, you know, not even $10,000. It can even be for $1000 or $2000 that when people drive into your neighborhood, when they come home from work, that's going to give a little bit of a wow factor, maybe a little bit of an unanticipated wow, that's really beautiful, they've painted the, you know, the lamp posts or put in some new flowers or put up spiffy looking flags. Obviously, you want to look at what makes sense. You want to build some consensus. You want to have a group of people kind of vet the ideas and make sure that the ideas are going to be viewed as positive. But part of the job of a community leader is to really make the residents feel good about the community and lead in a positive way. So much of what we end up having to deal with is things that are kind of, you can't do this, and you have to do that, but this is an opportunity to really put a positive step forward. Dacy, I appreciate you sharing some really great ideas, and I know you'll probably have some really good closing thoughts.

(23:40) Dacy Cavicchia: But I think again, the biggest impact is increasing the homeowner satisfaction and some easy ways to do it. Three takeaways: your entrance monuments, update your signage, add some flags, add some landscaping, or just freshen up your landscaping. Another idea is to if you're in a townhome or a condominium community where you're affecting every home, sprucing up the pine needles, sprucing up the mulch, doing some targeted landscaping in front of their homes is a great high impact idea. And finally, going along with what Paul was saying, because I think it's a fantastic idea, community sales literature, letting everyone understand what to expect when you move into the community with information that's accurate that they can depend on. In closing, we want the homeowners to be satisfied, and sometimes it just doesn't take that much money to do something to give it a good pop, whether it's a pop of color, whether it is a new feature like flagpoles or just doing something at everyone's individual homes, it just makes such a difference. We want them to be proud of where they are. We want their home values to go up.

(25:03) Paul K. Mengert: Excellent. Dacy, thanks so much for being here and thank you sincerely to our episode sponsor, Page Concrete and Outdoor Services. Make your outdoor visions come to reality. Whether it's your home or business, Page Concrete solves problems and creates wonderful work for living spaces. For more information about Page Concrete and Outdoor Services, please visit their website at pageconcretenc.com or give them a call at (336) 442-6481. Again, that's 442-6481. I'm Paul K. Mengert, your host for the AMG Community Leaders Series 2023 Podcast Edition. If you'd like to explore more of our podcast or access additional 2023 CLS content, please visit HOACommunityLeaders.com.

(25:55) Speaker: Thanks for listening to 2023 AMG's Community Leaders Series Podcast Edition. To find more information on this episode, please visit HOACommunityLeaders.com. This podcast is a production of BG Ad Group.

(26:10) Speaker: All rights reserved.

• Look to highlight your entrance monuments, update your signage, or add some flags.

• Spruce up landscaping by freshening up the pine needles or mulch or do some targeted landscaping in high impact areas.

• Consider creating community sales literature, letting everyone understand what to expect when they move into the community with information that's accurate that they can depend on.

ICYMI: Live in an HOA? The Idaho legislature quietly created a new HOA act: here’s what’s included

In a significant development, the Idaho Legislature discreetly revamped homeowner's association laws introducing a comprehensive Homeowner's Association Act that consolidates various provisions into one coherent framework. The bill received overwhelming support, with the House voting 63-3 and the Senate 34-1, ultimately earning Governor Brad Little's signature. The newly enacted Homeowner's Association Act includes critical additions to enhance transparency and financial disclosure within HOAs. Members of HOAs are now entitled to receive a detailed rundown of fees annually before January 1. Furthermore, the HOA must provide each member with a copy of the association's financial statement yearly. Moreover, HOA members possess the right to request an "up-to-date financial disclosure" at any time, which the association must furnish within ten days. This consolidation of Idaho code pertaining to HOAs streamlines information, making it easier for board members, administrators, and residents to comprehend and navigate the laws that govern their communities. The updated code also establishes that Idaho state law supersedes any HOA rules or CC&Rs. Notably, homeowners cannot be prohibited from installing solar panels, although some reasonable design and location restrictions may apply. Political signs are also safeguarded, except when they pose public health and safety threats, violate other laws, or come with accompanying sound or music. Additionally, HOAs are barred from prohibiting flags of the state, the United States, branches of the military, or POW/MIA flags. With these updates in place, Idaho seeks to strike a balance between safeguarding property rights and fostering a transparent and harmonious environment within homeowner's associations throughout the state.

Grandfathering of Rental Restrictions in Condos and HOA’s

Florida's Chapter 718 Statutes have introduced significant changes to rental restrictions in both Condominiums and Homeowners Associations, impacting property owners who wish to lease their units for short-term periods. Under the existing Chapter 718, condominiums had provisions stipulating that any new rental restrictions approved by the membership through amendments to governing documents would only apply to those who voted in favor of the changes or to those who acquired property after the amendment's approval and recording in the County Public Records. Similarly, Section 718.110(14) of Florida Statutes for Condominiums specified that amendments restricting unit owners from renting their units or altering rental durations would only apply to consenting unit owners and those who acquired ownership after the amendment's effective date. Now, HOAs have adopted new short-term rental restrictions under these revised statutes. These restrictions are applicable to all property owners and limit rentals to a maximum of three times a year, with each lease period being less than six months. For property owners under HOAs who voted in favor of these amendments or acquired ownership after their effective date, further restrictions come into play. These include rental restrictions of six months or longer or limits of three, two, or one lease per year. As these rental restrictions come into effect, the affected property owners must adapt to the changes while the real estate market and communities adjust to the new regulations.

A Legal Showdown Over Section 8 Discrimination Is Brewing in Dallas Suburb

A planned community's HOA in Dallas, Texas, has ignited a high-stakes civil rights battle by enacting a ban on renters who receive federal housing aid. This contentious decision raises serious concerns about fair housing and potential racial discrimination. A recent incident involving a single Black mother of two brought the issue to the forefront. Reliant on housing aid, she rented a spacious over-2,000-square-foot home in a new master-planned community within Denton County. However, her hopes were dashed when she received a notice from the HOA, prompting her to seek alternative housing immediately. Texas is no stranger to such practices, as state law does not explicitly prohibit property owners from denying tenancy to individuals participating in the rental assistance program known as Section 8. Compounding the matter, federal anti-discrimination law does not afford voucher users the same protected status as categories like race or sex. While over 100 cities and counties, along with 16 states, have passed local laws to protect voucher holders from discrimination, just over half of Section 8-supported tenants live in areas where the source of income discrimination is prohibited. The situation in Texas is exacerbated by a 2015 state law that prevents local city and county governments from enacting their own safeguards against source of income discrimination. Despite this, federal protections still exist against policies that disproportionately harm specific racial groups, under the legal doctrine known as "disparate impact." The ongoing dispute now stands as a test of civil rights and fair housing principles, and it remains to be seen how the legal landscape will unfold in this complex battle between the HOA's decision, federal protections, and the fight against housing discrimination.