Blog

By Vivian X. Tran, Esq.

This article first appeared in the Fall 2021 Issue of The Communicator here.

Since the pandemic, followers of the real estate market will notice that the housing market is booming. There are not as many sellers as there are buyers, so the competition is through the roof. Many potential buyers are looking to buy their next homes within an HOA. In the Bay Area, even though many homebuyers waive all contingencies – against my advice as both an attorney and real estate agent – there are still a few conducting investigations (especially for townhomes or condos). Corresponding to the increase of competition to buy homes is an exponential increase in the number of questions from real estate agents and mortgage/escrow companies that are directed toward an HOA and its agents. What should the board of directors and the HOA’s manager be aware of? What should they do in certain situations?

The first thing to understand is that the HOA has...

Tackling the uncertainties: best practices for bidding, budgeting, and contracting in HOA projects.

By Regan Brown and Chris Sigler, B.S.C.E., CDT

This article first appeared in The Communicator, Spring 2021. To read more, click here.  

Over the past four years, skyrocketing construction costs have created various forms of havoc throughout the construction industry, to the surprise of many HOAs in need of project work. The increases have taken on various forms. In 2017-18, a strong economy and a demand for housing fueled a labor shortage, showing an overall increase of almost 30 percent in construction costs nationwide; in 2019, political tariffs and multiple natural disasters fueled the next wave of increases, this time affecting material costs.

The Pandemic’s Impact On Cost Increases

2020, the year that will go down in history for the global pandemic, brought several new factors creating price changes that we had not experienced before. When the...