Your property’s association board handles many of the crucial decisions about the day-to-day and long term health of the property. Getting a seat on the board is a good way to ensure that your opinions about how the property should be managed will be heard, and maybe even implemented. Being on the association board does not pay anything, but it does give you some control over the future of the property you have invested in.
Your chances of being elected to the board depend largely on the size of your property and the level of commitment of other owners. Some associations always have a free seat they are desperate to fill, because of low owner involvement. Others, particularly those of larger properties, are so in demand that running for them can feel like a mini-presidential election. It should go without saying that you should be on good terms with your neighbors if you want to have a chance at being elected to the association board.
If you are thinking about running for a seat on your association’s board, the first thing to do would be to familiarize yourself with the association’s current rules and procedures. From these, as well as from your experience with the property, draft a list of potential things you’d want to change if elected — this will be the platform you run on. You may also want to get familiar with the type of work an association board generally does. Largely, the board is concerned with the making of financial and regulation decisions, with the property management company implementing the decisions into everyday practice.
