Adding amenity / providing service to a community?

hello all! Glad I ran into this forum since it looks like this place is full of great information about HOA.

I am thinking of starting a business providing a special service to a "community". I am still in the early stages of this idea and wanted to know what it would take to have the service added as part of the monthly maintenance fee of a community?

I really am still in the early stages of trying to plan this out and wanted to know if its worth the trouble or if it will even work. For example, who would I have to meet with to get "my service" added? will adding a service / amenity to an already existing community be worth it? etc etc. Any advice will truly be appreciated.

Regards,

Charlie

Hello! I am currently not part of any community ( unfortunately ) . I'm not comfortable sharing my idea quite yet but for example, in this make believe community, lets say I want to provide my services as a personal trainer for a community with gyms in their clubhouses. I also want to structure my salary so that its built into the maintenance / condo fees of each house / condo / townhouse. Who would I have to speak to to "pitch" this idea?

thanks!

-Charlie

Thanks for your input Harold. when you say "Just what owners need - another charge added to their maintenance fee" do maintenance fee's increase several times a year? If so, how much do the fee's usually increase by per month?

Also, when you say "payment from each owner for a "service" they may or may not want, use or need?". When maintenance cost do go up, does it usually mean that a new service is added?

One last question, would it be ok for a vendor to directly contact home owners and by pass board members when trying to provide a "service" ?

thanks again for your input.

-Charlie

Thanks for your response Brad!

Metfan,

What you should do is find out which community you want to work for first. Then try to speak with folks who live there to find out if the community has a property manager or not. If it does, contact the manager and tell them that you would like to speak at the next Board of Directors meeting for five minutes about your service.

If the community doesn't have a property manager, find out the name of one of the Board members, contact them and ask for the same five minutes at the next meeting. One way or the other, you'll need to meet with the Board of Directors first to propose your idea to them. They will be the people you'll have to convince first before they put your proposal to the members for any serious discusssions.

If your service will be paid for by the entire association, then it has to go into their regular operating budget for the year. Most associations make their new annual budget up in November and the new budget begins in January, so if your service is going to cost more than a few dollars per month per member, they need to decide on it pretty soon so the dues can be adjusted accordingly.

Good luck, let us know how it works out.