Nationwide, independent research has confirmed once again
that most owners are satisfied overall with their community association. Pollsters IBOPE Zogby conducted their annual
community association poll and the results strongly corroborated with those
from years past.
1. On a scale of 1–5 (1=very bad; 5=very
good), how would you rate your overall experience living in a community
association? About 70% of owners are
satisfied with their communities, scoring either a 4 or 5 when asked. Less than 10% said they were dissatisfied
with their communities (a score of 1 or 2).
2. Do you think the members of your elected
governing board strive to serve the best interests of the community as a whole? This year’s survey indicated an even higher
rate of satisfaction with respect to Board members. About 90% of respondents said they felt the
Board members were absolutely or mostly serving the best interests of the
association.
3. Do the rules in your community protect
and enhance property values, harm them, or make no difference? Considering your overall assessments and the
services provided by your community association, how would you describe the
return for what you pay in assessments?
In recent years, finances have gotten tighter for many people, and it’s
no secret that home values continue to remain flat or decrease. But owners within community associations have
less to complain about than the average homeowner. About 76% of owners who were polled said that
association rules actually enhanced their property values, and 81% said they
got a “good” or “great” return on their assessments.
4. The governance of community association
is subject to differing state laws and regulations. Would you like to see more government control
of associations? A whopping 80%-90%
of respondents said that they would not approve of more government regulation
of their associations. One may assume
that this means the associations are doing a satisfactory job of
self-regulating, and that owners are content with the way associations are
managed.
Of course, like anything, community living can have its ups
and downs. Pollsters asked what owners
liked best about living in a community association. Among the things liked best were neighborhood
attractiveness, property values, less maintenance, and safety.
Community associations and their owners can feel a little
bit better by knowing, at least for them, it’s all good in the neighborhood.
