Building a Better Community in 4 Simple Steps

Having a great community isn't just about meeting your bottom lines, it's also about ensuring that residents and employees are happy. Your community may be doing just fine, but we're betting it could be doing better by taking steps towards creating a sense of unity and properly managing the property. As a community association or property manager, it's your responsibility to ensure that the community is a great place to live, and we're here to help.

Here are 4 steps to building a better community:

1. Honest Assessment: The first step to building a better community is to first complete an honest assessment of the current state of the community. What needs improvement and why? What has been falling through the cracks? What is working and what isn't? Only after a proper assessment can you take steps towards improvement.
2. Proper Budgeting and Planning: For any community to be run effectively, there needs to be proper budgeting and planning in place. Take the time to sit down and figure out your budget and how much money you have to spend. Once you know what you can spend, it's time to sit down and allocate the money. What needs attention now and what can wait? Having a great new pool doesn't mean much if the rest of the community is run down, so make sure you really understand where your money is going to be most useful.
3. Communication: Communication is key in any association. As a community association or property manager, you need to ensure that you are properly communicating with not only the other people working in the community, but also the residents living in it. They want to feel as though someone is on their side, and while you may not always be able to accommodate what they want, you should at least be available to them.
4. Develop a Sense of Community: To have a great community, it's not just about how the community is run and what it looks like, it's also about how people in the community interact. Hold events for neighbors to get to know each other and encourage people to use common areas. Take efforts to turn them from residents into neighbors.

To build a better community, you need to focus on the exterior, as well as the interior. Make sure that the building or neighborhood is one that you would want to live in (clean, safe etc.), and encourage neighbors to interact. A close community is a happy community so use these tips and start building your way to a better community.