You are among the more than 60 million Americans who live in homeowners associations and condominium communities. We think most residents are happy living in our community—and we certainly hope you are among them—but how do these 60 million residents feel about their own associations? Are they happy with their elected boards? How do they feel about the rules?
The Foundation for Community Association Research, an affiliate of Community Associations Institute (CAI), sponsored a national public opinion survey to answer these and other questions.
The research, conducted by Zogby International, shows that more than seven in 10 community association residents say they are satisfied with their community association experience. Only 9 percent express dissatisfaction, and 19 percent are neutral on the question.
Here are more findings from the November 2007 survey:
88 percent of community association residents believe their association board members strive to serve the best interests of the community.
73 percent say their professional managers provide value to their communities.
77 percent say they get a good return for their assessments, while 20 percent expressed some level of dissatisfaction.
74 percent believe their community association rules “protect and enhance” property values. Only 3 percent say rules harm property values, while about 22 percent see no difference.
According to Zogby, 86 percent of respondents said they knew they were moving into an association when they decided to purchase or rent a home in their community. For 61 percent, the existence of an association had no impact on their decision, but 30 percent said the association made them more likely to buy or rent. Only 9 percent said they were hesitant to join an association community. This finding should tell sellers and realtors that the existence of a well-run association can and should be part of the sales pitch.
While these findings are positive, we’d like to think that we would do even better than the national averages. If you don’t think that’s the case, we encourage you to bring your concerns to our manager or the board.
More survey results are available online at www.caionline.org/about/survey.cfm.
