Whether your association board works with a professional manager or self-manages the association, it’s likely that the board will still need the services of other professionals like a Reserve specialist. The Reserve Specialist provide unique skills, should partner with the board, and will provide invaluable resources to your association.
When you partner with a reserve specialist it becomes much easier to asses what capital improvements need to be addressed and the time frame in which to address them.
Reserve Specialists prepare studies that provide boards with guidance on how to keep the association’s physical assets from deteriorating faster than its financial assets increase. The reports will also help the executive board make better decisions about setting aside a portion of fees collected into a special fund designated to pay for larger expenses without a special assessment or borrowing the necessary funds.
What to Expect From Your Association’s Reserve Specialist
The study will include:
- an inventory of items that need to be replaced,
- an estimate of the useful remaining life of these items,
- an estimate of the cost to replace them,
- and a plan for funding the replacement.
This requires specialized knowledge of a wide range of interrelated areas. Expertise that can be obtained only from a certified Reserve Specialist. It is important to obtain reserve studies on a timely basis in order to implement long-range planning and to target vulnerabilities early.
