We ask every board to build one specific spreadsheet before a capital project vote: a 24-month monthly cash flow projection across three scenarios, special assessment, loan, and no action. This post explains what each row tracks, why the exercise ends arguments, and how to build it in under two hours.
Small associations often assume their loan costs more because it is small. Higher-risk communities typically carry a slightly higher spread over the 10-Year Treasury, and smaller communities can fall into that group: it's about the community, not the loan size. This post explains what a small deal changes and what it doesn't, then names three moves that help: bundled documents on day one, a treasurer who responds within 48 hours, and a current reserve study.
Board retention comes down to who solved the last hard problem. When a reserve study lands badly, a special assessment gets voted down, or an insurance claim leaves a six-figure gap, the property manager who introduces a financing path wins the account. Doing that without stepping into a fiduciary role requires a specific framing. Here are the three moments to bring lending up, the language to use, and how our client portal keeps the paperwork off your desk.
Board treasurers present loan status to owners every spring, and many struggle to make it clear. This guide covers the required disclosures, the reconciliation between reserve fund balances and loan proceeds, the sample slides that work, and the questions owners commonly ask. Written for the March through May annual meeting season, when boards have the year-end financials in hand and need to translate them into a conversation owners will actually understand.
Larry Kirschner lists the five things every HOA board should demand from a loan broker in 2027. Fee structure in writing, a full list of every lender being contacted, a side-by-side term sheet comparison, a named advocate rather than a rotating rep, and the ability to walk away without owing. We also flag the red-flag responses that should end the conversation.
HOA loan fiscal year timing determines whether spring construction happens on schedule. Most HOA fiscal years are calendar, project seasons are spring, board terms flip in January. Start applying 3 to 6 months before you need the cash or break ground. Here is the full timing analysis with the mistakes we see boards make.
Seven steps to get your association ready before you talk to a lender, then the documents most HOA loans call for at three stages: getting started, the full application and closing.
Going straight to a bank can look cheaper because there is no separate fee line. How we are paid, how a bank is paid when you go direct, and how to compare the full cost of each before your board decides.
Five lessons from HOA lending in 2026. The 10-Year Treasury moved 132 basis points by September, and a board's own timeline is the part it controls. Reserve scrutiny kept rising after Surfside, and the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reserve rules tightened on two dates. Small, complex deals were the hardest to place. A complete, professionally packaged file is what lets lenders compete. And the Treasury is the same for every lender, so the spread is where a competitive process earns its keep.
A walkthrough of qualifying, approvals, and structuring a loan: everything a board needs before the first lender conversation.
