“Appealing to the Next Generation of Condo and HOA Homeowners” – KSN attorney David Savitt discusses the newest generation of condominium, homeowner (HOA), and townhome community association home buyers. He discusses technological expectations, sustainability, virtual meetings, electronic voting, potential rule updates, and more. (7 mins.)
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Since 1983, KSN has been a legal resource for condominium, homeowner, and townhome associations. Additionally, we represent clients in real estate transactions, collections, landlord/tenant issues, and property tax appeals. We represent thousands of clients and community associations throughout the US with offices in several states including Florida, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
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Episode Transcription
Bernie: You’re listening to the KSN Podcast, and today we’re talking about appealing to the next generation of condo and HOA unit owners. Welcome to the KSN podcast, where you’ll hear from KSN attorneys as they share their experience and insight on legal issues surrounding community associations, property tax appeals, and landlord tenant law. I’m Bernie, and today we’re joined by KSN attorney David Savitt. Dave practices condo and HOA law in the city of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs advising clients and property managers on how to stay on top of the many changing legal requirements. Dave, welcome to the podcast.
David: Hey, Bernie. Happy to be here.
Bernie: All right, so today we’re talking about the newest generation of homeowners, millennials with Gen Z not being far behind. How does this influx of younger owner’s impact condominiums, homeowners, and town homeowner associations? What do they need to consider?
David: Well, we know that each new generation of home buyers brings with them their own list of values and desires when they consider a home within an association. For the millennial generation, there tends to be an increased focus on technology and sustainability that could require community associations to make changes to their policies and procedures to meet those desires.
Bernie: So, with millennials and Gen Z, they’ve been raised with technology first, and they may have certain expectations about, let’s say, association materials being available digitally first. Is that right?
David: That’s right. Younger generations of owners tend to prefer not to use traditional means of payments, such as checks to make their association assessments and fees payments. Being able to pay your dues online could actually make your community more appealing to these potential buyers,
Bernie: And that could also be the case for governing documents where you might make them available to a new owner, but maybe just making them available as a PDF available for download. That could also be an amenity that a younger homeowner may expect. Is that fair to say?
David: There’s no question that that’s true and more owners may expect and be actually more active participants in your association if your meetings are held online. However, it may be necessary for board members to adopt new rules and regulations that consider how to address roll call, opting into online meetings and accessibility issues before you employ that practice. The association’s legal counsel can provide specific guidance regarding the use of virtual meetings in your community association.
Bernie: All right. So, speaking of virtual meetings, that sort of goes hand in hand with electronic voting and how can allowing owners to vote virtually help a community association?
David: Yeah, electronic voting has been a great change to the law recently. Allowing electronic voting can make the voting process more efficient, faster, and more convenient for all members, particularly younger owners who may be accustomed to using technology. Electronic voting software can also eliminate the need for manual counting of paper ballots and reduces the risk of errors and increases the accuracy of your results. It’s critical that board members work within their association and with the association’s attorney to ensure that the electronic voting process complies with the association’s governing documents and state law.
Bernie: So, it’s more common than ever that information is distributed digitally. What steps do associations need to take to make sure that they appeal to that younger generation of owners who might want access to information in a more convenient fashion?
David: Well, this can really be done in a few ways; using social media, which can include creating an official association social media account, think Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, to share upcoming meetings and promote community events. Millennials are no stranger to the use of social media and may use it as a primary method of learning about the association. Another option could be through the use of the association’s website. Now we all know that millennials and Gen Z are known for their preference to use technology and digital Communication. Association websites can provide numerous benefits to both the members of the association and the association itself, including convenience and transparency. It’s also particularly cost effective as well. It can act as a centralized portal for association policy posting, document requests, assessment payments, community news, upcoming events, and even more.
Bernie: KSN is committed to educating our clients and the community. As a service to our current and prospective clients, we’ve authored and compiled a number of educational resources for condo, HOA board members, property managers, landlords, and real estate professionals. If you visit ksnlaw.com/education, you’ll be able to review our educational resources, including articles, legal updates, booklets, podcasts, laws, and ordinances and more. You can also sign up for the KSN newsletter where over 30,000 peers receive free industry news, legal updates, and details on our upcoming events.
Bernie: So, along with access to digital documents, voting, virtual meetings, a major shift among younger home buyers and a millennial Gen Z generation is the increased awareness of sustainability efforts. So how might an association make themselves more desirable in as far as sustainability efforts to potential younger homeowners?
David: It tends to be that millennials and Gen Z support green options, including renewable energy resources, composting and recycling programs. With an increased desire for alternative energy options, community associations may also need to update rules and regulations to allow for solar panel installation. Additionally, associations should consider the rapid rise in the popularity of electronic vehicles by reviewing the association’s policies in relation to the electronic vehicle charging stations in an effort to attract new generations of home buyers. This is particularly current as we know, the Electronic Vehicle Charging Act was actually just adopted by the Illinois legislature as well.
Bernie: So, it’s not just about trends, it’s about laws, managing together, finding that right balance for every association, because again, every association is unique, and their governing documents reflect the community’s needs. Millennials and Gen Z, they’ll have new desires and new needs as they purchase into associations and find ways to appeal to them to keep up with the changes, that’s incredibly important and especially when those changes can be beneficial to all community members.
David: That’s right. The next generation of home buyers offer their own slew of challenges and rewards. They should always be considered, firstly, as owners and part of the association, embracing them and preparing for ownership shifts can bring new skills and perspectives to your community as well.
Bernie: That was KSN attorney David Savitt. If your condominium, homeowner or Townhome Association has legal questions regarding updating your governing documents, virtual meetings, electronic voting procedures, do not hesitate to contact KSN. We’re an experienced legal resource ready to provide you with quality advice and exceptional service. We look forward to demonstrating how we’ve earned the trust of thousands of clients since 1983. If you’d like to reach David or any of KSN’s experience attorneys, please call 855-537-0500. You can also visit ksnlaw.com and complete the contact form to send us a message. Thanks for listening.
Outro: The music for this show is provided by podcastthemes.com. Please note the material contained on the KSN podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is established by your review or receipt of the information contained on the KSN podcast. You should not act on the information discussed on the KSN podcast without first obtaining legal advice from an attorney duly licensed to practice law in your state. While KSN has made every effort to include up-to-date information on the KSN podcast, the law can change quickly. Accordingly, please understand that information discussed on the podcast may not yet reflect the most recent legal developments. Material is not guaranteed to be correct, complete, or up to date. KSN reserves the right to revise or update the information and statements of law discussed on the podcast at any time without notice and disclaims any liability for your use of information or statements of law discussed on the podcast or the performance of the podcast generally. The KSN Podcast may be considered advertising in some jurisdictions under applicable laws and ethical rules or regulations.
Please note the material contained on the KSN Podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is established by your review or receipt of the information contained on the KSN Podcast. You should not act on the information discussed on the KSN Podcast without first obtaining legal advice from an attorney duly licensed to practice law in your State. While KSN has made every effort to include up-to-date information on The KSN podcast, the law can change quickly. Accordingly, please understand that information discussed on the podcast may not yet reflect the most recent legal developments. Material is not guaranteed to be correct, complete, or up to date. KSN reserves the right to revise or update the information and statements of law discussed on the podcast at any time, without notice, and disclaims any liability for your use of information or statements of law discussed on the podcast, or the performance of the podcast generally. The KSN Podcast may be considered advertising in some jurisdictions under applicable law/s and/or ethical rules/regulations. © 2023 Kovitz Shifrin Nesbit, A Professional Corporation.