Wednesday Wisdom: Chalk it up to experience…

Have you read the stories about the uproar in Colorado about the children in the community drawing on the common area sidewalk with chalk?    Now I caution you, we can all “Monday Morning Quarterback” any situation that occurs in a community that we manage and we are really good at quarterbacking when we don’t have any attachments to a community.   And I think every Community Manager has one “resident obstructionist,” who is a virtual Wikipedia of snarky comments with a spirit of discontent.   

I can see this happening  in a community of what we refer to as an alley fed homes, where all the drives  and garages are at the rear of the house and the front of the homes open onto a common area “front yard” that is maintained by the Association.

Let look at three solutions: 

1.  Check out the neighborhood before you move there, the convenience of a shared front yard that the Association takes care of means you share that front yard with a lot of different people.  Do you have the spirit and mindset to share and play nice with others?
2. You’ve already bought in a neighborhood – take a plate of cookies over and meet your neighbors  find out what they like, what they do, it’s called being neighborly – Try to figure them out. Why are they being so nasty? Are they jealous? Are they annoyed with you about something specific? Are they stressed out? Are they afraid? Are they mistrustful? You'll need to learn what makes them tick before you can stop them from ticking you off.  It’s a lot more difficult for people to be snarky once they get to know you and know that you care about them.
3. \Too late to make friends and play nice - Choose a good time to talk.  Do not stomp over and draw lines in the sand or in this case  draw lines on the sidewalk.  Stop and breathe – do not approach a situation when you are angry.  Don't become an adversary. It only feeds their negativity, and chances are they are better than you at being bitter. When you do talk with them leave out the blame.  

Rule # 1:  First always seek to understand - don’t defend, or explain. Listen and ask questions that will help you understand - “What seems to be your concern?” Give your neighbor the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they are having a bad day. Tell them how “it” affects you. 

 In the case of the “Colorado Chalk Caper” the focus was property values.   Well when life gives you lemons  or lemonade stands ( a story for another day).   When you are too close to the situation,  it is tough to take a step back and get a new perspective.   Property values are all about the marketability of your neighborhood.   What are some of the solutions you can think of –

If you can’t be beat them? Join them – have a sidewalk chalk art contest.

Celebrate cultural diversity perhaps you have some Hindu people who can share the significance of the chalk drawings  they have in front of their homes.

Go all out and hire a talented high school or college student and create an amazing  photo op worthy  celebration.






Work with your real estate partners to help them understand how to sell your community. 

 “Did you love our tree lined streets?” 

 “Did you notice that there are no cars parked there?”

“You may want to point that out to potential buyers”.

Create your own Marketing Council to help with help residents and real estate agents the embrace the benefits and responsibilities of living in a HOA.