Just The Facts Ma'am

by Tom Skiba at 03:15PM (EST) on January 18, 2008 | Permanent Link

I can remember watching Dragnet growing up and being impressed with Sgt. Joe Friday's focus on the facts

of each and every case, down to the smallest detail. Sometimes facts are tough to find in our industry. That

is why the Foundation for Community Association Research has undertaken a long term initiative to gather

statistically valid, relevant data on homeowner opinions from across the country.

Working with Zogby International, one of the most trusted polling organizations in the US, the Foundation

sponsored a comprehensive survey of homeowner attitudes in 2005, which demonstrated that the vast

majority of condo and HOA residents value their associations, are happy with their home choice, and believe

their association boards and managers serve their interests effectively. This followed, and reinforced, a

similar study completed for the Foundation by the Gallup Organization in 2000.

Well, the Foundation and Zogby just completed a new survey using the same questions from 2005. We

wanted to see if attitudes, issues, and concerns were changing along with the changing real estate

environment in the US. And the results clearly demonstrate that the vast majority of Americans living in

community associations continue to be satisfied with their homes, their leaders, and their associations.

Some of the key findings from the survey include:

+ Homeowners overwhelmingly (88%) believe that their association boards are working to serve

the best interests of the community.

+ A significant majority (73%) believe that their professional community managers provide support

and value to the association.

+ A similar majority (74%) believe that association rules protect and enhance their property values

vs. very small minority (3%) who believe rules harm values.

+ An even larger majority (77%) believe that they receive positive returns on the assessments that

they pay to operate their associations.

+ Overwhelmingly (80%) they do not desire any further government intervention into their

communities.

+++ Overall, more than 7 in 10 homeowners (72%) have a positive experience in their associations

and less than 1 in 10 (9%) have a negative perception, with the remainder being neutral.

I think any of the vast multitude of candidates currently running for president would sacrifice body and soul

for numbers like these. Perhaps more important than the individual results, though, is that the findings

support and reinforce the data collected by the Foundation in 2000 and 2005. This consistency further

strengthens the validity and robustness of this survey and the results.

So what does that mean for CAI and the Foundation. Some would say that this is great and that our job

here is done, but that is far from the case. This data helps us understand our industry, identify areas for

improvement, and continue our ongoing efforts to make good associations even better, to make weak ones

stronger, and to make all associations even better places to live.

So for the thousands of homeowners, board members, managers, and other who will attend a CAI education

program in the coming year, you can be assured that we will be using this data to make our programs even

more relevant and informative. We will also be using the data to be sure to educate the media, legislators,

and regulators regarding what is really going on in communities and the need (or lack thereof) for

counterproductive government intervention.

And I am sure that I am going to get some comments and emails from those who don't believe the data,

think that the survey was rigged, or some such similar rationalization. All I can say is show us the data. We

have put our data and results out there, so show us yours. Show us another national, statistically valid,

and independently gathered data set with a different result--or any result for that matter.

The fact is there aren't any because no one is spending the time, money, and effort on such a survey other

than CAI and the Foundation. Probably because they don't want to see and have to explain the results.

And please don't waste anyone's time with web polls, which say nothing, prove nothing, and are no more

statistically valid or relevant than asking your dear old Aunt Rose how they did it in the 1930s when FDR

was President.

CAI welcomes constructive conversation and dialog, even debate, but we see little value in anecdotal

criticism that doesn't include practical solutions to bring greater contentment to the small minority of

association residents who express dissatisfaction--practical solutions that also maintain or even raise the

satisfaction levels of the vast majority who are already happy with their association.

Want to learn more and see the data for yourself? Check out the press release, the survey summary, or the

full survey report from Zogby on our web site.