Compare
Managers run the HOA, and boards pick the vendor.
Your management company keeps the association. HOAcrew™, a VendoRFP platform, is where its vendors get picked.
| What it comes down to | A property management company | On HOAcrew |
|---|---|---|
| Assessments, books, and meetings | Yes, that is the job | — |
| Covenant enforcement | Yes, usually included | — |
| Who picks each vendor | Often from the manager’s list | Your board, from written proposals |
| How the price reaches you | A fee plus what the work cost | The vendor’s own price, unchanged |
| Sales tax and card processing | Often inside the bundle | Tax: its own line · card processing: only on a credit card payment |
| Proof a visit happened | Reporting varies by company | A photo is required to record it |
| What the platform costs | A monthly management fee | Nothing, at any number of communities |
Management companies differ a lot, and plenty of them run compliance and reporting well. Every certificate on file carries its expiration date, and VendoRFP checks those dates twice — when a vendor proposes on your work, and again when you send that vendor out to the community. Chasing a COI stops being your board’s job.
Inside and outside
The building is your manager’s. The ground is your vendors’.
Assessments, meetings, and covenants happen inside. Mowing, mulch, irrigation, and the walks happen outside.
Getting proposals
Four vendors answered. Your board picked one.
Same scope, same terms, four proposals to compare. Your board picks the vendor, and the contract runs between your community and the vendor it picked.
Example · one RFP, four answers
Landscaping: common-area grounds, 11.2 acres
Willow Creek HOA · 214 homes · posted Feb 18
Every vendor on this list had current insurance before it could propose. They are in the order they arrived, and nothing here ranks them.
- Ridgeline Grounds Co.Two visits a week, Tuesday and Friday · Insurance current$1,840per month
- Cedar Gate MaintenanceThree visits a week, quarterly pressure washing · Insurance current$2,260per month
- Harborline Facility CareTwo visits a week plus storm callouts · Insurance current$1,975per month
- Bluestem Property ServicesThree visits a week, the same team every time · Insurance current$2,110per monthSigned
Your manager’s work
Four jobs that stay with your manager.
A board running without a manager will feel every one of them.
Assessments, arrears, and the books
Collections, delinquency letters, reserve accounting, and the annual budget. None of it is here, and a board without a treasurer will feel that fast.
Meetings and minutes
Notices, agendas, quorum, minutes, and elections are all your manager’s. HOAcrew holds the board vote on a stack of proposals, which is one narrow slice of that work.
Covenant enforcement
Violation notices, hearings, fines and the correspondence that goes with them. That is a manager’s work and it is often the reason a board hires one.
Walk the property
A manager who walks the property and knows the residents is doing something no dashboard does. What a dashboard adds is that the walk is written down.
Service reports
Every vendor records a visit the same way.
Every vendor files its readings, a photograph, and the times the visit started and finished — the same record whichever one did the work.
