From HOA headaches to high-value leads

By Emma Peterson. 

How a strong relationship with an HOA can create a reliable workstream. 

From making sure that roof materials are approved by the organization to coordinating work schedules with HOA requirements, finding out that a client’s home is in a neighborhood with an active homeowners association (HOA) can often cause some headaches for roofers. But headaches aren’t all HOAs offer; they can also be a great opportunity. To learn more about working with HOAs, Karen Edwards hosted Scott Kim, owner of WGM Contracting, and Brian Ricci, project manager at Adco South Roofing & Waterproofing, for an episode of Roofing Road Trips®.  

For Scott and his team in Virginia, the key to working with HOAs is to keep education at the center. He explained, “When we work with HOAs, we always have an education mindset. We want to be able to teach them about their roofs and what the best investment in their community is... a great example is how we talk to them about the long-term savings of investing in more expensive products, like DaVinci composite, that will last 50 some-odd years rather than the seemingly more economical asphalt that’ll only last 25 years.” 

By showing this deep investment and care, Scott and the WGM team have built strong bonds with multiple HOAs in the area, a fact that has been greatly beneficial for them when it comes to leads. Scott explained:  

We work closely with multiple HOAs in our area and not surprisingly, they talk to each other. And that was key to securing one of our big projects, Chapel Crossway. We got a letter from the HOA there talking about a project where we redid seven roofs in another HOA. Those homeowners were delighted in our work, and that got around to the Chapel Crossing HOA in a domino-effect.  

This domino-effect, the word-of-mouth referral that got work coming to Scott’s team, is one of the big reasons building strong relations with HOAs can be beneficial for roofers. Brian, all the way on the opposite coast in California, has also seen the HOA domino-effect of consistent work. He explained, “80-90% of our work at Adco South is done with HOAs. Often it's townhomes, condos and places with shared walls where the roofs connect, and the decision making is done by an HOA. And we’ve been able to really build a relationship with these places and communities that have gotten us reliable work.” Brian went on to give an example, “We had one, the Zuma Bay Villas in Malibu, where we worked on 17 buildings (90 different units). It went really well, and they keep coming back to us for other projects.”  

Overall, both Scott and Brian’s stories are great examples of how HOAs can be more than a headache – they can be a powerful lead generator and source of reliable work.  

Learn more about working with HOAs by Listening to the episode or Watching the recording.