Standard 90-day playbook for taking over a new association from a departing manager. The first 30 days are the most critical: records, banking, vendors, and owner notifications. Below shows Lakeside Manor's live state — contract signed Apr 22, target start Jul 1.
| Category | Status | From | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank statements (24 mo) | received | Outgoing mgr | Plaid + paper · reconciled |
| Owner roster + ledgers | received | Outgoing mgr | Verified against Property Appraiser |
| Insurance policies (current) | received | Sterling broker | Renewal Aug 31 · CMG taking lead |
| Declaration · bylaws · rules · amendments | received | Outgoing mgr | Indexed to Governing Docs Repository |
| Active contracts (vendors) | partial | Outgoing mgr | 5 of 8 · landscape + pool + pest still pending |
| Last 5 yrs financials | partial | Outgoing mgr | 2025 done · 2024 + earlier requested |
| Most recent reserve study | pending | Study firm direct | Outgoing mgr requested |
| Last 3 audit reports | pending | CPA | CPA waiting on board sig for release |
| Open litigation / collections | none | AGF + outgoing | Clean |
| Active capital projects | none | BOD | Clean transition |
Resist the temptation to point out everything the outgoing mgr did wrong. Boards see it as petty. Find the genuine improvements and let the work speak.
The first 30 days are about understanding the property. Resist making changes (vendors, policies, fees) until you have full context. Build trust before exercising authority.
1:1 calls with all directors + at least 8 owner-residents in the first 60 days. The board's view ≠ the building's view. Listening early prevents avoidable surprises later.
Found a missing contract, an expired COI, a lapsed inspection? Document it · don't shame · fix it. Wiki entry per finding so the next manager (someday) knows the history.
Find 2-3 small visible improvements in the first 60 days that owners notice. Pool gate hardware fix · monthly newsletter quality · response time. Builds initial trust.
30-day owner survey establishes a baseline. Without it, "things are getting better" is unprovable. NPS + open-text "what's the one thing you'd change?"
| Property | Start | Days to records | 30-day NPS | 90-day NPS | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camellia Oaks (62 units) | Feb 1 | 22 days | +38 | +52 | healthy |
| Capital Square Townhomes (28 units) | Mar 14 | 14 days | +44 | tbd | on track |
| Lakeside Manor HOA (42 units) | Jul 1 target | tbd | — | — | in transition |
The "we figured it out as we went" first 90 days that bruises every relationship. The records that arrive 6 months late. The vendor who never realized the management changed and kept invoicing the wrong PO box. The owner whose welcome packet never came.
Sales pipeline · Records request · Bank reconciliation · AGF · Strategic plan · Skill matrix · Wiki · Welcome video · Micro-sites.
