Community Manager Amber Nelson is a Champion for Bay Area Residents

A well-educated HOA community manager is a champion for the communities they serve. They make a huge difference in a homeowner’s quality of life and the value of their property.

Certified by the California Association of Community Managers (CACM), the state’s leading community association management education organization, Amber Nelson, vice president of Bay Area Property Services, is a champion for six HOA-managed communities, about 550 residences, in the Bay Area. She is one of nearly 2,000 Certified Community Association Managers (CCAM®) in California who has completed CACM’s rigorous educational training focusing on California law, ethical standards and best practices for community association management.

CACM recently launched a statewide Community Champions awareness campaign in the Bay Area to highlight the importance of California-specific education, obtaining the CCAM designation and, ultimately, the benefits that professional community management provides to HOA boards and homeowners.

CACM caught up with Nelson to discuss the valuable role community managers have in managing the nearly 50,000 common interest developments (CIDs) or homeowners associations (HOAs) in California.

Q: What makes you a champion for your community?
A: I work to achieve a sense of teamwork with homeowners, board members and others involved with the community. I listen to everyone’s thoughts and requests and then work on coming up with recommendations based on everyone’s collaborative input.

Q: What is the most rewarding thing about your job?
A: The most rewarding thing about working as a community manager is getting compliments from homeowners. I appreciate it when they recognize my efforts. Resolving complex issues for homeowners and HOA boards is extremely rewarding.

Q: What is the most challenging thing about your job?
A: The biggest challenge for a community manager is remaining positive when there is often a lot of negativity. It is hard to satisfy everyone all the time, but I feel it is important for me to stay upbeat about the communities I manage, for the sake of my residents.

Q: How long have you been in the community management industry? How long have you been a CCAM?
A: I have been in the community management industry for 12 years and have been a California Certified Community Association Manager with CACM for seven years.

More than 14.3 million people, about 38 percent of the state’s population, live in an HOA-managed community, many of which are run by professionally trained community association managers. These professionals act as champions and have tremendous responsibilities for the residents they serve. They guide volunteer HOA boards through complicated issues like finances, state legislation and dispute resolution, and they oversee all aspects of property maintenance. They have a huge impact on the lives of thousands of Californians, and it’s time they are recognized for the important role they play.

To find out more about community association management and the responsibilities of HOA board members, or to nominate a community manager and enter to win $500, consumers can visit www.MyCommunityChampion.com. For more information on CACM, please visit www.cacm.org.