Smart Property Case Study

Learn How SmartProperty Put $79,000 Back in Homeowners' Pockets for Trilogy at Glen Ivy

BACKGROUND

Built in 2001, Trilogy at Glen Ivy is a large-scale active adult community comprised of 1,317 homes in Corona, California that offers world-class amenities. Like many community associations it’s running as its own business with a $4.5 million annual budget and is continually challenged with rising costs, including an increase in the minimum wage, higher vendor costs, and energy costs.

As the community approaches the 20 year mark they are starting to see the effect of aging components. Trilogy’s water, labor, and landscaping costs comprise 75% of its annual budget. The homeowners have also benefited from a 22% average increase in home values in the past few years.

The board is continually challenged with trying to keep fees low while maintaining high standards, keeping a great community experience, and protecting property values.

THE CHALLENGE

With costs rising, the board was facing a monthly assessment increase of $15 per homeowner to address a minimum wage increase and vendor contract price increases. This would have upset the community. The board was caught between battling costs and maintaining the high expectations of the homeowners.

Most reserve studies fail because they don’t have an accurate schedule of anticipated expenditures. SmartProperty solves this problem by giving you the tools to control your own future.

THE SOLUTION

With SmartProperty, Trilogy was able to use the live forecasting and dynamic funding plans to look at ways to reduce the impact of assessment increases while ensuring the long-term financial health of its reserves.

With SmartProperty’s live forecasting tool, you can confidently analyze the impact of your anticipated expenditures.

General Manager James Niccoli said, “SmartProperty gave us a tool to develop a strategy that allowed us to look at the entire association’s expenses and budget as a whole.”

Niccoli saw that they could slightly reduce their reserve allocation now while making it up in future years.

With interactive funding tools, you can now compare options and select the right strategy for your property.

"With SmartProperty I was able to run scenarios myself, see all the component costs, and really pinpoint the best allocations for the community,” he said. “It was a huge time saver.”

THE RESULTS

With SmartProperty, the board was able able to reduce a monthly fee increase from $15 down to $8. This allowed the homeowners to keep $79,000 in their own pockets while maintaining the financial health of the community. Niccoli said that without SmartProperty and its living database of assets, they wouldn’t have been able to do this.

“Our reserve study has never been so dialed in,” he said. “In 20 years of working in the industry, I have never been more confident with what’s in my reserve study.”

SmartProperty gives you the control to track and update your anticipated expenditures through its living component inventory. This gives you the power to build a better financial strategy.

“SmartProperty is a living program that allows me to update components as I go instead of keeping a separate spreadsheet where component details are forgotten, deleted, or lost. Nothing slips through the cracks with SmartProperty.”

James Niccoli

General Manager, Trilogy at Glen Ivy