Reserve funding for HOA boards: a Maryland-first guide
How fully-funded reserves protect property values, why Tidewater insisted on them before the law required it, and a worksheet for boards starting late.
HOA
Open → Three decades of HOA, rental, and investment-management practice — written down. Board playbooks, county-by-county rental rule guides, seasonal maintenance checklists, and what we’ve learned about reserves the hard way.
Practical guides for HOA and condo boards — written by Tidewater’s PCAM-credentialed managers from what we’ve actually seen on agendas, not theory. Reserve studies, switching management, Maryland HOA law, and the operational systems that work in practice.
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How fully-funded reserves protect property values, why Tidewater insisted on them before the law required it, and a worksheet for boards starting late.
23-point exterior walk: gutters, weep holes, siding seal, irrigation, mulch beds, ADA-curbs, lighting. Used by Tidewater managers every spring.
PCS orders, AppFolio portal, 3-6 month inspections, paying owner bills from rental funds. A guide for owners about to leave the country.
Twelve jurisdictions, twelve sets of rules. Licensing thresholds, lead-paint registration, and the inspection cadence each county actually enforces.
A walkthrough of the Tidewater monthly financial packet: variance lines, AR aging, reserves, and what to flag at the next board meeting.
Schedule E categories, depreciation reset, AppFolio export sequence, and the 1099 timing window for vendors and contractors.
Property visits. Maintenance coordination. Inspection charges. Lease renewals. The four line items low-fee operators add back — and what they cost in year one.
Tidewater's three management tiers, mapped to community size, board capacity, and budget. A decision tree for boards.
Tenant coordination, condition baseline, capex log, market timing. How Tidewater Realty handles the handoff from managed-rental to listed-property.
What we publish month by month, mapped to the industry moments that actually drive board decisions and landlord questions.
Budget season, inspection windows, regulatory changes you should know about. Written by Tidewater’s managers — not by an agency. Skip a month? You won’t hear about it.