By 2023 the Association needs to begin replacing our roofs, if not sooner. Our current roofs are old and made of a material that costs extra to insure.
A special assessment of $6,600/unit has been passed to help pay for these new roofs. Authorizing this special assessment also makes roof replacement more possible to happen earlier. Members should still expect an annual dues increase of 5-10% in order to keep up with rising costs as our homes get older and the area gets more expensive.
In order to give everyone ample time to prepare, this special assessment is be due February 1st, 2022.
FAQ
What roofs are we getting?
The Board has selected building materials that are extremely energy efficient. We will be installing Landmark Pro Solaris Max Def Weathered Wood shingles, mounted on foil backed Radiant sheathing OSB.
What’s the project timeline?
The Board is aiming to due a trial installation in 2021, starting with 1005 A-H Bryant Way. These units were selected as they are some of the oldest in the community, and thus we worry about those roofs the most. Each year after that we plan to do approximately 1/3 of the units, proceeding by roughly the age of the units (the community was originally built in three phases).
When will my unit be re-roofed?
There is no exact timeline that we can share as to when a particular building will be re-roofed. However, the buildings are planned to be re-roofed in the following tentative order (from north to south of the community):
- 1005 A-D Bryant way (Completed 09/2021)
- 1005 E-H Bryant way (Completed 09/2021)
- 1005 J-N Bryant way (Completed 02/2022)
- 1007 A-E Bryant way (Completed 02/2022)
- 1007 F-K Bryant way (Completed 03/2022)
- 1339 A-E Henderson ave (Completed 03/2022)
- 1010 A-E Bryant way (Completed 04/2022)
- 1355 A-F Sage Hen way (Completed 05/2022)
- 1355 G-L Sage Hen way (Completed 05/2022)
- 1350 A-F Roadrunner ter (Completed 06/2022)
- 1350 G-K Roadrunner ter (Completed 06/2022)
- 1010-R Bryant way (Completed 2/2023)
- 1355 N-T Sage Hen way (Completed 07/2022)
- 1035 E-H Castleton ter (Completed 08/2022)
- 1035 A-D Castleton ter (Completed 08/2022)
- 1360 G-K Roadrunner ter (Completed 10/2022)
- 1360 A-F Roadrunner ter (Completed 1/2023)
- 1030 A-D Castleton ter (Completed 10/2022)
- 1030 E-H Castleton ter (Completed 10/2022)
What about solar panels?
We’ve discussed this with roofers and they’ve informed us that it is okay to add solar panels after installing the roofs. However, it is important to make sure the solar contractor will warranty installation to match the roof’s (including the manufacturer) warrantee. An architectural change request will also be required.
How many estimates have you received?
We’ve gotten 3 estimates from roofers. The Board is still assessing the service quality and materials from these estimates in order to draw “apples to apples” comparisons. You can find the information we have in this shared Google Drive.
Why don’t you have a final bid so we can know exactly how much it’s going to cost?
We are trying to avoid the situation where we go through all the hard work of getting a contract ready with a roofing company, only to fail a special assessment vote on the final dollar amount, causing a multi-year delay in roof replacement as we gain the funds through a dues increase.
The honest truth is that any special assessment vote will likely fail because we get terrible voting turnout. We need 44 members to vote, which has not happened for an HOA election in many years. That means we want to have the vote now, so that if the vote fails we know not to start the project, and can raise dues to cover the costs (this also means deferring the project by several years).
Also, prices fluctuate from year to year. We can’t lock in a contract and then wait to have enough money to pay for it. Additionally, we plan to do this over the course of several years, and no roofing company will lock their prices for that long (they have costs too). So we need the special assessment approved so we can be confident in having funds to finish the project when we start the project (it wouldn’t be fair to re-roof half the homes and then run out of money).
What happens if there’s extra money left over?
The Board hasn’t made any decisions about this. However, one option is to roll the extra into our reserve fund.
Even with this special assessment our reserve funding will still be considered “higher risk” (lower amount of money) at the end of this project (typical for a major project). “Higher risk” can reflect poorly when getting mortgage or selling your home. If there is extra funding we can put that towards bringing our reserve fund back into “low risk”.
Why was the reserve estimate so far off?
It’s likely do to rapidly increasing costs in the area, coupled with extra increases in costs due to COVID-related supply chain constraints. Additionally, the reserve fund estimate is done by accountants, and estimates from actual roofers is more accurate. (We may try to wait a little more time in the hopes that this clears up, but at some point we must replace the roofs.)
We will be getting a full reserve study this year (a full study is done every three years), and we will certainly be giving this extra attention this year.
Can I install/re-install my antenna?
No antenna may be installed on roofs. This will void the roof warrantee and won’t be allowed.
How do I pay the assessment?
The due date for paying the roof special assessment is February 1st, 2022.
There are two ways to handle the payment:
- Electronically by bank/card transfer via our HOA accounting firm “HOA Accounting Services”. You will need to setup your account (if not done so yet) and request your account number and registration key. See setup instruction details at https://hoa-accounting.com/members/
- By check made payable to “Camino Del Prado HOA”. Annotate the check with purpose of payment and your unit address”. For example, “Roof special assessment for 1005-T Bryant way”. Send the check to the following address:
Camino Del Prado HOA c/o HOA Accounting Services 3100 Clayton Road Concord, CA 94519