Associa CEO John Carona recently appeared on the Building Texas Show to discuss the company's nearly 50-year journey from a two-person startup to the world's largest manager of homeowners associations, with 24,000 employees and operations expanding into Europe. Recorded at the company's Richardson headquarters, the conversation with host Justin McKenzie covered the misunderstood role of HOAs in fast-growing Texas, the company's technology investments, and its recent acquisition in Spain.
Carona, who started Associa about 18 months after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, described the company's growth as organic at first, then increasingly through acquisition. 'We started out with just two employees, myself and one rather elderly assistant who I loved dearly,' he said. 'And from that we built this twenty-four thousand employee operation.' Associa has now acquired more than 200 separate companies and adds another 25 to 30 management firms each year.
Much of the episode aimed to set the record straight on homeowners associations. Carona argued that the most important function of HOAs is preserving property values. 'The most important thing homeowners associations do is they preserve the value for the owners themselves by adding some degree of conformity, some reasonable rules and regulations,' he said, noting that property values in communities with mandatory HOAs have been shown to grow faster than those without. He also acknowledged friction, citing surveys showing that just over 95% of residents appreciate their HOA experience. 'Now, four to five percent out there feel otherwise. And it's our job as a management company to try to address the issues that those four to five percent bring up.' To catch problems early, Associa surveys every board of directors it represents three times a year.
When asked what sets Associa apart, Carona pointed to technology and training. 'We live in the Amazon age. People want more for less, and there's nothing wrong with that,' he said. 'That same technological application applies with community associations, and we have to be able to do a better job, a more timely job, and do it for lower dollars.' Associa operates 340 branch offices across the United States and serves 44 states. Employees have voted the company a national best place to work for nine consecutive years, an achievement Carona singled out as his proudest.
The conversation also touched on Associa's recent international expansion. The company acquired the number two operator in Spain, its first large international purchase, and expects to be the number one operator in that market by the end of December. Carona described it as the opening move in a three-to-five-year rollout across Europe, with the UK, France, and Italy on the list and inbound interest from Germany. 'Whatever they call them, the procedure and the type of service is more or less the same,' he said, noting that parts of Canada call them stratas.
For homeowners buying into Texas's booming triangle, Carona advised scrutinizing transportation, location, and build quality, because Texas does not license builders. 'From time to time, bad actors can come on the scene.' The full episode is available now wherever you get your podcasts.
