Town Crier Articles

Home Exterior Inspections are Back!

Posted on March 1, 2021 7:00 AM by Mike Reilly, Board Liaison to Asset Maintenance Committee

Spring is in the air and that’s a good feeling! With the arrival of Spring comes the usual spring-cleaning tasks. One task administered by the Asset Maintenance Committee (AMC) is the NTRA’s annual home exterior inspections. This program was designed and adopted by the Board in 2018 to maintain the curb appeal of our homes and the overall property values for all invested in New Town. It is managed by the volunteer AMC of the Board of Directors, with assistance from Town Management.

The 2020 inspection program, unfortunately, was suspended due to COVID-19, in the interest of community safety. It’s time to get back on track. This year a third-party will inspect the townhomes in both Abbey Commons and Savannah Square. The inspection is slated to commence this week weather permitting. Technology has helped greatly with speeding up the time it takes to perform each individual inspection. Now, the inspector uses an App on his phone and logs the information which is uploaded immediately. This allows for a timely inspection with quick feedback to owners who have violations. No news is Good News! So homeowners who don’t receive any notice within a few weeks after the inspection are violation free.

What do I do if I receive a violation? If you receive a violation, respond with your “plan of correction” within two weeks and at least, prior to the first follow up inspection scheduled for April 4, 2021. Violations come in all forms and the inspection checklist is on the NTRA website. Being realistic, not all violations can be cured in a short period of time. The important thing to remember here is to provide your “plan of correction” to tim@townmanagement.com as soon as your plan is worked out. This could be as simple as,

“I power washed the front of my house and the violation is in compliance.”

“I am researching house painters and will obtaining bids.”

The important thing to remember is that the homeowner maintain communication with Town Management on progress being made to cure the violation.

To reiterate, follow up inspections will take place in April & May. If your communication is up to date and progress is being made, then Town Management will skip your home during these subsequent inspections. After the May inspection, if there has been no communication from the homeowner, then the homeowner will receive a citation.

Personally in 2019, I had a trim paint violation and it took a long time to secure painter bids and an even longer time to get the work done. I kept Town Management updated, got the work completed after a long wait, and we were quite pleased that the work was called out in the inspection, so that we could get our place in shape. Now I know a great painter!

Comments

Comment By: Goody Tyler

Posted on March 1, 2021 11:52 AM

And I assume the white fencing around the neighborhood is exempt from being maintained.

REPLY: Not all of the fences in New Town are the responsibility of the New Town Residential Association. The fence on Rollison Drive, for example, is the responsibility of the New Town Commercial Association and that association will make the repairs and paint the fence. The NTRA will paint the Olive Drive fence this year.

Last Edited: 03/02/2021 at 10:33 AM