Report to Summerhouse Board of Directors on Owner Questionnaire - 2012

Report to Summerhouse Board of Directors on Owner Questionnaire - 2012

Submitted by: Bob Ford with a grateful acknowledgement of both Keith and Marie’s help in assembling and calculating the data below.

The purpose of this report is to offer a summary of this year’s Owner Questionnaire responses. It is divided into two parts. The first part is a discussion of the open ended questions and the second part is apresentation and analysis of the data from the forced choice questions. The total number of individuals submitting responses is 104. The split was 65 renters and 38 non rental owners with 12 of these non-rental owners using it exclusively themselves. The respondents by phase were 22 from Phase I, 30 from Phase II, 24 from Phase III, 27 from Phase IV, and 2 unknown.

Open – ended questions discussion

This year we again asked owners to identify themselves as either owners who primarily rent their units or owners who primarily use their condo themselves or share it with their friends.Moreover many put their names on their responses which should be useful for direct contact by rental and Summerhouse Board in follow-ups or clarifications. Of the 105 surveys returned, 31 (82%) of the 38 non rental owners (and all but one of the exclusive users) and 61(94%) of the 65 rental owners responding wrote something on their survey to questions 1, 2, 3 or 4. This is a remarkably high level of participation and an indication of the pride that Summerhouse owners have in their property and association. In the narrative below, I have largely combined the responses from the two groups unless there was a marked difference in their answers. Moreover, question 3 was specifically directed towards rental owners and will be discussed separately. My categorizations are necessarily arbitrary so those who wish greater detail should read the individual responses. Please also remember that open ended questions can vary in detail and clarity with many writing “I’m happy” or its equivalent as the only written comment while others wrote nothing at all.

Overall, the owners are very happy with what is happening at Summerhouse. Many mention the excellent condition of the grounds, the incredible location, the “family friendly” feel, the open, green spaces, the excellence of Keith and his team. There is a general sense that Summerhouse is in as good a shape as it has ever been and owners are happy. The best quote I saw was “this is a beautiful place to kick back.”

Question 1: What things do you think are especially good about Summerhouse?

By far the most frequently mentioned item was grounds and overall appearance (53 mentions), followed by our location near beach, parks and St. Augustine (24), general manager (21) and pools (19). The appearance number is understated as several mentioned specific things about Summerhouse that were counted separately such as ambiance (2), amenities (6), walkovers (4), buildings (3), entrances (2), and maintenance/upgrades/renovations (4). In addition, other features received multiple mentions such as friendly office staff (11), rental manager (4), library (2), pool furniture (2), friendly owners (2), and the business center (2). A variety of other items were mentioned once including night manager, winter program for guests, strong financials, parking, picnic pavilion, boat storage, the board, and tennis courts.

Question 2: What things do you think need to be fixed or done differently?

There were about 45 separate items listed as responses to this question that ranged over a wide variety of topics and issues. Since many had names (or unit numbers) associated with them, these should be individually addressed by the general manager wherever possible. Many would be relatively simple to address while others are more complicated but in any event our owners have done a superb job of identifying issues that need attention and we should listen. In general, the more frequently mentioned issues are wifi quality (13), office staff unfriendly at times (5), better manage under stair storage (4), recycling (4), update website (3), pool temperature too cool (3), put grilles near pool (3), get rid of mold/rotten wood from overhangs (3), fix Comcast problems (2), and add hot tubs (2). Other items receiving single mentions are noted in attached appendix. One owner took the time to draw a shell wash device for kids to clean shells before bringing them into units. We as board members should show our appreciation for these efforts by reading them.

Question 3: Are you satisfied with Summerhouse’s rules and regulations and their enforcement? If not, what would you recommend be done differently?

The owners are, by an overwhelming margin, satisfied with Summerhouse’s rules and regulations and their enforcement. Of those responding, 35 owners said “yes” to the question. Of those with concerns, the items with two or more mentions are get a handle on the pet situation/enforce pet rules (9), pool issues (towel reservations, kiddie diapers, pool activity) (4), too many people in units (2), and, interestingly, rules good but are excessive (5) and inconsistently enforced (4). There was some definite push back on rule enforcement with several noting that Summerhouse should be an OK place to relax and play. Other items mentioned by a single respondent include, illegal parking, parking by trucks and boats in car slots, deck noise after 10pm, and one person who rents on own suggested that Summerhouse have a schedule of fees for specific services for people like him/her (e.g., handing out keys).

Question 4: If you are part of the rental program, what things do you think need to be fixed or done differently?

In general, rental owners are happy but have concerns and suggestions that are specific to their economic interests. The most often mentioned item was the need to upgrade the web site & unit pictures (8) followed by the need for a better inventorying system to ensure broken/missing stuff is repaired/replaced and charged against the security deposit, stuff that was taken out of unit is returned, and dishes are actually cleaned (6). Besides these issues, there were concerns expressed about the housekeeping quality (3), need for more marketing (3),buy better towels/sheets (2) and check on number of people in units (2). Beyond these, there were other issues mentioned that the rental board might wish to review as many seemed as if they could be easily addressed. Some suggestions are added to the appendix to this report as ideas to consider.

Question 5: How willing are you to recommend Summerhouse? 80 – 5 (very willing), 19-4(willing), 2-3(neutral).

Forced choice questions data presentation and discussion

Below is a table with three columns. The first column reports the average response for those owners responding to each itemassessing the quality of a feature at Summerhouse (with higher numbers indicating higher levels of assessment of quality). The second column reports the percentage of times that item was given a “top box” score of “5” on quality. The third column reports the average response of those responding to each item assessing their use of that feature at Summerhouse. All three columns represent the opinions or perceptions of the responding owners.

Table: Average Assessment of Quality, Percent of Top Scores, and Average Assessment of Use/Importance to Summerhouse Owners

The following table reports averages for quality and importance. Use data were collected but not reported here as they seemed to substantially be represented in the importance data.In a quick calculation of the rankings the features that are most used are generally also the items that are most important. It should also be noted that “building appearance” was inadvertentlyexcluded this year.

The responses below show a high level of satisfaction with quality for the features that are most heavily used. Leading off the quality assessment is the general appearance and grounds followed by entrances, pools, and the general manager. What is noteworthy in this listing are the high assessments of the quality of our general management and maintenance team. This is supported by the large number of owners that also ranked these personnel items high in importance. I calculated the top box ratings as a useful measure of how strong our owners feel about the features that they would give a “5” on the item and that they responded (note variation in number of people responding). It is clear that we have a solid management team doing a solid job for Summerhouse’s owners who both recognize and appreciate their work. Please note that the averages reported in the importance table are being compared to last year’s usage averages and rankings in parentheses. Since these are not “apples to apples” these comparisons should be interpreted carefully as items that are considered “important this year may not have been heavily used last year. The relative rankings however should be informative.

Big drops in perceived average quality (greater than .20) were seen in night manager, rental manager, SH minutes, rental board, owners web page, and wireless service. Big gains in perceived average quality (=>.20) were seen in grounds, entrance appearance, walkovers, website, dog walk areas, and laundry.

FEATURE / Average Assessment
Of QUALITY (Last year average/rank) / Percent of Top Box (“5”’s)Responses (number responding) {last year’s % & #} / Average Assessment
Of USE (rank) {last year average and rank}
1. Grounds Appearance / 4.68 (4.48/3) / 71% (106) {53% (118)} / 4.88 (1) {4.44 (5)}
2. Entrance Appearance / 4.63 (4.41/4) / 69% (106) {47% (116)} / 4.71 (4) {4.53 (4)}
3. Swimming Pool / 4.53 (4.49/2) / 55% (104) {61% (93)} / 4.82 (2) {4.19 (7)}
4. General manager / 4.51 (4.56/1) / 60% 102 {69% (90)} / 4.72 (3) {4.07 (10)}
5. Pool area/furniture / 4.43 (4.24/11) / 54% (102) {40%(100)} / 4.62 (8) {4.18 (8)}
6. Maintenance staff / 4.35 (4.28/9) / 47% (101) {43% (111)} / 4.63 (6) {3.61 (14)}
7. Walkovers / 4.33 (3.96/19) / 47% (106) {32 %(117)} / 4.63 (6) {4.57 (2)}
8. Office appearance / 4.30 (4.20/12) / 42% (106) {37% (117)} / 4.45 (11) {3.85 (13)}
9. Parking / 4.26 (4.29/7) / 43% (106) {47% (116)} / 4.52 (10) {4.62 (1)}
9. Office staff / 4.26 (4.29/8) / 40% (104) {45% (92)} / 4.67 (5) {4.02 (11)}
11. Website / 4.21 (3.87/22) / 24% (84) {18% (76)} / 4.28 (15) {3.15 (18)}
12. Night manager / 4.17 (4.40/5) / 46% (96) {58 %(78)} / 4.27 (16) {3.07 (19)}
13. Water temperature / 4.12 (4.28/10) / 39% (99) {52% (89)} / 4.42 (12) {4.25 (6)}
14. SHBoardofDirectors / 4.07 (4.13/13) / 34% (97) {41% (97)} / 3.68 (14) {3.31 (17)}
15. Rental manager / 4.06 (4.31/6) / 39% (96) {57 %(74)} / 4.33 (13) {3.32 (16)}
16. Club house room / 4.06 (4.07/17) / 34% (95) {33% (72)} / 3.69 (24) {2.26 (27)}
17. Newsletter / 3.95 (4.09/15) / 26% (98) {37 %(86)} / 4.00 (18) {4.10 (9)}
18. Tennis courts / 3.85 (3.91/21) / 19% (88) {22% (60)} / 3.77 (21) {2.47 (24)}
19. Playground / 3.84 (4.03/18) / 27% (85) {36% (58)} / 3.62 (26) {2.11 (28)}
20. SH Board minutes / 3.79 (4.09/14) / 22% (92) {42% (91)} / 3.79 (19) {3.55 (15)}
20. Business center / 3.79 (3.86/23) / 23% (92) {23% (70)} / 3.78 (20) {2.73 (22)}
22. Picnic area(s) / 3.75 (3.77/25) / 22% (88) {25 %(60)} / 3.48 (27) {1.71 (34)}
23. Dog walk areas / 3.75 (3.52/27) / 29% (89) {18% (50)} / 3.65 (25) {2.28 (26)}
24. Library / 3.73 (3.71/26) / 21% (89) {25% (62)} / 3.42 (28) {2.42 (25)}
25. Rental board / 3.68 (3.84/24) / 22% (87) {29% (77)} / 3.68 (24) {2.61 (23)}
26. Owner’s page onweb / 3.67 (3.95/20) / 17% (88) {32% (60)} / 3.76 (22) {2.98 (20)}
27. Cleaning service / 3.60 (3.43/31) / 18% (90) {16% (79)} / 4.26 (17) {2.87 (21)}
28. Exercise room / 3.57 (3.51/28) / 18% (91) {15% (65)} / 3.70 (23) {2.09 (29)}
29. Boat storage / 3.46 (3.33/33) / 16% (80) {17% (48)} / 2.94 (31) {1.73 (32)}
30. Racquetball courts / 3.39 (3.25/34) / 13% (85) {5% (59)} / 2.99 30 {1.81 (30)}
31. Laundry / 3.37 (3.10/35) / 14% (84) {4% (49)} / 3.31 (29) {1.72 (33)}
32. Shuffleboard / 3.33 (3.50/29) / 9% (85) {12% (50)} / 2.71(33) {1.44 (35)}
33. Basketball court / 3.31 (3.39/32) / 11% (84) {12% (56)} / 2.92 (32) {1.81 (30)}
34. Wireless service / 3.24 (3.49/30) / 21% (97) {21% (84)} / 4.59 (9) {3.98 (12)}

Summary

Overall, these data and open ended comments represent an assessment of what our owners collectively think about Summerhouse and its look and feel. It seems fair to conclude that overall Summerhouse owners are very happy with the management, the board and the overall appearance but sincerely want to make it even better with their many comments and suggestions. These comments have rich information in them and should be considered by the board and the long range planning committee in their decisions. I would also encourage board members to compare this year’s results with last year’s. While the surveys are not completely comparable they are nearly the same and allow useful insights into progress and change.

Appendix: Selected comments/suggestions submitted by individual owners

1. Higher fencing around basketball courts to stop balls, resurface, add second basket, & paint lines
2. Add BBQ grilles for unserved phases
3. Do better job of trimming dune plants so they look as nice as rest of grounds
4. Add shell washing station by walkover showers
5. Take unnecessary steps out of walkovers
6. Racquetball courts are ugly
7. Pool furniture is ugly
8. Add more color flowers
9. Sidewalks look bad
10. Repave parking
11. Update newsletter format
12. Get rid of all pets to solve pet issues
13. Add more covered/shaded places next to pools
14. Need contact phone # for emergencies when power/phones are down
15. Reduce spending on discretionary items likeentrances
16. Increase mulch
17. Replace dated streetlight style lighting
18. Add lights to picnic pavilions/put concrete pads under the tables
19. Put a separate cable box upstairs
20. Do something to eliminate “cell block” look of buildings
21. Longer hours for business center
22. Let kids with diapers in pools or in some designated pools
23. Allow floatation devices in pools
24. Control the rat population
25. Replace outdated Summerhouse signs
26. Improve look of dumpster areas

Rental Owner comments

1. Offer direct deposit for rental revenues due owners
2. Longer time window for live phone answering
3. Deep clean fee too high for all tile floor units
4. Clean the electric grilles as part of cleaning service
5. Allow individual owners to discount unit price
6. Saturday on line reservation system doesn’t work
7. Inspect rental units between rentals to ensure everything is OK
8. Improvesearch engine’s ability to find us
9. Join St Augustine Chamber of Commerce
10. Offer services to non rental program owners on a fee per use basis