128 | How the Right Bank Can Save HOAs Time, Money & Headaches

Learn how choosing the right bank can save your HOA time, money, and frustration!
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Robert talks with Gavin Nelson from Merchants Bank about how the right banking partner can simplify community finances. Learn how modern technology, check scanning, electronic payments, and integrated HOA software help streamline operations and boost transparency. Plus, discover how proper reserve management, FDIC coverage, and smart lending solutions can save your HOA money and safeguard your community’s future!

Get in contact with Gavin: gnelson@bankmerchants.com

Chapters

00:00 How HOAs can streamline banking headaches 
00:41 Robert Nordlund introduces guest Gavin Nelson from Merchants Bank
03:32 Sandy’s HOA banking question sparks the discussion
04:39 Why HOAs should review their current bank setup regularly
05:37 How modern technology improves HOA financial management
06:07 Making HOA life easier with real-time banking tools
08:41 How check scanners save time and reduce risks for HOAs
09:46 Setting up electronic payments and online portals for members
11:56 How automation improves efficiency and transparency
15:11 Transitioning your HOA banking system in 30 days
18:11 Earning interest on reserves and maximizing returns
19:31: Ad Break - Kevin Davis Insurance Services
20:38 Merchants Bank’s high-yield rates and why it matters
23:34 FDIC coverage explained for HOA reserve accounts
26:13 Lending options and bridging shortfalls for large projects
28:23 Choosing banks that understand community associations
30:00 How Gavin entered the HOA banking industry
31:48 Expanding HOA banking services in Florida and nationwide
33:02 Why personal service still matters in a digital world
34:45 Closing thoughts and how to connect with Merchants Bank

The views & opinions expressed in this program are those of the Hosts & Guests, intended to provide general education about the community association industry. The content is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or organization.  Please seek advice from licensed professionals.

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Chapters

• 0:00 How HOAs can streamline banking headaches
• 0:41 Robert Nordlund introduces guest Gavin Nelson from Merchants Bank
• 3:32 Sandy’s HOA banking question sparks the discussion
• 4:39 Why HOAs should review their current bank setup regularly
• 5:37 How modern technology improves HOA financial management
• 6:07 Making HOA life easier with real-time banking tools
• 8:41 How check scanners save time and reduce risks for HOAs
• 9:46 Setting up electronic payments and online portals for members
• 11:56 How automation improves efficiency and transparency
• 15:11 Transitioning your HOA banking system in 30 days
• 18:11 Earning interest on reserves and maximizing returns
• 19:31 Ad Break - Kevin Davis Insurance Services
• 20:38 Merchants Bank’s high-yield rates and why it matters
• 23:34 FDIC coverage explained for HOA reserve accounts
• 26:13 Lending options and bridging shortfalls for large projects
• 28:23 Choosing banks that understand community associations
• 30:00 How Gavin entered the HOA banking industry
• 31:48 Expanding HOA banking services in Florida and nationwide
• 33:02 Why personal service still matters in a digital world
• 34:42 Closing thoughts and how to connect with Merchants Bank

Transcript

Gavin Nelson: 0:00

You have associations that are self managed, in the sense of, you have a typical officer structure. You got your president, treasurer secretary, and then you have associations that actually deal with the software companies, and they deal with a property management company and will help them streamline their operations, as well as make things a lot smoother when it comes to keeping track of association expenses or association related

Announcer: 0:24

HOA Insights is brought to you by six companies events. that care about board members, Association Insights & marketplace, Association Reserves, Community Financials, Kevin Davis Insurance Services, HOA Invest and The Inspectors of Election, you'll find links to their website and social media in the show notes,

Robert Nordlund: 0:41

Welcome back to HOA Insights: Common Sense for Common Areas. I'm Robert Nordlund, and I'm here today for episode 128 with my neighbor from the CAI national trade show earlier this year, Gavin Nelson from Merchants Bank. Gavin is on over 20 years of experience in banking and finance with different banks and in different roles, and we have him here with us today, because managing an Association's money is a critical function for board members. Now I'm not just talking about planning, and in my world, that means budgeting enough income to offset your expenses, but collecting and actually managing the association's money. Last week's episode 127 was another conversation with regular co host Julie adaman on management and people and culture and community association boards and their intersection between being a great board and having a great association. So don't miss that one. What you do, how you do it as a board, significantly influences the function and culture of your association, if you missed that episode or any other prior episode, take a moment after today's program to listen from our podcast website, Hoa insights.org or watch on our YouTube channel, but better yet, subscribe from any of the major podcast platforms so you don't miss any future episodes. Well, those of you watching on YouTube can see the HOA insights mug that I have here get rid of the shine. It's one of my favorites, puts a smile on my face that I got from our merch store, which you can browse through from our Hoa insights.org website, or the link in the show notes, you find we have some great free stuff there, like board member zoom backgrounds and some specialty items for sale, like the mug. So go to the merch store, look around, download a free zoom background, take a moment and find the mug that you'd like and email me at podcast at reserve study.com with your name, shipping address, and mug choice, mentioning episode 128, mug giveaway, and if you're the 10th person to email me, I'll ship that mug to you free of charge. We enjoy hearing from you responding to the issues you are facing at your association. So if you have a hot topic, a crazy story, or a question you'd like us to address, you can contact us at 805-203-3130, or email us at podcast@reservesafe.com this episode was prompted by Sandy from San Francisco, who asked, I'm new to the board of our small, older Association. We have a checking account from the prior board, likely at the same bank used by a board member. Is this normal? Can we should we be looking for something better? And Gavin, it's emails like this that made me want to get a banker on the program. And so Gavin, welcome to the program. And how would you respond to Sandy?

Gavin Nelson: 3:32

Robert, thank you so much for having me pleasure to be here. Honestly, I would simply say, you know, first of all, Sandy, congratulations on drawing your joining your board, being put on your board, getting a chance to serve a community, is an amazing experience. Secondly, I mean, at the end of the day being a new member, she's going to want to take a look at what they currently have. She mentioned the account in itself, and maybe being at a bank with a current board member, that's not out of the norm. That's very possible, just because people tend to want to do business where they currently do business comfortably. So if that's a bank they use personally, it's be a no brainer. Well, my bank treats me great personally, so my association account should be there as well. So that could have came on the recommendation of that board member. But secondly, you know, she talked about, if she asked, you know, if, if, if, if there's any issue with that or should be doing, she'd be doing anything else, I would say, just like anything else you want to do, kind of a checkup or a check in, you know, take a look at what they what they currently have in this association, and then don't be opposed to looking outside of different products and services that other banks may have, that offer, that have to offer. It's just like anything else, yeah,

Robert Nordlund: 4:39

what does that begin to look like we want to encourage our boards to not just go with what has been done before, but improve the board protocols, improve the board standards, improve the board's communication, improve the board's banking. So what does better look like?

Gavin Nelson: 4:56

Gotcha got and that's that's a great question. So I think one of the biggest. Uh, the disconnect. Sometimes it's just the, let's say, the infusion of technology updating it. We know with a bank that maybe has some current features of software that they use to make that things easier, make life easier for that association. And also just sometimes, comparing banks, some bank, one bank, can do as kind of limited on what they can offer, as far as their products and services. And some banks have a plethora of products and services that they offer that can fit the niche of the HOA space or the HOA homeowner association space. They only would know that through doing a little due diligence to kind of see what's out there. There's a lot of banks that are in the space. It's just a matter of doing a little bit research to find out what's out there.

Robert Nordlund: 5:37

Well, attempt to me if, if I'm a person and I have, I have my family money at Wells Fargo, that's our checking account. Got my debit card in my wallet somewhere. How is the world of community association banking different? Where do you start? You said, make life easier. And I'm sure our board member audience heard that phrase, and they're like, get to the point. Gavin, what do you mean? Make my life easier? How can you make How can you make someone's life easier?

Gavin Nelson: 6:07

Absolutely, a couple different ways. One I mentioned, technology be a key component. Having a bank system that offers the ability for real time processing, whether that's payment processing or just viewing your statements as an association or collecting what they call, you know, a bulk statement, to kind of consolidate their monthly monthly statements. That also comes down to the bank you work with the structure some banks are highly in tune to the homeowner association space when it comes to how they service, meaning they have dedicated bankers that can be assigned to that age that association, and kind of give them that, that one on one service, that little bit more time and attention. And then there's some banks that that have a lot of automated systems, even some that have aI integration, where there's a lot more automation. And so as a consumer or as an HOA board member, you're going to be able to go look at things on your own and kind of be self sufficient and not necessarily have to deal or want to have a handhold experience if you don't want to. But different banks offer different things. Some do things better than anything else I would, I would equate it to be, you know, a little bit of preference. But also some banks cannot perform other ones. I mean, there's a bank on every corner, and a lot of banks do very similar services. What typically sets institutions apart are the people that work there, the supporting cast and supporting systems in place to make it a more efficient experience, as well as to make it a more productive experience, meaning what's in it for the client at the end of the day, those are kind of things that are outliers that set it apart. So that's why a client could say, I love my bank, and I know I love my bank for these specific reasons and how they treated me. And you could be talking with a peer and have a they can have a completely different experience based on their banking experience, despite the fact that they're with a bank. Those are kind of some of the different, different features that you kind of see in comparison, if you're

Robert Nordlund: 7:52

comparing, okay, well, let's, let's presume, okay, we got Sandy here. She's a new board member, and let's say that she's there. They said, Hey, Sandy, how about you be treasurer? And she said, Okay, and so now she's got this, and let's say the last person was Joe, and Joe loved his and let's say corner bank, and he, he liked the way they served him. They Hello Joe, and you know, they welcomed him, and he, you know that that's a nice thing, but sure if, if Joe is walking in a couple times a week with checks, that seems like a lot of time and energy. So are you talking about a bank that would actually receive the checks and deposit the checks? Talk to me about making life easier. Got it. Got it, that that kind of stuff. Is that what community association banks can

Gavin Nelson: 8:41

do, yes, yes. So great contrast. So you've got a client that has the comfortability of bringing checks to the actual bank, and that may work for them, but that also has risks that are attached to that, that also has an extra task that's involved the physically getting those checks to deposit. You have institutions that will offer, you know, check scanners that are available to the client to be able to just be at their office, their HOA office, or their property management office, checks, you got it right from the comfort of their own home or their own office, and that goes right into the bank system, and they're processed in like a physical deposit that they would bring in. So that's something that's a perfect example of something that means that would save, you know, time, money, energy resources, to be able to do that. You know, if you're collecting, usually the association could be, let's say, 150 to 300 homes, or condos or townhouses, or however, the structure is that's a lot of payments. Some payments are going to come electronically. Some are going to come in a physical check form, depending on the client's preference. That's a specific feature you just mentioned, of something that would make the life easier for for an association if they wanted to go from check depositing to just check scanning of this, that alone would save the time, energy and money, yeah.

Robert Nordlund: 9:46

Well, let's take a third step. So let's say Joe was getting checks, whether he walked around and again, I think Sandy said, this is a small place, so let's say, you know, 10 years. It's so maybe he walked around, or maybe they put the checks under his doormat, or something like that. So not too much. But there's a lot of people now that don't write checks. And we, in our family, we don't go through checks like we used to. Most everything is automatic. So community association banks that say, Hey, we can do you can bring checks in. We can take credit card payments we can take was it electronic funds, automatic things like that? Deb, absolutely, is that another feature so Sandy can be the absolute hero by announcing at the next board meeting that, hey, if any of you want to pay by credit card and get points or debit card or whatever, we can do that beginning next month, exactly. So that sounds to me like she's a hero.

Gavin Nelson: 10:46

Agreed, agree. And that's a great segmentation to the electronic features of what you can do as well. Like I said, depending on the bank's capability, you can do that in two phases. One is a simple, just Remote Deposit, whether you just want to take a picture of that item and send it in directly. But even more so, a lot of the banks now offer the ability for that, for that client to simply just send those checks in. They can do it on a on a generalized system where it's scanned in, like I mentioned before, and then that person in the office just simply processes that if they want to do a payment, this software that's actually integrated as what I've especially over the last few months, have done a lot of research on the software integration piece. And so there's multiple software integration that work alongside with the banks. And so they set up a structure where you want to make a payment for Hoa, you don't have to write a check. You simply go on their portal make a payment, and it's all electronically processed, and everything is available in that same portal for the client. So that that would make Sandy a hero. That's a leap and bounce growth from going from physically walking checks in to, let's say, scanning checks, and then getting past scanning checks. And said, we're going to use the portal and integrate some software and just make our payments right directly to our to our our HOA company in our bank.

Robert Nordlund: 11:56

So my brain is spinning. How Sandy is bringing her association into the future. Okay, so that's good. So she is gone from in her little Association. Or Gavin, like you said, it could be 100 unit association where they're slipping checks under the treasurer's mat or whatever. Now they can Sandy can perhaps skip going to the bank. She's got her check scanner, zip, zip. Or she can route, tell people that send their checks directly to the bank. Or they can pay with a credit card with this protocol, pay electronically with this protocol. Boy, okay, that's all deposit side. And I imagine the bank like you say, we'll have the software to say, I got checks from these people on these dates, and so you know who's current and who's late, and so on the 10th of the month, you can draw the line and say, who's in and who's out. Okay? And then you were tempting me also with payment type stuff. So instead of Sandy writing checks, there's integration software integration with whatever they're using. It could go anything from something generic, like QuickBooks, I would imagine, to Community Association, industry specific. And I'm thinking that the CAI trade show how many software programs were there, but exactly HOA management software that has integration. And that would be so cool to just, I'm closing my eyes, because Sandy can close her eyes. And the checks go with the bank, the transfers go to the bank. The deposits happen on the 10th. Got it. She looks and sees or the 15th, or whatever it is, she looks and sees who's in, who's out, and she has a wonderful association. So all 10 checks came in, right? And then she says, Okay, I'll pay the bills. And she looks and she can just type in pay, ABC, electric, pay XYZ, water, the insurance bill. So pay element, op insurance. And just right there, click, click, click, click, and she hits enter or I what I certify I am indeed, Sandy Smith of Hoa, and the bank pays those people, and Sandy has not gotten a check. She has not touched a check. Cool. Okay, that is a world of difference from Joe. Nice Joe, and he's been doing that for what, eight or 10 years. Who likes the people at the bank? He stops by the bank on his way to coffee or the golf driving range or whatever it is. I'm stereotyping terribly. But we have, we have a well, that's it. We have a world of difference. And we want our audience to be aware of what's out there, what can make their life easier, and it's so easy just to do things the way you've done them before. Okay, if in Sandy's position and her brain is spinning because she's listening to this program and saying, what you can save me going to the bank once a week. Work and ordering checks and all that kind of stuff. Is this a one month transition, or is this a six month transition once she's identified a bank, like merchants, bank that just does this? I

Gavin Nelson: 15:11

mean, I would say you want to give yourself rule of thumb as you give yourself 30 days to make a transition, especially going from, let's say you're going from one bank to another bank, for instance, or you're or you're upgrading from, from Joe's, doing the physical labor or bringing the checks into going to software and enhancements. You want to give yourself 30 days. But as far as the banks, the banks can have a pretty fast turnaround. Imagine the software integration being just that bridge in between, where everything in between that would typically cause, you know, labor on the board or on the H, on the association. Now that that integration is the is the middleman between them and the bank. And so what that offers you got it, what that is, all that like, it just happens a lot smoother there and then. Now, that HOA member, that you know, that treasure, that treasurer, President, whoever's doing the processing, they deal directly with the soft through the software to look at everything, to transact everything in it, and then they that software then communicates with the bank. That's kind of how that works. There is one element that you add to that loop, you know, because you have associations that are self managed, in the sense of, you have a typical officer structure, you got your president, treasurer, secretary, and they, they can directly deal with the banks. And then you have associations that actually deal with the software companies, and they deal with a property management company, which is where that association says, You know what, we don't want to do a lot of the compliance. We don't want to do a lot of the legal stuff that we have to typically do year in and year out. Let's go and have a company help us streamline this. And typically it's a property manager that will come and play and will help them streamline their operations, as well as make things a lot smoother when it comes to keeping track of association expenses or association related events, it's not just necessarily just the association payment that could be everything from repairs that could be Maintaining and the processing of vendors that could be replacing something, let's say, for a storm damage, and there's or maybe just a community upgrade or overhaul for the community that could be an upgrade in the amenities, all that is facilitated help through the software, and then also a property management company that could be a part of that. So there's a couple of different layers of how it could go, but each Association has the ability to act independently or go through a property management company if they see fit to do that. That's what I've kind of seen trending of recent, years ago. And in the association space, I would see a lot of independent, you know, board members and or officers that would come to the bank together, physically, and then we'd open an account. We would set up their accounts, however, their preferred way was and then do their transactions from there and treat that account, just like a business account, like anything else. Recent update is property management companies actually are able to work alongside those associations and help them manage and facilitate that. And the property management company sets up that relationship with the bank. There's some nice added pieces there to help it, help the boards run a list a lot smoother, as well as to add value and streamline what they currently do.

Robert Nordlund: 18:04

Okay, I'm writing a couple of things down time savings and transparency, and

Gavin Nelson: 18:11

if I could add anything, Rob something I didn't mention that, that I should have mentioned from the top, because it's a very pivotal point. There's a difference in what institutions can offer from a rate standpoint as well. A big part of the association space is returns on their money. Traditionally, you have your operating account, that's transactional, and then you have reserve account, a reserve account, or multiple reserve accounts, depending on how many associations they are, and then a good return of interest is great on the reserve accounts, because those monies are typically used for, like I said, like I mentioned earlier, updates and enhancements to the community amenity upgrades, just simple storm repairs, just whatever the community needs. And also, predominantly, I think, all age associations or or whether it's a condo or townhouse or just a co ops, they typically have to have, it's mandated that they have to have reserves in place to cover certain things about the community, specifically that are going to be needs. And so why not have that money earn a great rate of return, if you can. But of course, that's going to vary depending on where you bank. That's an important

Robert Nordlund: 19:14

factor as well. Gavin, with my background, of course I was going to get to reserves, and so I love that the conversation has gone this direction, but I want to go further down this path, but that's a wonderful segue, but let's take a quick break now to hear from one of our generous sponsors, after which we'll be back with more common sense for common areas.

Kevin Davis: 19:32

Hi, I'm Kevin Davis, the president of Kevin Davis Insurance Services. Our experienced team of underwriters will help you when you get that declination, we provide the voice of reason, someone who will stand by you. Our underwriters bring years of knowledge to our clients that can't be automated by technology or driven by price. As a proud and women's company, we bring true value to your community association clients. We are your community association insurance

Robert Nordlund: 19:59

experts. Yes, and we're back. Well, just before the break, Gavin started talking about reserves, and my eyes started to light up. One thing I like to tell my clients when they are talking about reserve interest is that every dollar they get from a bank like Merchants Bank is one less dollar that they have to put in to get that new roof. And I just love hearing a bank that has competitive market rates. So Gavin, people will listen to this program live. They'll listen to it in arrears. But as we're recording what kind of market rates are, is Merchants Bank offering at this time for reserves on deposit savings accounts?

Gavin Nelson: 20:38

Beautiful, beautiful. Thank you, Robert, you know, merchants, bank is I have to say that, not just because I work for the company. Of course, everybody will say I'm biased, but the reality is that we are an amazing bank when it comes to interest. It's simply what we've done for quite, quite some time. For example, right now, in the rate market that we're in, which if you check just the Fed rates, or you just check just bank rates across the country, we're going to be the top number for those. As far as production on what we can offer our clients right now, you know, just for a money market account, a liquid account, for a client to be able to put high yield money into, we're paying four and a quarter percent. That's an out. That's an outlier in the industry, and we paid that rate for some time. And we also have, we have a great offering for CDs, and we just have a great system that's built for gathering deposits outside of the association space. I will say there's this, like I mentioned, is there's a lot of banks that have different offerings, but you're only going to find out what those offerings are when you do a little due diligence, and that's what it comes down to. Some people would err on the side of comfortability. You know, they'll stay where they are just based on it's what they've always done, and they don't necessarily do that research. But I wouldn't implore any board member, any association or property management company to do a little homework, and I know that a lot of them do it. Now, you know where they look for the best rates, and merchants, bank happens to have one of the best ones out there, but there are the banks that have great rates as well. So if you looking for like you said that for every dollar you put in like you mentioned Robert, it's super important because reserves specifically, yes, they're mandated to be kept. But there's a reason for that. If there's a shortfall with reserve balances, typically that falls back on the community members to find that those funds, and there's a variety of ways that those funds have to be raised. Now, imagine having an account where you've got $500,000 in that account and it's making 4% well, that additional interest just goes towards the pot to be able to make those things happen in the future. It was a shortfall. I'd rather more money in your pocket than the banks, honestly. And the bank, our bank believes in giving that the highest percentage back to our clients, yeah.

Robert Nordlund: 22:39

Well, again, this is wonderful. We talked about time savings. We talked back and forth about that. We talked about transparency, and you added the management company element to that, that instead of the check book being at one place, all of a sudden, you have the software. That's the accounting software, and so the treasurer can check, the manager can check, the president can check, everyone can maybe print their own summary for the upcoming board meeting, those kinds of things. Transparency is great. And then you've added the other element of savings, so you have the bank literally acting as a partner, giving the association money. And that boy that warms my soul, because how hard it is to collect reserves, sufficient reserves for everything that's coming up. Now, talk to me a moment about the $250,000 FDIC limit. What's What do board members need to know about

Gavin Nelson: 23:34

that? Sure, so your typical threshold for most banks is going to be $250,000 as a minimum for FDIC coverage, I would employ everybody. If you, if you go to, you know, you want to go to merchants, bank, merchants.com, our website and decide and check it out. We do have a FDIC calculator that's available there. But also, if you logged in and looked at the actual FDIC website, there is a calculator on there as well where you can actually put in your specific numbers that's specific to your association, and you can kind of see what your coverages are. I know a lot of a lot of banks have this tool, but we have it as well at merchants, which is a relationship with intro pHfIo, which is a company that offers a cash service, which is like a cash sweep account, which allows a client to have over $250,000 with us and have that money still be completely covered by the FDIC. So that's something that we have the majority of associations, to be honest with you, at reserves have high balances. You can look at a minimum of, let's say, 250 and then you could go as high as couple million dollars. And so it's super imperative that those funds are typically covered under FDIC just for just for security. Peace of mind by that association. It's in the best interest of the association and the property management companies act accordingly. They want to make sure those funds are covered as well. So that's something that merchants offers, but I know other banks offers it as well.

Robert Nordlund: 24:51

Yeah. Well, I like seeing our clients have their well. Board members are fiduciaries, and so they need to hear about. The safety of the assets that they're holding for other people. So I like my clients with less than $250,000 knowing that it's FDI insured. And I like knowing that you've got a bridge so that when their reserves grow, you know they're preparing for a roof project. As their reserves grow from 200 to 250 to 300 to 350 over the course of a few years, merchants, bank and I imagine you're competing. Your competitors also have bridges so that it's not like everything they have is uninsured. But I want to encourage our listeners to make sure that wherever your funds are if you have them in a local bank, your savings bank, you may want to double check to make sure everything above 250 is indeed FDIC, FDIC insured. So you got it right? Robert, okay, so you've got that we talked about the roof project. What if you have a $500,000 roof project and you've only got $250,000 in$1,000 in reserves, that's a problem. There are banks that do lending. Does is Merchants Bank, one of those community association banks that can manage a loan to an association.

Gavin Nelson: 26:13

Absolutely. There they are. There are banks, I have lending services that are available for associations. Typically, if there's a shortfall, it's in reserves, or there's a project asked to get done. It's usually planned out for, you know, so that gives the association a little bit of time to acquire the additional funds, whether they raise them, you know, via an assessment to the actual community owners, or they go to a bank, a financial institution, like merchants or anybody else, and request a loan product that they can take advantage of that will bridge that gap. Okay, it can be done a variety of different ways, whether it's through some type of line of credit, or it's done as just a straightforward loan that's kind of specific to the need. And when I say that is, the loans that an association will need are a lot different than a loan that you know an individual would need, or just a business would need. They're structured a little bit differently, and so they there are case by case basis. There's a lot of factors that go into that, but the reality is that you want to be at a bank, that you want to not be afraid to ask that question, and have someone actually able to work with you hand in hand, and that's a big disconnect, I think, as my research has found in the last numerous months. You know, there's some institutions that you call and you can't you may not necessarily be able to have someone walk you through that process? Yeah, they just don't do it. They are. They just don't do it. And you have some institutions where you've got a rep that will take care of you and literally walk you from beginning to end to make sure you get the resolution that you need, or at least point you in the right direction. That's a little piece that sets institutions apart as well. So that's something that you can get from different banks, but also our

Robert Nordlund: 27:39

merchants. Yeah, that would be a nice additional question to ask on your interview checklist, as you're looking at potentially a new bank, I like the idea that Sandy, again, in our person who launched this entire episode, she could wonder, or as she's the treasurer for a year or so, she knows, okay, our delinquencies are low. You've seen our deposits, and basically she's built the reputation of the association in the eyes of the bank. And the banker says, oh, yeah, Sandy, I know your association. I can look at your numbers here. And yes, with your low delinquencies, with an upcoming roof project, I see how much reserves you have. Boy, I would imagine that could be a really easy process if you have the right bank on your

Gavin Nelson: 28:23

side. That's actually probably one of the biggest fundamental differences with being that I've been in the industry for a long time, and then when I say industry, I say financial services, not necessarily super long time in the H and association space. I will get to that, sure, sure. But nevertheless, I have the experience and I have the the longevity in the industry, to kind of see the difference, especially between institutions. You know, you have some institutions that are just a bigger old machine. They have certain sectors that that bank flourishes in, and they stay in those lanes. And then you've had, then I've come to find you have Association banks that literally have hold departments that are segmented just for associations. And so there's going to be a big difference between the level of service and attention and detail and specified instruction that you're going to get from a institution that's geared towards, hey, you know, how we service associations, and an institution that's a that's a well known machine that has, you know, a ton of business lending, Commercial Investments department and segmentation, that there's, there's going to be a difference there, but that's up to that association, or property management company, to kind of find the best fit for them. So I can't, I can't emphasize enough how much your due diligence is reliant on that, that extra work of doing that to look for the right fit for you as an association,

Robert Nordlund: 29:37

I bet. Well, um, okay, Sandy got into this probably because she went to a board meeting. She asked some good questions, and Joe and the Rest of the board said, Hey, Sandy would be a good board member. And they asked her, and she said, What the heck. And so she ran and she became a board member. What got you into this crazy community, association, industry?

Gavin Nelson: 30:00

You know, it's funny. You described it as crazy coming from the private bank space and the and the commercial bank space. You know, a big part of what I've done for a long time is is work with clients and build relationships organically from start to finish, or take care of manager, book a business, or just kind of be that face in getting out and meeting and connecting with clients on their on turn, on their turf, not necessarily relying on them to come in the bank. So I'm used to going and out and get business and, you know, building relationships, and watch it turn into from nothing to multi million, our relationship and finding what the client needs and renovate, remedying that. And then I'm in a space now where associations are so different, in the sense of, you've got to find out. You've got to find an in, you know, to a point of contact is whether it's a property manager or it's a board member, you've got to find the decision maker, which sometimes can be a little challenging, right? But also, the needs are so different a majority, I wouldn't when I say needs are different, it doesn't necessarily mean more complex. It just means that the needs are different. You know, where in the past, have offered, let's say, private banking experience. And you know, you get a certain level experience, you have a certain balances for for my an HOA, President or Secretary, or even a property management company, they may say, Listen, we just want to have a great partner bank, a great relationship. Pick up the phone when we call, and have systems in place that will help us make this easier and even more so, add a good interest rate, if you can give me that cherry on top to make it make sense for why I want to do business with you, that's another reason why I decided to make the change, believe it or not, being in banking for a while, and probably most bankers, especially tenured ones out there, would empathize with this. But you kind of it gets a little mundane. Sometimes it can be, it can be kind of just status quo. I'm just being real.

Robert Nordlund: 31:44

There's always something new and crazy around the corner in the community association,

Gavin Nelson: 31:48

sure, for sure. And then, you know, Jordan, this space, what I love is specifically, you know, my company merchants. The challenge was, I'm in Florida. I'm actually based out of Tampa, and my company is looking, my bank is looking to expand and build in the HOA space here in the state of Florida. And so it was a unique opportunity for me to be kind of the face, and be able to promote and start with my circle of influence and impact here in Tampa, and then spread that across the state of Florida and see what impact we could, you know, what penetration we could get in the in the market. So it's been, it's been an adventure. It's had its challenges. I'm enjoying every minute of it, and I will say that I love the upside of it, because as I talk to different property managers and board members there, there is an opportunity to help, whether it's rate wise, or just partnering with them and having them tell me, hey, you know, it's, it's been a while since we got, actually, got to, actually got a hold of somebody we could even talk and just just bounce things off of a banker. So that gives me hope that, you know, merchants, bank and add, was going to be able to add a lot of value in this, in the segmentation as I move out in Florida. And that's, that's what's kind of brought me here, and I think that's what's going to keep me here. Not to mention my bank is an amazing bank to work for. It shameless plug, but it is what it is. I love working here, and I don't see myself, to be honest. So this is it for me,

Robert Nordlund: 33:02

hopefully Cool. Well, you're taking your time out of your work day to join us on the program here. But again, some more thoughts are triggering in my mind. And you talked about service, it seems like that just beats within your heart. And again, I'm thinking about Sandy, who has made this pitch that you all used to bring in checks, and now we can do electronic payment and credit cards and all this kind of stuff. But she has Fred in unit number six, who just can't get it figured out. And I bet at a bank like you work at, like Merchants Bank, they can contact their banker and say, Hey, can you talk to Fred? Fred can't get his credit card, his 354, $50 a month to work. And that service, even in all the technology you're dealing with, it still comes down to the human relationship and the service. Damn it, a lot we've talked about, there is much more that we could I'd love to talk more about signature cards, more on the lending, more about deposits, more about the service, the technology, the integration, that kind of stuff. So we may have Gavin back for another episode in the future, but Gavin, love that you talked about your smile and the service, and indeed, it was your smile setting up at the CAI trade show. And where's our booth, who's and then there's this guy next to us with his big smile. And I said, I'm gonna like this guy. So anyway, that's why Gavin's on the program. He brings a great deal of experience. So Gavin, thank you. Thank you. Emerges bank for giving him time during the work day to speak with us. It was great talking to you and having you on the program. Any closing thoughts to add at this time?

Gavin Nelson: 34:45

Man, Thank you, Robert, for the opportunity. It's been an absolute pleasure to be here. I'm very big on just trying to connect in this industry as much as I can. So that goes for all the property managers that are listening, as well as all the board members and officers my bank is looking to. Really spread our wings and make a move in this sector of being able to offer more services and be able to work with associations and property management, targeting, initially, the reserve space of offering you a great rate of return, to be honest, and we're going to see what we can do to bring your relationships in and add value there, as far as a great rate of return, and eventually down the future, we're looking at maybe, maybe operating, maybe something we'll consider, but we're in a good position, and we're excited about the opportunity. My responsibility is mainly to do that in Florida, but we do have a footprint that covers all 50 states, and we have an amazing back team. So back, back, back, support of our operations team, so we can do anything with anybody in any state. So feel free to reach out to me. You can reach out to me on my my direct number, or just actually go to our website, which is WW dot bank merchants.com you can find me on our on our search engines there as well as you can email direct, directly at G Nelson at Bank merchants.com so just really excited for the opportunity, and I hope to be able to stay in contact with you, Robert. And then, of course, any listeners I'd love to connect with you, feel free to reach out. I

Robert Nordlund: 36:03

hope you're not overwhelmed with emails. But again, if you'd like to, okay, if you'd like to get in touch with Gavin or learn more about burdens, bank again, let me say it again, their website, it's bank merchants, M, E R C H, a n, b, a n, k, M, E, R, C, H, A, N, T, s.com, and Gavin is G Nelson at Bank merchants.com, well, I hope be kind. Don't Don't everyone. Email them today or tomorrow. Spread it out. We hope that you learn some HOA insights from our discussion today that helps you bringS common sense to your common areas. Look forward to having you join us for another great episode next week,s

Announcer: 36:46

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