Should we consider self-management?

Roughly a third of US associations self-manage, so it is a real option rather than a failure state. It works best in smaller communities with simple amenities, a stable and competent volunteer base, and no active capital program.

Where it tends to break down: collections and lien processes, statutory compliance deadlines, insurance claims, and any capital project of size. Those are also the areas where a volunteer's personal liability exposure is least comfortable.

Financial-only or hybrid arrangements exist between the two, and often cost meaningfully less than full service while covering the accounting risk.

Cost it honestly before deciding. Accounting software, a bookkeeper, payroll and workers compensation if there is any staff, banking, legal on call, and the collections process all still happen and all still cost money. The saving against a management fee is usually real and usually smaller than the Board first calculates.

The failure mode is rarely a bad decision; it is a single volunteer carrying the whole operation and then moving, resigning or burning out. If you self-manage, document everything as though the person doing it will leave next month, because eventually one of them will.