Assembly HOA

What do they actually do

Assembly HOA provides full-service homeowners association (HOA) management by combining a team of community managers with a web platform that handles finances, maintenance requests, vendor invoicing, and homeowner communications. Boards receive invoice routing and one‑click approvals; once approved, vendors are paid through Assembly’s payments stack, which uses partners like Stripe Treasury/third‑party banks and maintains a transparent audit trail for all transactions (homepage).

They are live today in the San Francisco Bay Area and Greater Los Angeles, and (per their YC launch) are managing 26 communities. Homeowners get a portal with real‑time financial reports and autopay, and there’s a free AI tool (Atlas) that reads governing documents and answers common rules questions (YC launch · homepage · Atlas).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Volunteer HOA board members (president/secretary): They juggle governance on top of day jobs and struggle with slow approvals and limited visibility into operations and finances. Assembly streamlines approvals and centralizes updates so boards can act faster (homepage · YC profile).
• HOA treasurers / finance committees: They need clean books, cash forecasts for major repairs, and fewer delinquent assessments. Real‑time financials and upcoming finance tools (e.g., loans for major repairs) target these needs (homepage).
• Homeowners / residents: They want quick answers about rules and timely maintenance resolutions, but documents are opaque and responses are slow. The portal and Atlas Q&A reduce back‑and‑forth and clarify what’s allowed (Atlas · homepage).
• Vendors / contractors: They face unclear work scopes, scattered communications, and payment delays. Assembly’s invoice workflow and automated payouts aim to make approvals and payment status predictable (homepage).

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Convert inbound from YC launch, site, and Atlas; run founder‑led demos and short, low‑risk pilots with a dedicated manager; use early customer testimonials as references (YC launch · homepage · Atlas).
• First 50: Build repeatable local sales in the Bay Area and Greater LA with targeted outreach to board presidents/treasurers; hire local managers to ensure service quality; add vendor‑referral incentives and HOA board workshops (locations/contact · YC jobs).
• First 100: Layer partnerships (brokers, insurers, community‑association groups) to reach more boards; offer a software‑only option for self‑managed HOAs; promote upcoming finance products (e.g., repair loans) and publish case studies/reviews (homepage · YC launch).

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

Broader HOA spending in the U.S. is sizable (IBISWorld estimates about $38.5B in 2024), but that includes total HOA budgets and services, not just management fees, so it overstates what a management provider alone can capture (IBISWorld).

Bottom-up calculation:

Using CAI/Foundation counts (369k associations; 28.8M housing units) and assuming 60–70% are professionally managed, with typical fees of $10–$50 per unit per month, yields a management‑fee TAM of roughly $2B–$12B; a mid‑case at $20/unit/month is ~${4.5}B/year (CAI/Foundation Fact Book · fees range).

Assumptions:

• Average size ≈ 78 units per association (28.8M units / 369k associations) (Fact Book PDF).
• Professionally managed share ≈ 60–70% (self‑managed ~30–40%) (Fact Book).
• Management fees ≈ $10–$50 per unit per month across markets (HOAManagement · Integrated Mountain · HOA Start).

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Associa: Largest national HOA manager with hundreds of branches and a full people + platform model (local managers, accounting/treasury, vendor coordination, owner/board tools) (about).
• FirstService Residential: National full‑service HOA manager offering 24/7 support, in‑house finance products (FirstService Financial), and a homeowner digital assistant (HODA) (corporate · HODA/financial).
• RealManage: Tech‑forward HOA manager with a single‑login portal for boards, owners, and vendors; emphasizes transparent financials, invoice routing, and online payments—directly overlapping the software + manager model (services/tech · about).
• TownSq: Resident and board app used by many management firms; competes on the product layer (communications, payments, work orders, AI triage) when HOAs choose SaaS without switching managers (product · AP process).
• AppFolio: Property/HOA management software with accounting, portals, vendor tools, and automated bill pay; widely used by management firms and overlaps with core features boards/treasurers need (HOA product).