CondoAlly / HOAAlly

"Simple yet powerful web tools for running small and self-managed HOAs, with an open-source front-end and 15 years of development history."
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condoally.com
Maker: TCSoft
no rev. info provided

Marketing Channels

Primary

Capterra (paid ranking)

Best ROI of all channels tried, but still too expensive for long-term sustainability

Secondary

SEO firm

Hired an SEO firm for 2 years — implied results were underwhelming

Secondary

Facebook/Google ads

Used ad credits from sign-up promotions

Secondary

Direct mail (postcards)

Two postcard campaigns sent directly to HOA presidents

Secondary

Print advertising

Ran an ad in The Chicago Cooperator for 6 months and was in a Valpak insert

Planned

Reddit (planned)

Suggested by commenter — relevant subreddits like r/HOA or similar communities

Growth Levers

  • Target property management agencies as a B2B channel rather than individual HOA presidents
  • Run demand capture campaigns on platforms like Capterra, G2, and comparison sites where HOA buyers actively search
  • Market in relevant Reddit subreddits (r/HOA and similar communities) for grassroots awareness
  • Position around empowering homeowners against corrupt boards — a strong emotional hook for community engagement
  • Build QuickBooks-like financial features that property managers need to unlock a higher-value market segment
  • Leverage the open-source front-end for developer community trust and contributions

First Customer Strategy

Tried a wide range of marketing channels over 15 years including paid Capterra rankings, direct mail to HOA presidents, SEO, print ads, and Google/Facebook ad credits. Capterra was the best ROI but still too costly. The product has users but the creator openly struggles with marketing as a solo developer.

Pricing Insight

No specific pricing mentioned in the thread. The product has free (hoaally.org) and presumably paid (condoally.com) tiers. Users request QuickBooks-level financial features as table stakes, suggesting the market expects comprehensive tooling.

New Market Opportunities

  • HOA management agencies / property managers Many HOAs are managed externally from an operational perspective — targeting management agencies could be more efficient than reaching individual presidents
  • Homeowners fighting corrupt HOA boards Creator wants to help folks 'unite to defeat corrupt boards' — a strong emotional use case that could drive organic community engagement
  • Reddit HOA communities Suggested Reddit marketing to relevant subreddits as a low-cost awareness channel

Key Takeaways

  • • A great product without effective marketing can stall for years — 15 years of development but marketing remains the unsolved challenge
  • • Demand capture campaigns (targeting people already searching for solutions) have better ROI for niche markets than demand generation
  • • Solo developers often exhaust themselves trying every marketing channel — focusing on the one with best ROI (Capterra in this case) and doubling down may be more effective
  • • Targeting intermediaries (property managers) can be more scalable than reaching fragmented end-users (individual HOA presidents)
  • • Feature requests from power users (QuickBooks integration) can signal the path to a higher-value market segment but also cause burnout for solo builders
  • • Open-sourcing the front-end is an underutilized asset that could attract developer contributions and community trust

Sentiment Analysis

1 Pos / 1 Neu

Notable Quotes

"Reddit marketing to relevant subreddits might help! — joewhale"
"I wonder if you could target HOA management agencies rather than the association presidents. — hankmh"
"Everyone wants the equivalent of QuickBooks built-in to the software. I need something to bring back my enthusiasm from years ago. — TCSoft"

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