Re: Property or Community Management Hire | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Diana Carroll (dianaecarrollgmail.com) | |
Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2018 16:46:56 -0800 (PST) |
Thanks Christine and Sharon for your helpful input. Would also love to hear from others.. On Wed, Dec 12, 2018 at 11:51 AM Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L < cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote: > On Dec 12, 2018, at 10:20 AM, Christine Johnson <christine-johnson [at] > cox.net> > wrote: > > > The quality of the management service you get from an association > manager or property manager (two different animals), depends not on what > you pay but on the 1)knowledge and professional care of the manager and 2) > the support from his/her company provides their managers. > > In support of what Christine advises and based on personal experience, my > opinion only, others in my community disagree — > > It is probably not worth your time or money. I don’t know of a management > company that will do facilities management without also doing the financial > management, and even then the financial management won’t cover all the > financial needs. > > We pay $17,300 a year for both financial management and facilities > management. In addition to that we have auditors fees and tax return fees. > > Financial management is now done with web services that we could use > ourselves. Somewhere in the archives is a post about all the things our > management companies have done with our bills — not paying contracted > companies without new invoices every month so they won’t return, losing > utility bills and not noticing that they hadn’t paid them, paying > inaccurate invoices— one for $4,000 — that they had been told not to pay (a > note right on the invoice), extra charges for everything they actually do > like copying invoices, etc. > > I think we have a good financial management department in our current > company now but I’m not convinced that we couldn’t do it easier ourselves. > Condo fees are even deposited to a company that provides this service for > management companies. They don’t do it themselves anymore. > > What the facilities manager can do is give advice, which is usually good > because it is based on what other communities do or have done — and it is > comforting to know that your problem is not unusual and the cost is > standard. And they will make phone calls. > > Once you hire a company, you are assigned a rep. That rep can be good or > bad and they change frequently—we have had 3 in the last 4 years or so and > I think we have a good company. It’s very hard to bring a new rep up to > speed in cohousing, to even understand cohousing. All communities have > different standards and expectations, but except for celebrity housing, > cohousing seems to have higher than most. We are certainly more vigilant. > > One manager told us that he sends out financial reports every month and > meets with the board to discuss them. He said the board members come in > with the packets unopened, and some are still unopened when they leave. > Communities we called for references for management companies didn’t know > much about whether they were doing a good job or not, even when they > recommended the company. > > They have gotten bids — a mixed bag in terms of whether the process was > good or not. The rep may not be on site, for example, when bids are > solicited. How can they ask questions, explain the job thoroughly, or be > sure the person actually visits the site? They charge $100+ an hour to > supervise on-site work. They don’t meet workers when they arrive, for > example, to be sure they know what needs to be done. They do research by > calling the companies they like and asking what would you do? That may be > good or bad. > > Example: Our reserves specialist had told us we needed to round off the > sharp brick edges on top of the short walls around our piazza and tot lot. > The health dept. would close us down if we left them the way they were. > Rather than saying the health dept. will never see them, which is true > until a child is seriously hurt, we got 5 bids from people to fix them. > They _all_ said that grinding off would not work. They wanted to add tiles > with round corners on the tops — very expensive. They gave a lot of reasons > why. During the next reserve study, we relayed our experience. The > specialist said that’s because they don’t have the equipment to do it. He > gave us the name of a company that could do it. A large company that > doesn’t do small jobs. Catch-22. > > So if your management rep is experienced, they know who to ask. If they > aren’t, they won’t know more than you do. And if you have been > self-managing, you have experience — good or bad. > > So you not only have to interview the company, you need to interview the > actual person they are going to assign you and find out, if you can, what > their experience includes and how long they are likely to stay. 6 months? 2 > years? Have already taken another job? > > One tip that we have not been able to implement is to find a person who > manages individual rental properties, usually for a realty company. A small > office is more likely to be owner managed and thus more stable. We haven’t > found one that would take us on, but they have been highly recommended. Or > find a facilities manager for a larger condo who will meet with you 2 hours > a month to advise you on things and do a walk through. They can tell you > who to call. > > The Property Managers Association here (dif. from the CAI) considers 400 > units to be a small condo. With 30-40 units, cohousing can't compete, even > if a company will take you on. > > That’s a negative review and others would say yes, but… Some would rather > have it done inefficiently and expensively than doing it themselves. But > they also over estimate how much work is actually being done or what it > should cost. How much money is a lot? For one person $50 a month is > nothing, for another it is budget busting. > > Having a professional manager sounds nice but lots of things sound nice. I > don’t want to be too negative but to warn you that it may cost much more > than it is worth. And what you really need is advice and reassurance. Can > you pay someone $200 a month to meet with you 2 hours a month and call with > questions? > > If you are in an area with a CAI chapter, going to the monthly meetings > would be a good place to pick up advice. > > Sharon > ---- > Sharon Villines > Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC > http://www.takomavillage.org > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: > http://l.cohousing.org/info > > > >
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Property or Community Management Hire Christine Johnson, December 12 2018
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Re: Property or Community Management Hire Sharon Villines, December 12 2018
- Re: Property or Community Management Hire Diana Carroll, December 12 2018
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Re: Property or Community Management Hire Sharon Villines, December 12 2018
- Re: Property or Community Management Hire Diana Carroll, December 12 2018
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Re: Property or Community Management Hire Christine Johnson, December 13 2018
- Re: Property or Community Management Hire Sharon Villines, December 13 2018
- Re: Property or Community Management Hire Christine Johnson, December 16 2018
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