Here's a list of reasons to hire a property manager, this list is not meant to be exhaustive, but rather representative.
1. Licensed and regulated, held to a specific standard of conduct and accountable to various organizations.
2. Must have records concerning the strata corporation kept and maintained in accordance with the Strata Property Act.
3. A property manager is an impartial advocate for the strata as a whole - typically not blinded by emotional involvement in issues within the strata.
4. Ensures that the Strata council is being advised of the proper application of the Strata Property Act.
5. Able to ensure that the operations of the strata corporation run smoothly, from garbage pickup to elevator repair. Will get competitive quotes for work, and generally has enough buying power to get managed stratas discounts from suppliers.
Here's a list of why a strata would choose to be self-managed, again, not meant to be exhaustive but rather representative:
1. Save on property management fees.
2. Don't want to let anyone know what's going on inside the strata corporation.
3. "Bert's" been doing a fine job for years, why should we hire someone.
4. Too small for a professional management company to take on as minimum fees may be onerous.
Of these only the last I would consider acceptable.
Here's the thing, generally speaking when I am trying to get records and information from a self managed strata - it is a nightmare. There is no sense of urgency regarding timelines, there is often no order to meetings or when they are held, the financial statements are a little fuzzy or creative or even non-existent.
I've been handed four pages to cover off 24 months of meetings, each one an annual general meeting that states there's no business, council remains the same, thank-you very much. I've had to wait weeks to get records because they were held on someones personal computer and they died. After a long illness. So not a huge surprise to anyone in the building. Am I insensitive? I know the bank looking to approve the financing was.
Self managed stratas often begrudge paying a property manager to do pretty simple stuff, but the point is that that stuff gets done. Self managed stratas often don't realize that they are damaging their property values and limiting their marketplace by DIYing it to try to save a few bucks. Unfortunately they don't have any experience in getting contracts for maintenance or capital improvement projects arranged and end up getting soaked on roof replacements or paving. Save a penny lose a dollar.
So what do I tell my clients? I tell them that hopefully this one will be one of the exceptions to the self managed rule and they will have their house in order. Victoria does have some very well run self managed stratas, but for buyers, particularly first time buyers, self management can be very scary and an instant turn off. Management fees as a percentage of a strata corporation's overall budget are going to be very low. You don't want Bert in unit 301 to do the perimeter drain replacement job for the building, you want a professional, so why are you letting him take care of the books?
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