Condo Management company wanted

[taxbuster]

I'm looking for a "good" Condo Management group to handle a condo of which I'm the Treasurer -- around 50 units in Calgary. We are quite fed up with the current management company and I'm having trouble finding recommends on one that actually performs decently.

(Side note: it's a bit of a race to the bottom, as no one wants to pay for the services so pretty much all condo managers seem to be...well, lousy. Hopefully there are some that are not?)

Thought I'd try some crowdsourcing!

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Full disclosure, this is a family member's company, but the owner is a pretty trustworthy guy.
Worth a plug on my part.

https://magnumyork.com/

[CaptainYooh]

https://bluejeanpm.com/

[ah123]

Simco Management (https://simcomanagement.ca/ ).

They manage the condo complex my parents live in, and I have been very impressed with how responsive they’ve been in getting things done. Might be worth looking into

[Firebot]

I found Simco to be pretty good, but of course it can really depend on your property manager, you can have a good one, or a bad one.

[bizaro86]

I've been involved switching condo managers a number of times on different boards. While I don't have anyone I particularly recommend at present, I do have one piece of advice. When the board is sitting down to interview potential candidates, make sure the specific manager you'll be getting is there. Too often the owner or senior leader of a company comes, and they could be great, but if they aren't the ones managing your condo that mostly doesn't matter. I'd ask about staff turnover as well.

One condo I'm involved with has a big management company (name rhymes with 'worst service') and the specific PM turns over about every year or so.

The new person never has any notes, files, or information about ongoing initiatives from the outgoing person. So every time we re-start any process we had been doing (quotes, etc).

[CaptainYooh]

Nobody wants to work as a condominium property manager for a long time. It's one of the more ungrateful and unpleasant jobs in the service industry. Most of your daily interactions are with people that complain and are unhappy about something; all of them wanting to have their problem addressed asap, of course (not to say that it's unreasonable, but that's what a property manager has to deal with on one end). On the other end - it's various big & small contractors that need to be scheduled to do the work for each one of the complains needing attention. Plus, in the evenings, you have to go meet with volunteer boards of directors and hear them bitch for hours about people, parking and pets.

Pick one and go with it. You will be disappointed with it in a year or two anyway and then move to next one.

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by Firebot

I found Simco to be pretty good, but of course it can really depend on your property manager, you can have a good one, or a bad one.

So true!!! It's always dependent on the individual, especially if they are not well-monitored.

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I've been involved switching condo managers a number of times on different boards. While I don't have anyone I particularly recommend at present, I do have one piece of advice. When the board is sitting down to interview potential candidates, make sure the specific manager you'll be getting is there. Too often the owner or senior leader of a company comes, and they could be great, but if they aren't the ones managing your condo that mostly doesn't matter. I'd ask about staff turnover as well.

One condo I'm involved with has a big management company (name rhymes with 'worst service') and the specific PM turns over about every year or so.

The new person never has any notes, files, or information about ongoing initiatives from the outgoing person. So every time we re-start any process we had been doing (quotes, etc).

Oddly enough the "worst service" group was recommended to me by a junior lawyer at our organization, and she has had fantastic service from them...of course as an individual tenant, not in the Board sense. I'd be, as Firebot said above, willing to bet that's the manager, not the company. I did contact the company...have heard back as they were supposed to send stuff to me...nothing. That's telling.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

So true!!! It's always dependent on the individual, especially if they are not well-monitored.



Oddly enough the "worst service" group was recommended to me by a junior lawyer at our organization, and she has had fantastic service from them...of course as an individual tenant, not in the Board sense. I'd be, as Firebot said above, willing to bet that's the manager, not the company. I did contact the company...have heard back as they were supposed to send stuff to me...nothing. That's telling.

Absolutely - sorry, that was an overly complainy post. It absolutely is the individual manager. I have a different condo managed by them that is great.

The building that is an issue is much smaller than their average property, so I think they put newbies there. The ones who last get moved to bigger properties and the ones who don't quit.

Condo management really is a thankless terrible job. I understand why they have a hard time keeping staff. I do stand by my advice to interview the specific person who will be managing your property. That is way more important than the reputation or experience someone else had with the firm, unless you are getting the same PM.

[photon]

I own a condo in a building managed by Magnum York and while they often seem a bit inflexible and manual in dealing with them, they've usually been helpful and communicative.