Condo Management nightmare in Edmonton

[Sherilynn]

Greetings.



I searched the forums for a recommendation, but some of the posts are pretty old so I thought I'd ask again.



Any recommendations for condo management companies in Edmonton?



We have had a management nightmare since day one. The first condo president hired a company because they were just around the corner. Fabulous idea. I replaced them a year after I took over as President. The new company was great for the first year but then they seemed to stop caring, plus the owner started having tantrums. (This is why I'd like current referrals.)



So we switched in November of 2011. The company had excellent references and promised (in writing) everything we were seeking in a management company. The first 3 weeks were great.



To date, we have yet to receive a financial statement, arrears report, year-end statement, property manager's report, or site inspection report. At one point in January I thought the manager was dead because I hadn't had any response from her for a month. All we have received are cheques to sign, including theirs of course.



Feel free to make suggestions about what to do about this company. I know some of you are dying to do it. However I have probably tried pretty much everything already. We have already given the official notice to either fix it or we're gone.



I think we will have no choice but to switch again, hence the need for referrals.



Please note this is only an 18-suite building with a small budget. However we need someone to take our building seriously because I am tired of managing it myself.

 

[Thomas Beyer]

Where is this building ? What fees do you pay the manager a month ? What are the condo fees for a typical one or two bedroom unit ? How much is an average rent per one or two BR? How upgraded is the building ? How upgraded are the suites ?



I am asking this because certain type of buildings attract certain type of managers, in that excellent firms that could do it would not take on such a small and possibly hard to manage building unless fees are vastly increased and owners spend on the asset big time.

 

[bizaro86]

[quote user=ThomasBeyer]Where is this building ? What fees do you pay the manager a month ? What are the condo fees for a typical one or two bedroom unit ? How much is an average rent per one or two BR? How upgraded is the building ? How upgraded are the suites ?



I am asking this because certain type of buildings attract certain type of managers, in that excellent firms that could do it would not take on such a small and possibly hard to manage building unless fees are vastly increased and owners spend on the asset big time.



Indeed. I had a heck of a time trying to find someone good interested in managing a 10 unit condo building in a good area of Calgary. We ended up paying 50% more than we had been paying to the previous management company, but it's worth it so far, imo.



I can't help with Edmonton referrals except to say good luck, and you have my empathy!



Regards,



Michael

 

[Sherilynn]

The building is in Edmonton. We pay $45/door in management fees, plus costs incurred.



Condo fees are between $250 and $292 for a two bedroom, but that does not include reserve fund contributions. The condo corp owns a suite and an amount equivalent to the monthly rent goes towards the reserve fund.



Don't know the average rent. The one bedroom owned by the condo corp rented for $825/month last spring, utilities included. My unit is furnished and set up as a short term rental. Some suites are fully upgraded, some could be original.



The building has had many recent upgrades: windows, painting, carpets, HWT, vent seals in roof, main sewer line. But there are things to be done: railings, front steps, changing an extra storage room into rentable lockers, for instance. However, in the past it was me rather than managers that has organized quotes and contractors. I think that managers get paid too little to do all the day to day tasks plus arrange a head-to-toe upgrade.



I have spent countless hours bringing this building up to a standard that I find acceptable. I now feel that this building could be managed without me devoting my life to it.



Supposedly the current manager is meeting with us tonight. I'll update you all later if I am not too thoroughly disgusted to type.

 

[housingrental]

Hi

I've seen many situations like this for condo buildings

Go with Michael's approach - up the fees your offering to appropriately compensate a quality firm

 

[bizaro86]

[quote user=housingrental]Hi

I've seen many situations like this for condo buildings

Go with Michael's approach - up the fees your offering to appropriately compensate a quality firm





Ask me how easy it was to convince the other board members/owners to spend an extra ~$300 per month!



Michael

 

[bizaro86]

[quote user=Sherilynn]The condo corp owns a suite and an amount equivalent to the monthly rent goes towards the reserve fund.




Interesting. How did that come about? Seems like a potentially creative solution to keeping fees low. (Or a great source of funds if sold to pay for upgrades)



Regards,



Michael

 

[RedlineBrett]

[quote user=bizaro86] Seems like a potentially creative solution to keeping fees low. (Or a great source of funds if sold to pay for upgrades)


It does... but I doubt most developers are going to hand over free units to new condo boards. Probably why you never hear of such scenarios.

 

[Sherilynn]

The commonly owned suite is a story in itself. Somehow the developer didn't get that one approved in the condo plan so it shows on the plan as "common area." Don't know why. Looks like a suite, feels like a suite, rents like a suite, must be a suite. We had to sue the developer for possession since the corp owned the common areas after condominiumization. But he had already embezzled our reserve, so it all works out.



And no, there is absolutely no way to bump the management fee budget another $300. We just bumped it by $200 to switch to this company. (Not sure why the previous company never increased our fees, but they sure decreased service to compensate.)

 

[bizaro86]

[quote user=RedlineBrett]It does... but I doubt most developers are going to hand over free units to new condo boards. Probably why you never hear of such scenarios.





For sure, that's why I was curious. I thought maybe it had been foreclosed on by the condo board for an unpaid assessment and they just kept it, which would be odd. One building i'm familiar with is always talking about converting a piece of common area to a suite, but can never agree. It would work, since right now it's a "party room/meeting area" with a kitchen/bathroom.



Regards,



Michael

 

[Thomas Beyer]

Fees to management firm are too low. Should be around $40 for the condo corp plus 5% of rent.




The common area suite is probably a leftover from a rule that requires so much parking and so much common area for a condo conversion project.




Consider doing a special assessment to fix up building, upping managers fee ( perhaps switch again ) and sueing condo developer for reserve fund stolen.

 

[Sherilynn]

[quote user=bizaro86]One building i'm familiar with is always talking about converting a piece of common area to a suite, but can never agree. It would work, since right now it's a "party room/meeting area" with a kitchen/bathroom.







If this is done, they may not be able to sell it. We can't sell ours. But the rent is good.

 

[Sherilynn]

[quote user=ThomasBeyer]Fees to management firm are too low. Should be around $40 for the condo corp plus 5% of rent.
The common area suite is probably a leftover from a rule that requires so much parking and so much common area for a condo conversion project.
Consider doing a special assessment to fix up building, upping managers fee ( perhaps switch again ) and sueing condo developer for reserve fund stolen.




Been there, done that. After we sued the developer for possession of the suite, he owed us $15000 in rental arrears. We never saw a dime of it. He had sold his assets and skipped the country. So we abandoned the suit for the reserve.



We have been doing assessments to fund the upgrades to date. There is only so much we can do. I had tried arranging financing to get all the upgrades done is one shot, but we couldn't get the 75% support required to pass the special resolution. So now people pay the same amount of money each year in special assessments as they would have paid in finance charges, and only half the upgrades are done so far. (See brick wall, bang head against it...welcome to my condo.)



I have never seen condo management quotes include a figure for rent. And the current $800 fee can't be that low since we have had two quotes so far for $850 and $900. One is from KDM, a company that Chris Davies just recommended to me via phone. The other is YorkWest, about whom I know nothing.

 

[angelapeng]

I am in the process of dealing with this "common area conversion to suite" now. In our building, there is a suite owned by the Strata, currently rented. It has been like this for years. In the last AGM, we are talking about raising funds to upgrade the building. I went to the city to find out whether it is possible to convert into a legal suite, so that we can sell it to raise funds to upgrade the building. Surprisingly, the city plan showed the exact same information that Sherilynn experienced: the developer never registered this suite in the 80s, it only shows a common area with kitchen and bathroom, but it is a suite. Anyway, I did a bit more investigation and was told by the city planner that we had enough floor space ratio to convert this one into a legal suite subject to we provide the site floor plan and unit floor plan drafted by professionals. I am in the process of looking for such person who can help draft these site plans with professional software. (if anyone knows, please send me an email, [email protected], thanks. I am in Vancouver).



I understand there will be some cost to get all the documents ready, but a few thousand dollars cost (drawing the plan, get permit, and then convert into Strata unit) will be worth it if we can get it sold and get 250K.



It took a while to convince the council members to investigate it, even though I spent all the time and some cost to do it. But, I understand this is part of the process.

 

[Sherilynn]

Please keep me posted, Angela. While our suite would fetch a lot less than $250k, it would be nice to have the reserve fund instantly set up instead of month by month.



Our common suite would definitely have the space. It is about the same size as my suite. Perhaps Thomas is correct about the parking situation, but we have since redrafted our parking plan allowing for 3 more stalls than we had at the time of conversion (which is a substantial difference in an 18 suite building).

 

[angelapeng]

I will keep you informed, Sherilynn.



The city planner said that we also can have two more parking stalls if we convert the common area into a legal suite, even though physically there is no space for that.



Regarding the floor ratio, if your building has enough space to convert this common area into legal unit, you can try with the city too.

 

[Thomas Beyer]

[quote user=Sherilynn]I have never seen condo management quotes include a figure for rent. And the current $800 fee can't be that low since we have had two quotes so far for $850 and $900.
I assume that the firm manages the condo corp. AND also rents the suites ?



Then you should expect to pay for TWO services: condo management .. and rental of units.



Condo management for such a small building is probably around $30 to $40/unit, plus expenses.



rental of suites is usually about 5% of rent.



Since you are not happy with the current service you should consider changing PM firms or work with current manager to improve services for more $s. The management firm cannot do magic in an old building. Expect poor service for $800/month .. as confirmed by current experience.



Converting the common area / rental suite in a condo should be attempted, of course, but there is likely a reason why the developer didn't do it in the first place. Most likely reason: lack of parking. 2nd likely reason: not enough common area. You need one stall per 1BR and 1.5 stalls for a 2BR plus a % for visitor parking. The lot might not be big enough for it. So the developer probably did the next best thing: leave one unit rentable, but as part of the condo corporation/

 

[Sherilynn]

I see what you meant, Thomas. Yes, there normally is a charge of 5% of rent for the management of the rental suite, but I didn't include that in the figures I quoted above because it is sort of a separate issue.



Our fees are $45/unit + expenses, so we are in line with your figure of $30 - $40. (With many companies such as KDM, a minimum charge applies so the per door rate is higher.)



The meeting was interesting. The manager's excuse for stopping all communication with me was that she was furious and insulted when I emailed questioning her disbursements. Of course everything went downhill from there because I had thought that they had abandoned our contract. (I should mention that I triple-check any email that confronts a problem.)



I pointed out that cutting off all communication with your customer's designated contact person constitutes a bit of a service failure in itself. Unbelievably, the other ladies on the board seemed totally satisified with her explanation.



Whatever. The 60-day notice is still in effect. So we'll see what happens in a month. (And by then, the 5th board member will be back from holidays.)

 

[Thomas Beyer]

I see .. well communications is always a two way street ..



I tell my kinds: "If I say A and you hear B, whose fault is it ?" .. and the answer is "It is my fault"



where in Edmonton is this ? Some areas are rough and you will always have tenant problems and trunover, and thus, higher than normal R&M expenses !

 

[Sherilynn]

I agree, Thomas.



I apologized to the manager for infuriating her with my email and I stated that it is okay if we disagree and it's okay if she doesn't like me, but it is not okay for us to stop communicating. If we disagree or are annoyed, then let's communicate and resolve it.



Pretty sad that I have to explain this to her though.