What do they value?

How do you know when it is better to loose a couple of minutes and be courteous? Answer at the end of this post...

It simply amazes me the risks that people take in their lives and their assets. How little regard they have for the items of most value and what high regard they have for their items of least value. Here are two stories that support my point.

Story 1 - What were garages designed to hold?

A little over a year ago my condominium complex decided to build garages on the property in an effort to help increase values and utilize more of our property to generate revenue. At the time we received all sorts of feedback both positive and negative. Most of the negative feed back would simply make you want to say HUH?

The most notable comment against the structures was that the rules would include that the bay could not be used for storage. It made absolutely no sense to this person that we would not erect a garage that could be used for storage. After about 30 seconds of holding back my "What in gods name are you thinking comment?" I asked "Where do you plan to park your vehicle?" and he said "Outside in the lot" like it was so matter of fact I must be an idiot. I simply responded "Only in America do we park our $20,000 vehicle outside and fill our garage with junk. We are constructing garages not public storage and the last thing we wish to happen is to loose a number of vehicles because someones junk pile caught fire." I still shake my head when I recall this conversation.

Story 2 - Is it ok for me to live with my trash?

Last night I was called to assist one of our units with an issue they are having. They live in one of our ranch buildings which are flats with 6 living units with a common hallway. The problem is the people own a third floor unit clearly have a different view of how to live share space and they have been stacking trash in the hallway and from the smell outside their door it appears they must be stacking trash inside as well. This has resulted in one unit owner moving out and another not being able to effectively show their unit which is for sale. Again this neighbor has little regard for what has to be one of the largest investments they made or for what effect their unkempt habits will hold when and if they decide to sell this asset.

Educating our residents about the importance of valuing what they own and the importance of valuing what their neighbors own on our properties has to be our greatest battle. For some reason many of our residents do not understand that our complex functions as whole and not as individual complexes on the same piece of dirt.

Background on this post:

It has always amazed me how much risk people take with themselves and their vehicle. They race around to save five minutes, cutting off traffic and running red lights with the most important and expensive tool they own. Without this they probably can't easily get to work to pay their bills and worse the automobile has been shown to be the leading cause of death in this country. I was heading back home this afternoon and as my light turned green I watched as that one last car ran the red light crossing traffic so not to have to wait a couple of minutes for the next light change. The irony is his vehicle already had front end damage where he had appeared to have performed this time saving stunt one too many times before. This picture says it all...

I am guessing they were late.

Michael Zimmer is the President of The Meadows of Southington Condominium Association, Inc. Michael has served on the board of directors for this 166 unit complex in Southington for over 15 years and has held the position of President for the last 12 years. He can be contacted via email at mjzimmer@bigplanet.com.

Vendors and professionals - Are you just another face in the crowd?

When you have a management company between you and your clients it is easy to let them make all of the contacts. This may be easier but is it the best course of action?

When money is tight, people start shopping for a better price,. When your competition is knocking on doors do you want to be just another face in the crowd?

If you have not made contact with the people who are actually paying your bills, it is difficult at best for your clients to separate you from the next guy who is probably looking to cut your price and cut you out...

Turn this around and let your clients know who you are, what you do, and how your service is better than your competition.

Here are a few ways to connect with your clients:

• Offer to attend a board meeting once or twice a year.
  
• Send out newsletters to the board of directors even if it is once a quarter.
• Host special events like meet and greets in your office or common location.
  

These days everyone is talking about "branding". You most certainly want to be someone that your associations connect with to help curb "best offer" transitions.

MANAGEMENT EVALUATION

An interesting feature of homeowner associations is that they are either self-managed or managed by a community association management firm under the direction of elected volunteers of various backgrounds.

Experience has shown that there are some drawbacks to this concept:

• Many associations are run more as social organizations instead of business enterprises that are comprised of assets often valued into the millions of dollars.
• Continuity in running a community association is often difficult to maintain because board members usually serve for a few years at most and there are turnover issues with professional community association management.
• Board members and managers often lack training and education.

The Community Association Institute offers professional training for managers and board members. Listed below are some pointers taken from its’ M-! 00 course material. (A highly recommended course for new board members and managers.)

What are some of the signs of a weak or ineffective management situation at a community association?

• An increase instead of decrease in action items carried over from one board meeting to another.
• An increase in unit owner attendance at meetings and complaints about poor service.
• Untimely or no response to maintenance requests.
• Inability to fill board positions – or resignations due to “personal” reasons.
• Surprise assessments or unexpected financial shortfalls.

If community associations such as condominiums and planned unit developments are considered non-stock business enterprises that are often valued in the millions of dollars, then it is necessary to measure performance of how a property is being run and have plans for maintaining and enhancing values.

There are several methods for measuring management performance whether self-managed or managed by a professional management firm.
One is an owner survey and the other is a management audit.

A management audit, sometimes called an operational audit in the commercial world, is a useful tool for measuring performance. These are the factors that are included in a review of an operation:

• Review and updating of the association’s governing documents including rules and regulations.
• Appearance and physical condition of the property .
• Owner/resident satisfaction.
• Financial condition.

Once a management audit has been completed the board and unit owners should have a good idea of where there association stands and what action may be required to shore up weaknesses.

The results of the management or operational audit would be a major input to an annual management plan.

An annual management plan is a statement of goals and objectives and includes a yearly cycle of tasks.

As stated in the M-100 syllabus, a management plan addresses a community association’s administration, governance, and community aspects.

These are the typical areas that would be included in the annual management plan:

• Rules and regulations – enforcement policies and current applicability.
• Repairs and upkeep programs.
• Vendor services.
• Communication programs for the unit owners and residents.
• Finances – Adequacy of budgets, replacement fund analysis, monthly fee collections.
• Administrative activities – meetings, elections.
• Insurance and risk management.

Periodic performance reviews and an up to date management plan will help to provide objective measures and guidelines for board members and managers.

If commercial enterprises find it useful to prepare plans and review performance, then community associations should too. The benefits far outweigh the effort and expense.

Walt Williamsen has vast experience as a property manager. He has been active with CAI-CT for many years, serving as President from 2001-2003. Walt is a frequent speaker at CAI-CT seminars and he coordinates our popular Ask the Experts: Leadership Forum program. Walt is the owner of Condominium Consulting Services, LLC.

WHEN THE BLOOM IS OFF THE MANAGEMENT ROSE……

Over the past five or so years, I have had the unique opportunity to see several sides of the association management issue while working with both boards and management companies.

At most education seminars put on by the state’s CAI chapter the topic of problematic management issues usually comes up in the Q&A sessions and based on my experience, there are more than a few situations where the board/association is not happy with the management company and similarly, the management company is not a fan of the board/association as a client.

Notwithstanding all the advances in email, instant messaging and all the other modern communication devices, I still maintain that the association management business is mostly “high touch, low tech.” In many ways, it is a relationship business.

Problems often arise on account of these typical dynamics that are common to the community association management business:

• Board members come and go;
• Managers come and go;
• Unit owners and managers with myriad personalities interact daily;
• Physical structures and properties constantly deteriorate and require constant upkeep;
• Many associations want the most service for the lowest cost; and
• Some management companies would like to provide a minimum of service for the fee charged.

In any event, CAI has many resources on how to hire a management company and how to operate a management company, but these are topics for another time.

It does not do a community association any good to be continually changing managers and management companies – and here’s why:

• There is disruption in the continuity of operations, projects, and administration.
• Records and valuable site documents are often lost in the transfers.
• Some good vendors and contractors may consider it “disloyal” to continue on.
• Financial records may be compromised (perhaps not all accounts are transferred).
• A property may get a reputation as a difficult, high maintenance client administratively, causing other companies to avoid it or to charge higher fees (i.e., combat pay).

Assuming a basic level of competence and reasonable responsiveness on the part of the part of the management company, these are pointers to consider before deciding to move on to try another management company:

1. The obvious – discuss the disappointment in performance on the part of both parties. Often a change in site personnel or board contacts will work.
2. Have realistic expectations – in most cases, an association is paying a management fee that is not sufficient to have exclusive use of one manager and the entire office staff. It is typical for a site manager to be overseeing six or more properties at one time.
3. Managers and staff should be treated with respect and courtesy. These are regular people trying to deal with many different issues with many different people, especially after unfavorable weather events. Swearing at, bullying, or otherwise belittling someone over the phone over some unresolved issue is not appropriate.
4. Reevaluate the association’s management requirements. Perhaps a hybrid type management arrangement can be discussed.
5. Consider email as a tool for conveying succinct messages. Unit owners should be encouraged to limit emails to a brief description of a problem to be resolved. (Some emails received at management offices are small novelettes that are too lengthy and take up much staff time.)

Ultimately, if you do decide to part company, both parties should “leave on terms where they can go back in and pick up their hat.” In other words, don’t burn bridges. There are numerous instances where associations and management companies have parted company and then reunited years later with good results.

Walt Williamsen has vast experience as a property manager. He has been active with CAI-CT for many years, serving as President from 2001-2003. He is currently a member of the CAI-CT Board of Directors and serves as Secretary. Walt is a frequent speaker at CAI-CT seminars and he coordinates our popular Ask the Experts: A Basic Course for Board Members program. Walt is the owner of Condominium Consulting Services, LLC.