Does Your Community Association Have a “Drive By” Property Manager?

Do you have a “drive by” property manager working for your Community Association?  You know, the one that has the Board of Directors, the unit owners, staff and the service personnel frustrated and left to wondering what is going on? 

This type of property manager does not have the time to properly devote to your community as they always seem to be in a rush and are usually disorganized too.

Here are the signs if you have that type of manager and also some of the potential reasons why this occurs: 

1.    The manager’s voice mail is turned on most of the time and you are unable to speak with them directly. Voice mail messages and other telephone calls are not returned in a timely fashion.

2.    The manager is rarely seen on the property during their regularly scheduled site visit(s).  Yet they always say that they were there and that you just did not see them.

3.    The manager’s correspondence is late, sloppy and in some cases, even produced by the manager, not by an administrator.

4.    The manager does not have the time to track violations, ARB submissions and approvals and Work Orders.  Therefore, reports are almost non- existent or hastily put together.

5.    The manager does not show up for appointments on time.

6.    The manager is usually unprepared for Board of Director Meetings and other Association meetings.

7.    The manager does not get complete bids and quotes in a timely manner.

8.    The manager complains about the volume of work.

A manager that is performing on this low level, is either overworked, with too many properties to manage, does not have the support personnel in their office or is simply the wrong type of person to be in the property management field.  They may not have the organizational skills required to be in the business or as a “Portfolio Manager”.   

If this is the type of service that you are receiving, contact the manager’s supervisor and discuss this issue and see if it improves.  If it does not improve, ask for a replacement manager.  Associations do not have to fire the management company if this occurs, as they will replace the manager for you and this usually improves the situation quickly.

Tagged as: Community Association, Management Company, Manager, Performance, Property Manager