This is a question that often comes up from Strata Councils during new business presentations by our Strata business development team.
There are quite a few good answers for this question, so I’ll try to consolidate what I feel are the most relevant and generic answers that would apply to most buildings from a Strata Manger’s perspective:
- Poorly run Strata Council
Nothing can quite make up for a poorly run Strata Council. Most Councils are good, but unfortunately not all of them are. With Councils turning over annually, some can go from good to bad, or the other way around. The worst type is usually an infighting Council that can’t seem to agree on anything, and they end up spending the majority of their time squabbling amongst each other. Other Councils can be underqualified for their respective positions, inexperienced, or just downright difficult to deal with. Some Councils feel as if they don’t have to lift a finger, which can also lead to dysfuntion and underperformance.
- Too tight of a budget
Some Stratas run their budget far too close to the wire, which can create all sorts of issues. Cash flow problems can cause delays in vendor payments, which can lead to contractors not wanting to work on the building. With too tight of a budget, maintenance tends to get deferred, and generally things just don’t run as smoothly.
- Challenging Strata ownership
It only takes one or two very difficult owners to create chaos in a Strata Organization. Most buildings will have one or two of these, which can cause CRT claims, litigation, distrust amongst owners, etc.
- Sections or airspace parcels
Sectioned or airspace parcel buildings are much more challenging to manage. The dynamics created between parties with very different goals can be tough to navigate, often resulting in litigation between the various sections. The accounting can also be quite difficult, with confusion between which section pays what expenses.
- Lack of professional help
Some strata Councils feel as if they can shave money off of their budget, keep the strata fees low, and take care of things themselves. This can be as simple as managing their own finances, landscaping, janitorial, etc. This is OK when the Council of the day has the time and motivation, but when changes occur, and Council members retire or move out, this can lead to a gap in reliable services with no budget to pay for professional help. We see this often in “difficult” buildings. Lack of a snow maintenance contractor, no onsite caretaker, no regularly scheduled maintenance inspections, etc.
- Unrealistic expectations
Most Councils understand how much time it takes to manage tasks such as obtaining quotes, producing financial statements, and securing insurance, but some don’t, which can create very unrealistic expectations between what they expect their vendors and management company to handle, and what they can actually handle. Every service provider has a limited amount of time each and every month to devote to the building, and most buildings have an unlimited amount of issues, especially aging ones! Expectation management is the single biggest point of conflict in a strata organization.
The above are what I would say make a building “difficult to manage”, although there are many other factors that can come into play. Feel free to reach out to us here for a chat if you want to see where we think you sit on the “difficulty meter”.
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