So you’re a small, self managed strata building, and Council is tired of doing all the work themselves! Who could blame them, volunteering for Strata Council is pretty much the most thankless task in the entire world!
Where to start you search for a professional strata management company?
And how on earth do you know if the company you’re looking to hire is any good?
Well, as with all things in life, there are no sure bets, but here are 5 important tips to finding a good property management company to hire to manage your small strata.
5 keys to hiring a strata management company
1. Make sure that they are licensed as a Brokerage with the Real Estate Council of BC. This might me a bit of a no-brainer, but important to check nonetheless! You can check right here; http://online.recbc.ca/public-search
2. Do a reference check! Again, I would say that this is a no brainer, but someone has to take the time to do their due diligence and phone a few references such as past and present Council members.
3. Are they a member of the Better Business Bureau? If not, why not?
4. Find out who the actual agent is going to be? You may be meeting with the actual Broker or Owner initially, but then when it comes to your first meeting, you’re assigned a raw rookie without any strata management experience. Be sure to ask, and to ask around and see what type of turnover they seem to have with strata agents.
5. Read the strata agency agreement. These agreements are generally written by the strata management company, and are naturally going to be written in their favour. Spend the time to do your due diligence and read through the entire contract, and be sure to ask lot’s of questions!
Hopefully, if you follow these 5 simple steps, you will be able to hire yourselves the ideal strata management company! If you have any questions regarding strata management, please don’t hesitate to contact our strata management company here.
Chris Stepchuk
May 20, 2017