Are you an owner of an apartment on an apartment block? Read on and discover some of the qualities that you should look out for as you and other apartment owners search for a body corporate management company to hire.
Area Experience
You should find a corporate management company that proves that it has extensive experience in managing properties in your area. This detailed grasp of the specific factors pertaining in your area will enable that company to do the best to avoid those issues. For instance, the management company can insist on periodic termite inspections in case they know that properties in your area are frequently attacked by termites. Such local knowledge will help the owners of the apartments to avoid incurring the high cost of fixing the property once an infestation goes unnoticed for long.
Extensive Networks
Body corporate managers cannot do everything on their own. The best body corporate management companies therefore develop extensive networks with different professionals that they can call upon when the need arises. For instance, the body corporate managers that you are considering to hire should avail you with a list of plumbers, electricians, landscapers and other professionals that they work with on a regular basis. You can then conduct some background research on those professionals and service providers to ensure that no gross complaints have been lodged against them. This research can be conducted on the Internet or by calling the organisations that oversee those professionals.
Financial Integrity
Body corporate managers usually control vast sums of money that are earmarked for use on the properties that they manage. For example, they may be in control of money that is being collected to replace the roof of the apartment block. You therefore need to select a body corporate management company with the highest standards of financial propriety. How can you identify them? A good indicator is the accounts that they hold. For instance, the best body corporate managers open separate accounts to hold the funds of the different properties that they manage. They also declare the interest that accrues from those held funds. Investigate how different corporate management companies handle funds and select the one with the highest standards.
As you can see, selecting the best corporate management company requires you to do a lot of work as you screen the different firms that have expressed interest in getting your business. Consult experienced people for help during this process in case you are uncertain about your ability to do it on your own.