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Why do Managing agents nickle and dime? Last one we hired we rarely ever see anymore. Does nothing. Our board does RFPs, we then give it to him for logistics, our board negotiates with insurer and we handle own tax grievances. It is a small building so really need bill pay and someone to be on call for owner issues and walk property.
We interviewed someone new and right away he can bring an engineer for reserve studies, prepare buyer package for fees, bring in his own folks electricians, plumpers etc and gardners. Then to make matters worse he says I can advise you on ways to raise fees.
I am looking at him like we have our own lawyer, own CPA, own gardener, own handiman, own insurance broker, own snow removal service. We want someone to over see it and if you can find better folks for same price or less give us some advice. Instead he was talking about raising maint. Then he said he could approve renters for a fee and track renters and we could charge a fee.
Only folks renting are folks in a nursing home, job out of state or underwater on mortgage and had to buy a house.
I felt he did not know building and in end we said honestly we never want to talk to you. That is what we are paying you for. Just do the job.
last guy was not happy with his fee for doing it as he cant get extra money referring friends. For example he said he could cut down curbside trees, he knows a guy, I called town they did it for free. He could do our tax grievance for a fee, board hired guy for no fee, owners pay if they want to do it directly at a low rate.
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Hey CondoGuy1, I can certainly understand some frustration on your part and since I'm not in the shoes of either you or your managing agent, I can only speak from my experience.
If a Board is finding that they are doing the work that they contracted with an agent for, then something is wrong. The Board is a volunteer position and since agents are compensated contractors, in effect, they should be doing the heavy lifting and the bulk majority of the work. There are times that board members have a specialized skill or interest and can add a lot of value by contributing their time, resources and connections, but on a normal basis, this should not be the operational default.
In standard management contracts (not sure which state you're in) there is a Exhibit that shows the different fees over and above the management fee. These can include costs to the homeowners for sales applications, lease applications, bank questionnaires, etc. These are extra frees but they are all laid out. You should have a look at the management contract to see if these do exist. If they don't exist, you can speak with the Board to see how they are charging these without a written agreement.
You also mentioned that the agent is always looking to outsource and spend funds on items that may be free (i.e. the tree removal) while raising your monthly dues as a result of the offset in operating expenses. We're in this business knowing that the fee is the fee and all of the previously approved ancillary charges will be there on the income side, but we're not in the business of referring people out and collecting a bounty for doing so. In some parts of the country those kickbacks are very illegal, including here in NYC.
Your satisfaction could be as simple as changing to another agent that treats your property the same as their own. Mindset is half the game. It's easy to spend someone else's money. It takes great professionalism and common courtesy to work as hard as can be to save you those two cents; over and over again. They really do add up.
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