HOW TO INTERVIEW FOR A MANAGING AGENT

That's no way to interview a prospective managing agent.

You welcome the agent with open arms, offering a refreshing beverage and assurances that you're all friends here. You extol your building's virtues, take the agent's answers in good faith, and trust your gut to help you make the right choice.

That's no way, either. While interviewing may appear easy, don't be fooled — it's a skill involving great psychological complexity.

"It's astonishing how poor the communication skills of some of these boards are," notes Avi Horwitz, president of the 244-unit co-op at 130 West 67th Street and an accountant who attends other buildings' annual meetings professionally. "So before the interview, you have to determine who [on the board] has the best sense of relationship dynamics and body language and the ability to communicate well with people."

"Human decision-making, fundamentally, is emotionally based, and then we use our intellect to rationalize our emotional decision," says Lee J. Colan, president of the business consultancy The L Group and the author of several of books on leadership. "What we try to do by having a defined structure and method in place is overlay a reasonable amount of rationality atop an inherently emotional, subjective process."

So it isn't as simple as asking questions and making conversation. But with a few pointers, you can learn how to ask directed inquiries to get full, honest answers and keep control of the interview — all without acting like either the police or Pollyanna.

Do Your Research

Before getting to that stage, however, there's a crucial step one: Make a list of what your building needs — new windows, greater cleanliness, better staff relations, refinancing, whatever — and what the board wants in the near future, such as greening initiatives, air-rights sales and other wish-list projects.

Linda Lamel, a former college president who heads the board at 150 East 61st Street in Manhattan, says of her co-op's recent search for a new agent, "We had numerous problems with plumbing, and were about to embark on replacement of our risers." Her board sent requests to various companies outlining its priority for someone with specific knowledge of plumbing and HVAC systems, and experience in large-scale project management.

"Isolate what the most important service is that you need for this management company to provide well," Lamel says. "If your building has accounting or revenue issues, you might want [to focus on] someone who's a good financial manager. If you've got a lot of factions in the building, you may want someone with mediation skills."

3 x 3 x 3

With your candidates selected, it's time to conduct the actual interviews.

"Here we get to the three by three by three," says Colan, referring to the standard matrix of corporate job interviews: Three different people speak to different three agents at three different times.

Why? "You want to maximize the number of inputs and the number of perspectives," Colan says. "You want a broad range of options, so three agents form a basis of comparison. You want them to come back several times, since they don't keep their game face on for more than a couple of interviews. As they get more comfortable, they start to let their guard down. You would be amazed at what they start divulging." Having a board accountant and a board attorney present also helps.

There's nothing wrong with being charmed by a candidate — you want a professional who's personable and approachable. But you need to think like business executives. Ari Mintz, president of the block-long, 120-unit Manhasset Apartments co-op at 301 West 108th Street and 300 West 109th Street, says that when interviewing for a new agent at his old building years ago, the board chose a recommended trio of newcomers. "We had a good feeling about them — we liked these guys personally," he says. "That was our biggest mistake." While hiring the relatively low-cost agents did work well economically for the building, "they were inexperienced and it became a hardship for the board."

Sharpening the Ask Blade

The key, says Colan, is asking "highly specific, open-ended questions. If you ask, 'Do you have experience in such-and-such?' They'll [simply] say, 'Yes, we do.'"

"Ask what differentiates their company from their competitors," suggests veteran managing agent Dan Wurtzel, chief operating officer of Cooper Square Realty. He gives examples:

• How are your property managers trained?

• How do you train and retain building staff?

• What is your role in capital-improvement projects?

• What's your succession plan if the property manager retires or leaves the company [or otherwise] can no longer service the building?

• Tell me about a situation just like ours and how did you handle it? Give me examples.

• Tell me about a time you've done this or that.