3 signs you need to hire an owners corporation manager

Three million Australians live in strata property, according to Strata Spot. That’s three million people who pay levies to their owners corporation in exchange for certain services, privileges and access to well maintained common areas.

Sometimes, however, when tasked with running a massive building like a well oiled machine, owners corporations can get a bit overwhelmed. Fortunately, owners corporation managers can help – but can you recognise the signs you might need to hire one?

The correct management of your Owners Corporation is imperative in maintaining and enhancing the value of your member’s properties.

Sign 1: Projects regularly run over budget and behind on time

Strata should always be undergoing some form of building improvement. If you find projects tend to lag behind or cost too much, however, it might be time to hire a manager.

Owners corporation managers work alongside the building manager or hired contractors to devise and execute a plan for any major works. The right owners corporation manager will:

• Arrange all quotes and repairs
• Prepare budgets
• Plan and implement schedules
• Hire contractors
• Oversee work

In general, he or she will act as an intermediary between all interested parties to ensure everyone is on the same page and time and budget estimates are reasonable and kept to.

Who oversees the scheduling and budget for renovations in your owners corporation?

Sign 2: Communication is weak 

A common pain point in many owners corporations is that there are simply too many cooks in the kitchen. This is particularly true in larger strata schemes where hundreds of people may make up the body corporate. To this end, having someone who can effectively coalesce between various managers, board members and the residents themselves is key.

How can you tell your communication is weak? Perhaps maintenance calls tend to go unanswered for extended periods of time or different members of your owners corporation tend to hold different ideas about how or when something will get done.

You might be surprised at how much time it takes to correspond effectively in a large owners corporation, but doing so is key if you want your building to run properly. An owners corporation manager can optimise your communication – and keep all records – so you don’t have to.

An owners corporation manager can optimise your communication.

Sign 3: Invoices are often unpaid

Six in ten small businesses in Australia wouldn’t be able to stay afloat for more than three months if their invoices went unpaid, according to Xero. Shockingly, 3.8 million invoices are overdue nationwide – and that’s just on the Xero platform!

Simply put, not paying your bills doesn’t help Australia grow. Unfortunately, many owners corporations fall into the rut of not paying or paying late simply because no one is tending to the job. An owners corporation manager can optimise this task and ensure that all invoices are received, evaluated and paid, so your plumber, janitor, pool cleaner, painter and anyone else you hire never goes without pay.

Other duties of an owners corporation manager

That’s not all an owners corporation manger does either. Their role also includes:

• Overseeing meetings and preparing notices, agendas and minutes
• Maintaining all owners corporation registrations as well as the roll
• Attending to all orders, requests and appeals
• Preparing and distributing financial statements and budgets

Essentially, we make sure the owners corporation has everything they need so they can focus on what matters: making a strata building a pleasant place for residents to live. To find out more, reach out to the team at Nelson Alexander. Our owners corporation managers are all Melbourne based with expert knowledge about how to run your strata scheme like a successful business.

For a no obligation conversation about the needs of your Owners Corporation submit your details below.