Who is the worst condo mangement company in Edmonton? Many of our readers live in condos that are professionally managed and for some management companies the term "professional" is a gross over statement. Many people do not realize that the condo management industry is unregulated, and that can leave Alberta condo owners in a lurch when they have a problem.
Last week I was working on a deal on where the buyer had numerous questions about the condo complex and documents. So they contacted the management company with their questions, as many prudent buyers do. After numerous unreturned calls (5 according to their agent) the buyers agent said if they didn’t hear from the condo manager they would not remove their condo condition because of his unanswered questions and his lack of confidence in the manager to perform their duties.
This prompted the seller to call to exert additional pressure. The receptionist was very snooty and said that the other agent had already left messages. All the property manager had to do was answer some questions for the buyer but the lack of service by the manger and the snooty reception from the management company became an issue for the buyer. Even after several attempts by the seller to get the manager to call the buyer nothing happend. When she finally reached the property manager he told her he had given the buyers agent some information and that should be good enough. At that time he promised to call the buyer by 2pm (the condition day).
Conditions were actually extended for four days to accomodate a call by the condo manager and still nothing. Do you think the condo manager called as promised at 2pm of the day conditions were supposed to come off? Ha! You guessed right. At 5pm my client called him to get confirmation he had spoken to the buyer. The deal collapsed at 9pm and neither the seller nor myself could blame them. I was just left shaking my head as to how this person could be managing an entire complex.
So my vote for the worst condo management company in Edmonton has to go to Simcoe Management based on that performance. Bravo you cost your client the sale of her condo.
Unfortunately the list of poor property managers would be far longer than the list of great property managers.
I have run across some absolutely abysmal PMs and thus far have really only found two companies that I really like. Mayfield Management has been GREAT as has Esquire.
Beyond that I haven’t come across anyone overly impressive.
I completely disagree about Esquire being great. They managed my building for 2 years and were awful. They seemed very disorganized and took forever to get back to us on any issue. They also got terrible prices for any maintenance work.
You may want to read this funny thread on Connect2Edmonton in which a Simco employee raves about how great the company is, then got called out on it:
http://www.connect2edmonton.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=16208&highlight=Simco
Reading through this post I thought “Wow, that is exactly what happened to me when I was selling a year ago”. When I hit the last paragraph where you revealed the company was actually Simcoe I nearly fell on the floor — that’s the same company that I dealt with!
They actually still owe me $50 for a key deposit but I grew so sick of the snooty receptionist and the lack of response I just wrote it off.
Neil, did you ever end up selling your condo??
If your buying a new condo don’t trust the builder chosen condo management company or the builder appointed condo board. They are most likely looking after the builder’s interests and not the owners. You best bet is to have a condo board election within a month or so after the condo is handed over. This will take care of the stacked board the builder appoints. I would also fire the builder chosen management company, just to be on the safe side. After all they were chosen by the builder, not the owners, so you know who’s interest they will try and protect.
KDM is the worst. They were good about 4 years ago but then they had a management change and things went to crap.
As far as Simco goes it sounds like they need a new receptionist.
I too have a condo managed by this awful company, Simco management.
They never ever return calls (nor does the person on site a.k.a. superintendent).
I’ve worked for a PM company, and have lots of friends/investors who have delt with most of the Edmonton firms. There are some truly horrible managers out there.
There are also some terrible owners, with properties or restrictions that no manager could salvage. There’s two sides to every coin.
… We had to beg for issues to be dealt with for months on end.
Even with some of our less than ideal owners the manager should be dealing with the complex in a professional manner and just DO THE JOB!
My condo has gone through a number of PM companies over the years and it seems like this is very common elsewhere. The Province really needs to step in and establish regulations / performance standards.
But how many owners check their PM is a registered broker before they sign up? Or actually take their complaints to EREB or AREA? More regulations or performance standards won’t do anything, enforcing what’s already there will.
You are absolutely right. More regulations will not make things better. Enforcement however is another story. However you don’t have to be licensed to provide condo management services. Although many property managers who are licensed through RECA do provide condo management services, it is outside the jurisdiction of RECA, and other related bodies. I also agree with you that many complexes don’t do any due diligence into who they hire for their management. Some perceive the condo act as having no teeth since it does not regulate condo managers, you have numerous complexes who have not kept up with the reserve fund study requirements and much more. As someone who I consider an expert on these types of things how would enforce what’s “there already”.
I use Davies Management and can’t say enough good things about them. Very professional, organized and they are great with our tenants.
My current building is self managed and I think this is the way to go. It’s 4 storey, 18 unit condo building with a 7-member condo board. PM’s cost a fortune and are not invested in the future of the property thus they are slow to act or respond. Most condo owners don’t realize that a substantial amount of condo fees paid, money that should be reinvested in the building or saved for major repairs/reserve, can be eaten up very quickly by management fees. The self-management is not easy. Who likes going to change filters on the roof, cleaning out drains, picking up garbage, attending regular board meetings, dealing with contractors, auditing and accounting, dealing with the city and neighborhood associations, etc… but in the long run it is well worth it. Less money goes out and issues get taken care of ASAP by people that are invested in, and care about, the property and the inhabitants.
Just to be clear my only two experiences worse than Simcoe are with self managed projects. I know some self managed buildings that are really well done and have the volunteers that have the expertise and time to contribute. However red flags start going up for me in most self managed projects based solely on my experience.
I think a lot of the management issues in today’s market place revolve around a lack of knowledege and planning. Budgeting requires a great deal of thought and research. Many of todays condo assosiations find themselves with an inadequate researve due to poorly constructed long term capital budgets, as well as bare bones operating budgets. Inadequate building assessments resulting in higher operating costs due to lack of knowledge and planning. It seems a lot of these companies just care about thier own bottom line and forget that these buildings are peoples investments, and in most cases they are peoples largest investments. I understand the complex nature of condo management, however proper systems and policies should make the administration side of things run like clock work, then what’s left?… just being approchable and easy to talk too. If you know the answer to a question…when you have something to hide…you don’t return calls.
In a free market economy people are at liberty to trade information like this. Regulating the condo management industry as you suggest would only serve to create market rigidity.
I support a political party like the Wildrose Alliance because they recognize regulation is futile.
I used to live in a condo that was managed by Condominium Consultants. I thought that this was who they were talking about inthe article and was surprised when i wasn’t. They were rude, and the owner was a bully on the phone. I was very happy to sell that condo and get away form this abusive and rude company.