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Sunday, November 18, 2012

An 'in house' CAM or another Management Firm?

There has been some minor interest in using an 'in house' CAM and Maintenance people rather than getting a replacement management firm to step in for Concord.  I inquired of Continental on this issue and here is the reply I got from them:

"There are several reasons why a community should choose a management company like The Continental Group.

First off, I will argue the savings and here’s why: there is no way that a single community, regardless of its size, can bring the resources, buying power and “clout” to the table as Continental can.

We have the resources of 700+ CAM’s statewide and 31 CAM’s that work out of our Miramar Beach Regional Office. The Certified Vendor Program that we have incorporated assures communities that ALL vendors are licensed, insured and provide the BEST customer service or they are off the program. Our CAM’s are the highest trained and experienced in the industry and we hire only the best of the best.

Our ValueEngineering program will give Nautilus Cove National Account buying privileges with companies such as Waste Management, Otis, AmSan to bring BETTER PRICING to your association. Just last year, we were able to save our associations millions of dollars using these vendors.

If NCC were to hire a CAM at $50,000 per year, you would have to still pay the payroll taxes and any expenses related to that position. These expenses may include major medical insurance, additional liability insurance, uniforms, cell phones, radios, drug testing, criminal background checking, etc. All of these costs are borne by Continental PLUS reducing your expenses with the National Account program.

One of the first things we would do for NCC is to bring in our team of insurance professionals to review and analyze your insurance program. If we cannot reduce your premium by as much as 15%, reduce your deductable while increasing your coverage, I would be very surprised. We just saved Destin Yacht Club $22,000 in insurance premiums and they only have 48 units. Imagine how much in savings there may be at NCC. The Board at The Breakers of Fort Walton Beach was self managed for 25 years. They hired us beginning October 1, 2011 and will tell you that we have saved them in excess of $100,000.00 per year.

Now, if you/they still believe that you can save money by being self managed, then there is no convincing you. We have the best program and our growth will verify that fact.

We would love to spend some time with your Board. If they will take the time, I will show them our program and complete a Cost Savings Analysis and show them here we can save them money."
Nearly two years ago this firm provided a 24 page proposal for representing our condo, it is available at:  http://nccmanagementcompany.blogspot.com/

I do not believe we would save any money going 'in house' as any savings there would be eaten up with higher costs for our condo insurance and contracts with suppliers.  We would not be spending more money with another firm than we spent with Concord, we would just be getting a lot better service.  I did some additional research and found other info:

Hiring (and Firing) A Property Management Company, at this link:
http://www.condo-owner.com/article/hiring-and-firing-a-property-management-company/  

also these 2 sites:  http://www.hoa-condoblog.com/JBBlog42712.html

http://www.allpropertymanagement.com/faq/hiring-a-property-manager_c7.html


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What should the 2013 BOD Do?

1)  Keep separate the duties of the Board from those of the Condo 'Officers'. The 3 member BOD should not hold all 7 offices. The Board has the overall responsibility for the Condo (hiring Mgmt firm and lawyer, approving expenditures, electing the Officers, budget etc) but the 'Officers' see to the day to day running of the condo. More Owner participation is necessary and this should not be limited to just 3 people (1 of which represents the Developer).
 
2) Get rid of Concord Management, replace with a professional management firm.

3) Change the Association attorney, the one we have now really works for the Developer.