Page 15 - New England Condominium February 2019

NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM - FEBRUARY 2019 15 YOU’LL LEARN SO MUCH YOUR HEAD COULD EXPLODE. (Our lawyers said we had to warn you.) SEAPORT WORLD TRADE CENTER, BOSTON — WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 10-3:30 FREE REGISTRATION: NE-EXPO.COM THE NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM EXPO 2019 WHERE BUILDINGS MEET SERVICES Another recurring management item seeing these things as well. is purchasing and bookkeeping. Own- ers send in monthly payments for main- tenance and common charges, and bills a lot of work – and they are. In a large like must get paid out of those collected complex of units where owners share the they might find what and who they are funds. This recurring item is handled by management fee at affordable levels, it’s looking for.” the management company’s bookkeepers, pretty clear that it’s well worth it to have who work hand in hand with other man- agement company employees to make alternatives for smaller properties? sure a property has everything it needs to function, from paper towels to light bulbs Folson Group, a New York City-based not true. “Purchasing power – managing to cleaning supplies. There are also non-recurring or occa- sional items like various building inspec- tions; supervision of occasional work or managing agent does. How do we vet con- scheduled projects for improvements; and tractors, for instance? Managing agents ownership transfers for units. The man- aging agent has the responsibility of over- Effective Self-Management All those responsibilities sound like done. We also direct them to resources professional management. But are there ing agents who represent multiple prop- Tina Larsson is the Co-founder of The vidual properties don’t? Larsson says it’s company that helps co-op and condo agents say they have it, but if you call a properties self-manage effectively. “We specific vendor, you can ask for the same set up policies,” she says, “the same way a discount the managing agents get, and have requests-for-proposals, or RFPs. We a thorough review of their expenses – set up something similar, only easier and something a managing agent generally simpler. We guide the client on how to use this system. It’s specific to the work to be \[New England Condominium\], where And what about the idea that manag- erties have purchasing power that indi- most of the time you’ll get it too.” Larsson’s firm also offers its clients doesn’t do. The firm searches for ways to save money and earns its fee based on those savings. Larsson explains that whereas a managing agent’s job consists of bookkeeping, compliance, closings, complaints and inspections – a self-man- agement consulting firm finds sources for these services for self-managed properties and sets up systems to track and manage them. Records and documents are kept in the cloud to reduce or even eliminate the need for off-site storage of paper docu- ments and files. Consultants will also often set up online applications for the self-managed association or corporation, such as building links, etc., as part of an overall plan. Real Life Keith Emmers lives in a four-unit con- dominium in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to living in this very small and intimate association, he was both a resident and board member at Park West Village, a large and established co-op on New York City’s Upper West Side. According to him, “This is a totally different experience. A small building is totally ad hoc.” “We hired the cleaning woman of one of the owners to clean the hallways once a week. That unit owner pays her, and we reimburse the unit owner. Each unit has its own HVAC, so there’s a very small common area utilities which we pay to- gether. We also have a cable bill for fire monitoring for the common areas. Our maintenance payments go into a com- mon account from which the association treasurer pays the bills. We keep a spread- sheet on Google, which can be viewed by anyone in the group. “Responsibilities are divided up among us,” Emmers further says. “The president of the association works from home, so when we need someone here for an in- continued on page 21 ISTOCKPHOTO.COM