A little introspection will go a long way towards choosing the right management company for your property. Take the time to examine the makeup of your resident population, the physical needs of the infrastructure and the personalities and work styles of the different players.

There are many other areas of consideration such as accounting or project supervision or management ability to consider, but one can usually assume in most cases that companies of similar size and experience will have similar levels of expertise and proficiency and that primarily the difference will be a matter of style. Choosing a management company that "fits" is more important than any other factor.

First, identify and define the services your property and resident population requires. Sort the services according to those you must have, those that are desirable but non-essential and those that you can live without. Next, and this may be most important, identify and define the personalities and work style and service level expectations of the resident owner population.

Disastrous Mismatches

A mismatch here could spell disaster. An efficient and professional manager with a cold and bureaucratic style will probably not satisfy residents that are accustomed to a laid back and friendly approach to Association issues. A small two or three person management operation may be alright for some Associations but others will require larger companies with personnel to replace an employee that is sick or on vacation. You will never satisfy every community member but need to meet the expectation levels of a large majority if peace and harmony are one of your goals.

Once the above is considered an honest assessment of the current manager and company is necessary. Is the current manager and company providing or offering the essential services required for a majority of your community? Are the issues of contention substantial and insurmountable or are they something that can be changed?

Changing a management company for the sake of change or without good reason may do more harm than good. Many times the issues are with a small but vocal minority population. Make every attempt to fix what you have before deciding to make a change. Examine the community's role in the performance of the management company. Does the community in general have reasonable expectation levels? What can the community do to make the manager better? Ask the manager for suggestions. Question every aspect of the management process and consider all possible solutions.

Like any relationship the relationship between manager and community requires constant maintenance and effort in order to succeed. The exercise to preserve the relationship will help you to more clearly define the needs of the community and therefore to better decide on a new company that will meet those needs if the present relationship cannot be maintained.

Develop your RFP

Once you have clearly defined your needs and expectations and have exhausted most hope of resolving matters of contention you are ready to explore your options. Develop a request for proposal (RFP) that clearly defines your needs and expectations. The Community Associations Institute (CAI) has publications that can help with aspect of your search. Keep the RFP as simple as possible. The goal is to identify a company's capability to meet your service needs and to determine if the company's management style and personality are a good fit for your community. It is not about comparing dollars, and cost should be a minor, if any at all, consideration in your decision.

The cost to produce the services your community requires is not determined solely on the number of doors. Some costs are the same for every community regardless of size. For example, producing the end of month financials will take the same effort for a small community as for a large community. Smaller associations may actually result in a higher per-door amount than a larger association. Focus on the services you require. Management services are labor intensive and often require a significant amount of time to accomplish.

Only Pick Three or Four

Solicit companies that appear to meet your needs and expectations. Look for companies of similar sizes and resources with proven track records. Choose no more than three or four companies to ask for a proposal. Allow about four weeks for a return proposal. Schedule one site visit for all bidders. Once the proposals are in, select two for interviews and reference checks.

During the interview process, ask about the approach to routine maintenance requests, to emergency requests and to administrative requests. Ask about specific issues such as response time or frequency of site visits if important to you. If monthly reports are not frequent enough for your community, ask about them during the interview process. No matter how good the management company is, if its style does not make you comfortable there will be a clash of personalities that will interfere with the management process. You need to identify a company with which you will be able to work for several years. Pick the company and/or manager that best fits—and good luck.