L Tower Condos (Cityzen, Castlepoint Realty, Fernbrook Homes) - Real Estate -

ICC, Icon, Harmony, Goldview, Greenwin, AAPM, MRCM, Percel, Berkley, Glendale, 360, Malvern to name a few.

If you have friends, family or colleagues who live in condos, talk to them about how their building is managed and who manages it, what they like and don't like. After interviewing a few companies, visit some of their buildings -- they'll give you tours. Don't just call the references they provide, make some cold calls to find out what board members think about working with that particular company. (It's amazing what you can find out with good Googling skills)

What are you looking for? A company who will do it all while you sit back and relax (one of the companies we interviewed marketed themselves that way) or one that will will welcome active involvement of the board?

You have to find the best fit for your building -- does your board (yet to be elected) want to be actively involved? Does it want to be more hands off?

You need to talk to them about their experience with new builds, going through the performance audit process, setting up rules and systems, working with tenants (if there is a large tenant population).

How many properties do they currently manage? Larger does not always equal better. (I believe you are working with FirstService). You may prefer a more boutique firm that will give you more direct head office support.

Much of your satisfaction with property management will come from the person or people who actually work in your building, so you want a firm that will work with you to choose a qualified, skilled individual -- there are a lot of property management jobs out there, so there are some gems and there are some definite duds. The company also has to provide a lot of support to that individual. If your manager doesn't work out, how does the company support you in dealing with that? Do they drag their heels or do they respond to your issues?

Are they willing to customize your contract or will they only give you a boilerplate arrangement?

Are there any extra fees above and beyond the property management fees?

Will they give you any incentives to sign? (Shouldn't be the ultimate deciding factor because you're really looking at the long term benefits, but it doesn't hurt to ask)

What back office support do they offer? What skills and qualifications do their back office people possess?

How are their property managers trained? What is the average tenure of a property manager in their properties?

What do they offer in terms of communication with residents and with the board? (One firm -- one of the big guys -- doesn't even offer a web portal)

What are their procurement processes? How do they manage onsite contractors? (this is huge because you will always be dealing with contractors and if they're not managed properly, you'll be paying a lot more money than you should and not getting the best quality work done) Do they provide detailed quote comparisons to help the board choose?

What are their procedures for take-over from the previous firm?

Do they establish an annual maintenance plan?

What is their approach for working with other key contractors in your building, i.e., cleaning and security?
 
Why the discussion of changing management companies right now? As far as I have been in the building, all issues are directly related to the Builder / Customer service, not the building management.

Or am I missing something that others are not happy about our current management?




PinkLucy said:
ICC, Icon, Harmony, Goldview, Greenwin, AAPM, MRCM, Percel, Berkley, Glendale, 360, Malvern to name a few.

If you have friends, family or colleagues who live in condos, talk to them about how their building is managed and who manages it, what they like and don't like. After interviewing a few companies, visit some of their buildings -- they'll give you tours. Don't just call the references they provide, make some cold calls to find out what board members think about working with that particular company. (It's amazing what you can find out with good Googling skills)

What are you looking for? A company who will do it all while you sit back and relax (one of the companies we interviewed marketed themselves that way) or one that will will welcome active involvement of the board?

You have to find the best fit for your building -- does your board (yet to be elected) want to be actively involved? Does it want to be more hands off?

You need to talk to them about their experience with new builds, going through the performance audit process, setting up rules and systems, working with tenants (if there is a large tenant population).

How many properties do they currently manage? Larger does not always equal better. (I believe you are working with FirstService). You may prefer a more boutique firm that will give you more direct head office support.

Much of your satisfaction with property management will come from the person or people who actually work in your building, so you want a firm that will work with you to choose a qualified, skilled individual -- there are a lot of property management jobs out there, so there are some gems and there are some definite duds. The company also has to provide a lot of support to that individual. If your manager doesn't work out, how does the company support you in dealing with that? Do they drag their heels or do they respond to your issues?

Are they willing to customize your contract or will they only give you a boilerplate arrangement?

Are there any extra fees above and beyond the property management fees?

Will they give you any incentives to sign? (Shouldn't be the ultimate deciding factor because you're really looking at the long term benefits, but it doesn't hurt to ask)

What back office support do they offer? What skills and qualifications do their back office people possess?

How are their property managers trained? What is the average tenure of a property manager in their properties?

What do they offer in terms of communication with residents and with the board? (One firm -- one of the big guys -- doesn't even offer a web portal)

What are their procurement processes? How do they manage onsite contractors? (this is huge because you will always be dealing with contractors and if they're not managed properly, you'll be paying a lot more money than you should and not getting the best quality work done) Do they provide detailed quote comparisons to help the board choose?

What are their procedures for take-over from the previous firm?

Do they establish an annual maintenance plan?

What is their approach for working with other key contractors in your building, i.e., cleaning and security?
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Agreed, I personally have not met anyone from BM so I cannot comment on their service thus far but it's fairly new in the game so why chat about a change.
As far as ltower customer service.....lol what a joke.
I get better service from those annoying Duct telemarketers.....hahahhha
I did my pre-occupancy and we haven't heard from anyone nor has any of our deficiencies been fixed, a week now.
We are scheduled to do final closing in two day but our lawyer has not heard from LT lawyers.
I really don't know what to say about these folks, it's not only the developer this poison runs deep inside the whole project.

Has anyone done their FINAL closing yet?
If so do you know what is the approx closing cost (hydro hookup, water etc)?

Thx
 
I have gone through my closing. The documents came 3 day before closing but my lawyer said its nothing new . You are looking at 15k on closing mostly levies of 9k. You are very naive if you expect your deficiencies to be removed in a week . I would give it six months. It's pretty common in this industry.
trini2dbone said:
Agreed, I personally have not met anyone from BM so I cannot comment on their service thus far but it's fairly new in the game so why chat about a change.
As far as ltower customer service.....lol what a joke.
I get better service from those annoying Duct telemarketers.....hahahhha
I did my pre-occupancy and we haven't heard from anyone nor has any of our deficiencies been fixed, a week now.
We are scheduled to do final closing in two day but our lawyer has not heard from LT lawyers.
I really don't know what to say about these folks, it's not only the developer this poison runs deep inside the whole project.

Has anyone done their FINAL closing yet?
If so do you know what is the approx closing cost (hydro hookup, water etc)?

Thx
Click to expand...
 
A post that has since been deleted said that changing the property management needed to be done. It was suggested to go with Del or Brookfield. I've recently gone through the changing of property management companies and pointed out that there are a lot of companies to choose from and that it's a major decision that requires time and research and thought.

Of course, you need to elect a board at the turnover meeting before any of those decisions can be made.
 
Ausaf_ansari said:
I have gone through my closing. The documents came 3 day before closing but my lawyer said its nothing new . You are looking at 15k on closing mostly levies of 9k. You are very naive if you expect your deficiencies to be removed in a week . I would give it six months. It's pretty common in this industry.
Click to expand...

Of the $9K in Levies, can you let me know how much was Development as opposed to City (section 37)?
 
I have gone through my closing. The documents came 3 day before closing but my lawyer said its nothing new . You are looking at 15k on closing mostly levies of 9k. You are very naive if you expect your deficiencies to be removed in a week . I would give it six months. It's pretty common in this industry.



I am not NAIVE to believe my deficiencies to be removed in a week, this is not my first purchase and yes other builders DO get deficiencies done in a week or at least address some of them. It seems you are the one who's naive to think this is the norm in the industry. This is the norm for this developer from what I've read and seen. Don't get your wires cross with what goes on in the industry and this builder. There are excellent builders out there who are on top of their game, my bad for believing this builder was one of them but unfortunately they are not.


Thank you!!
 
If the residents are happy with the service no reason to change. However the contract was negotiated by the builder so they should at least make sure they are paying the market price (RFP) and are not missing any cost saving opportunities.
 
Ed_007 said:
Did you see a material cost difference between all these companies when you went to market?
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FirstService was the most expensive; all of the others were very close. Our decision was not based on price. You don't always get what you pay for. There are many factors to consider besides just the price.
 
And look at us now... Toronto is still BOOMING. Especially the downtown core... Location Location Location
Granny said:
I see from your comment that you are new in town.
Welcome to Toronto.
If you are student of historical data then no doubt if you have done some research and are aware of the fact that this is the year 2010 and the year 2005 was 5 years ago. You are probably aware that virtually any project completed or in the process of being completed has increased approx.to ..

.. wait for it ...

about 80 -100% in that time period.
Granted, it could be argued some have done a little less, but others have done better. However, the days of 275- 300 /sq. foot have gone the way of the buggy whip.
Speculation? Absolutely! Life is speculation. Despite what you may have been told, it's not a dirty word. Drive down any downtown street and look up at all the new buildings. People LIVE there! If they are not happy about the fact they 'speculated' years ago and made the personal commitment to buy a their little place in the sky, then their landlord sure is.:)
Click to expand...
 
Does anyone have water seeping through into their units?

Right before my occupancy in late March, my floor was damaged from water seeping through ceiling/wall. At that time management office told me "it was from unit above" - and then later on it changed to "from crack in the slab above". After a month or so tracking them down and with increasing water damage - they claimed the crack has been "tentatively sealed" and I was able to get them to replace the living room damaged floor. There was continuously some water mark showing up, all they did was repair the aesthetic stuff. Finally last week, my tenant informed me that there was once again severe water damage in the unit. I tried to chase down management office and all I got was "we are working with the construction crew and I don't have any updates". It has been over 3 months since the first water damage (my unit has already closed), I still don't have a clear idea why this happen, nor a solution from the management office to fix the problem. This is making me really nervous about the structural quality of the building.

Does anyone have any idea who else I can contact? Tarion?

Thanks!
 
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