Property Managers: What are their roles in your Condominium Community?
Condominium board members do a lot for their communities but it is a large responsibility. The legal, financial, maintenance and personal aspects can be overwhelming, and many boards find that they are underqualified to meet all of the essential needs of their community. When this happens, they can do one of three things, try to figure it out alone, source out all of these responsibilities to various vendors, or hire a professional property management team. So, what does a property manager do for your condominium community?
Full Service Property Management
Full service property management means just that, you are hiring our property management team to meet all of the essential needs of your condominium community. This includes (but may not be limited to):
Bylaw Aderence and Enforcement: We know and understand the specifications of your bylaws and ensure that all responsibilities are met on both the board and the owners level.
Land Title Registration: This is required of all Condominium Corporations in Alberta. It ensures that all of your corporations registrations are up to date governmentally.
AGM Preparation and Facilitation: The Annual General Meeting is a very important meeting for both the board and the other owners. At the AGM, all business relating to the condominium is discussed. This includes but is not limited to the condominiums finances, legal standing, as well as business operations and management. See more about your AGM here.
Preparation of Estoppel and Condominium Documents: Estoppels and Condominium Documents are most often needed when a condominium is being bought. The Estoppel pertains to the units condominium contributions, while condominium documents pertain to any and all informational documents that are relevant to the condominium unit. There are many of these documents and depending on the requirements for the sale of your condominium, you will request the relevant documents that you need for that particular sale.
File Keeping: Your property management team will ensure that all necessary documents and files are properly and securely kept.
Insurance Acquisition: Sufficient Insurance is an extremely important element to the health and function of your condominium property. Acquiring appropriate insurance is a necessary and often difficult thing to do, which is why property management teams have preferred vendors and multiple options for condominium boards to work with.
Guidance as needed by property management professionals: This is an often overlooked benefit of working with a property management team. Whether it is practical needs or the often sensitive and difficult situations with occupants within the community, property managers have unique experiences on how to navigate these unique situations.
Administration and Bookkeeping Services
Administration and Bookkeeping services can be a part of your full service property management plan or we can help you with them seperately. Administration and Bookkeeping services can be rendered by our property management team all over the province of Alberta. Here is what it entails:
Collection Services: Property management teams have systems and escalation processes to ensure that condominium contributions and recovered from owners and occupants. This is an important benefit to having a professional property management team as it optimizes the cash flow by which your condominium functions and ensures that all of it’s needs have the financial backing that it needs to function appropriately.
Facilitation of the Reserve Fund Study: A reserve fund study is required every 5 years in Alberta for condominium corporations. The reserve fund is money set aside for large scale expenses and repairs to the condominium property. The study evaluates all aspects of your community and makes recommendations on how much needs to be set aside based on the evaluation by the professional.
Budget Preparation: The importance of a good budget is well known, but preparing the budget for a condominium corporation can be tricky. It is difficult to anticipate all of the expenses and situations that may arise within the year and plan accordingly. Relying on a professional can be a wise step in ensuring that all contingencies are in place to handle unanticipated costs.
Management of Accounts: A property management team can ensure that all of your accounts are balanced, invoices are paid, and expenses are properly categorized to balance your budget. Our professional bookkeeping team works hard on the behalf of your condominium to ensure that you are as financially efficient as possible.
Monthly Reporting: Your property management team will ensure that you receive monthly reports that reflect your accounts and where the financial health of your condominium stands.
Maintenance
When a condominium corporation utilizes Key Investment Property Management Inc. as their property management team, we build a custom maintenance plan for your condominium corporation. We will evaluate all of your maintenance needs and utilize a combination of trusted vendors, as well as our in house team to ensure that all of the needs are met professionally and cost efficiently. By having an in house team of maintenance and cleaning staff, we can not only save you money, but we also have 100% in control of the quality and efficiency of the services. Here are some of the maintenance services we offer:
Lawn Maintenance: Depending on your bylaws, the care of your lawn can either be the responsibility of the owners, or condominium corporation. Often times, especially in the instance of apartment style condos, the lawn maintenance is the responsibility of the corporation. Mowing and trimming the lawn, litter pick up, flower boxes, and general maintenance are all services that we offer condominium communities.
Snow Removal: In the winter, snow removal and ice maintenance are not just an aesthetic issue, they are also a safety issue. These are also services offered in a full service property management plan, should you choose to utilize it.
In House Scheduled Maintenance: This can be cleaning, changing carpets, window washing, or any such regular maintenance that is necessary to ensure the care of your condominium.
Vendor and Project Management: While our in house team is excellent, some things are best left to specialized trades people. Key has a long list of preferred vendors that we work with the ensure that the right man is on the job when it comes to your projects and repairs.
Routine Inspections: Knowledge is power and routine inspections are a necessary part of knowing what your condominium needs. Our professionals schedule routine inspections to ensure that all issues, whether major or minor, are properly anticipated and monitored.
24/7 Emergency on-call: Our maintenance team is on call 24/7 for the emergency maintenance needs of our clients. Some problems need urgent attention so that further problems don’t arise.