Paying a property manager?

JennyP

I own a flat in a block of 8. We own the freehold and manage it ourselves but it is a lot of work for the people that do it. We try and share it out but it's not easy as it's a mix of owner occupiers and buy to lets and some people do more than others.

We were wondering about getting someone in to manage it for us.

It depends on cost. If it's very expensive, we can't. Also worried about lack of control. Someone had a friend who'd got a company managing their block who demanded £100k from the flat owners for repairs. We don't want someone doing that! But my guess is that's more if a management company own the freehold and we would still own ours.

My personal feeling is that there must be individuals out there who do this kind of thing for a job. What do they charge? Are they on retainers or do they get paid by the hour for the jobs they do? Do they need qualifications and if so what? Where would we look for a good one?

Anyone had any experience of this?

need_an_answer

Google management companies in your area.
There will be a few,phone them and ask them to come visit.
We have recently changed management companies and went from a medium sized county wide sized company to somewhere that is much more local.

In terms of what they charge,there will be costs and it is usually done as a flat fee dependant on the number of units in the property.
Currently for eg our company charge £3000 per year to manage contracts on a 21 flat complex.

Presumably you pay money via charges to an account on a monthly basis for repairs etc at the moment and you will probably find that the monthly amount will go up when using a management company simply because you do need to pay them to provide the service that a few of you are providing for everyone at the moment,and possibly FOC.

At present how do you collect funds from leaseholders, monthly or adhoc.
How would you deal with a major repair bill,sinking fund or again as and when.
These are all things you can discuss with potential companies.

eddddy

If you google something like 'block management', you should find quite a few companies that do this.

Some are pure management companies, some are also letting agents / estate agents - some are big, some are small.

Ask for a quote, terms, references (i.e. other freeholders that you can ask about their services.)

You will be instructing them, so they will only do what you tell them to. (e.g. They won't force you to allow £100k worth of repairs.)

Almost all leases allow you to recharge management company fees to leaseholders. (Although the leaseholders might not like paying for a service that it sounds like you did for free previously.)

NeilCr

As the previous posts. Google management companies in your area

I am a director of an estate that is somewhat bigger than yours. We have 69 units - we are in the process of changing management companies. The management fees quoted by the competing companies varied between £170-£200 per unit.

We, previously, had a really big management company and we found them remote and their systems cumbersome. We have chosen, a medium sized county based company with an office about half an hour for us. We looked at very local companies but they were small and we were a little concerned what would happen if one individual left. For your size of development, though, something like that may be ideal

I would strongly recommend getting someone with a local presence. They’ll know the area and the tradesmen and can be onsite, quickly, if necessary.

In terms of how it works we agree the budget and any work that needs doing. The company is aware of legislation so you don’t fall foul of that through not knowing! They also handle service charge collection and any awkward residents. And, they prepare the accounts.

As eddddy says it could well be a shock for people to have to pay a service charge. But, in all honesty, they’ve done very well getting it for free (assuming that has what happened) or cheaply through people’s good nature

Comms69

JennyP wrote: »

I own a flat in a block of 8. We own the freehold and manage it ourselves but it is a lot of work for the people that do it. We try and share it out but it's not easy as it's a mix of owner occupiers and buy to lets and some people do more than others.

We were wondering about getting someone in to manage it for us.

It depends on cost. If it's very expensive, we can't. Also worried about lack of control. Someone had a friend who'd got a company managing their block who demanded £100k from the flat owners for repairs. We don't want someone doing that! But my guess is that's more if a management company own the freehold and we would still own ours.

My personal feeling is that there must be individuals out there who do this kind of thing for a job. What do they charge? Are they on retainers or do they get paid by the hour for the jobs they do? Do they need qualifications and if so what? Where would we look for a good one?

Anyone had any experience of this?

So you'd rather it collapsed?......

Cyclemonkey1

We own a flat and share of freehold in a block of 60 or so flats. We have a board of directors (all of whom are leaseholders elected at the AGM).


We employ a local property management company to manage the building. They source and instruct traders, write the specifications and tender for major works, organise day to day repairs, manage the accounts and bill for the service charge, handle individual leaseholder enquiries and permissions, advise on our legal duties and repair responsibilities. They are employed by us and work under our direction so seek permission from directors to spend money, employ contractors, collect money from leaseholders and carry out work. However they will also be blunt in their advice if they feel repairs cannot be put off or there are obligations that need to be met.


I would say you need to be willing to manage the agents and set firm expectations of them. A good way to do this is to set up a board of directors and have an AGM which they have to attend.

JennyP

NeilCr wrote: »

As the previous posts. Google management companies in your area

I am a director of an estate that is somewhat bigger than yours. We have 69 units - we are in the process of changing management companies. The management fees quoted by the competing companies varied between £170-£200 per unit.

We, previously, had a really big management company and we found them remote and their systems cumbersome. We have chosen, a medium sized county based company with an office about half an hour for us. We looked at very local companies but they were small and we were a little concerned what would happen if one individual left. For your size of development, though, something like that may be ideal

I would strongly recommend getting someone with a local presence. They’ll know the area and the tradesmen and can be onsite, quickly, if necessary.

In terms of how it works we agree the budget and any work that needs doing. The company is aware of legislation so you don’t fall foul of that through not knowing! They also handle service charge collection and any awkward residents. And, they prepare the accounts.

As eddddy says it could well be a shock for people to have to pay a service charge. But, in all honesty, they’ve done very well getting it for free (assuming that has what happened) or cheaply through people’s good nature

That sounds ideal.

We already pay a service charge that covers insurance etc. and repairs that we organise.

We already have an Agm and a board of directors and agree spending.

But someone who knows all the legal stuff would save us hours. Researching fire regs for example after the tragedy at Grenfell. Or getting quotes. I have had to go over three times this week just to get quotes before anything even gets done.

Thank you for all the replies. Food for thought.

G_M

It's so common in situations like this. The people willing to make the effort get taken for granted and end up doing more and more, and eventually become resentful towards the others who do nothing (or, worse, offer but never deliver!).

A Manco can solve that. But as said, you need

* a very clear contract specifying what you want them to do, and where are the limits (especially on spending money)
* to be willing tospend time checking/overseeing. Hopefully that would be far less onerous though than doing the whole lot!

But get good recommendations. There are excellent companies out there. There are also also rubbish ones, and, to be blunt, rip-off companies.

I know personally of a case where collection of service charges consisted of an invoice once a year and that was it. Over the years fewer and fewer leaeholders paid, the agents took their annual fee, and the contingency fund for repairs went down from £30K to £4K!

Within weeks of firing them, the Directors had got 95% of the arrears collected. The gardens were properly tidied up again (as opposed to a token leaf-blower), the gutters cleared, the litter removed etc etc......

Cyclemonkey1

That's terrible GM. However a lot of the fault there lies with the directors for not managing the firm properly. We expect our managing agent to produce a list of outstanding debtors every quarter and send a solicitors letter after two periods of non payment.