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Old 11-22-2017, 10:16 AM
SlightlyDistracting SlightlyDistracting is offline
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Default Property Management Companies

I am looking at buying a condo which falls under their management. (Victorian Property Management) I have read google reviews. Their average rating is 1. With a lot of votes. People seem really unhappy with these guys. There is not one positive thing said about them.
My question. What powers do they have? Ever bought property and had bad experiences with property management companies? Ever deal with Victorian? I called to get their side and ask a few relivant questions, the lady that answered flipped out on me and said this was afterhours anf only for emergencies before I could even ask. Just her tone kinda confirms my thoughts
Should I stay clear and find somewhere else?
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Old 11-22-2017, 10:36 AM
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I would almost rather live in a RV parked on the street and save some cash and buy a stand alone house before buying a condo.

To your point, if they are the management company, they have substantial power as my experience indicates most people just go along with what they recommend. Their power is limited to the residences though. You having an individual issue vs everyone on your floor having an issue could be handled very, very differently. You also want to ensure there is a decent reserve fund, or the building is in really good condition, so you don't get hit up for funds if they decided to redo the windows/exterior/roof/etc.
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Old 11-22-2017, 10:56 AM
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I am considering it as a rental property
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Old 11-22-2017, 10:59 AM
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Buy a duplex.
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Old 11-22-2017, 11:14 AM
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I have worked on a fair number of condo's in Calgary for both the management companies on scheduled maintenance and repairs as well as for the unit owners on things that fall under their own responsibility. One some buildings we would be specifically instructed to not mention much about the building to the unit owners and/or occupants. There are a couple of buildings I would insist my friends stay away from but might encourage people I'm extremely not fond of to buy. Some base building original construction engineering experiments/failures were resulting in leaks in suites due to extreme velocity in the combined heating and domestic water system in on pair of buildings (bad enough that the 3rd tower of the trio got re-engineered). I would be in those two buildings fixing leaks numerous times per month and that would also mean that the disaster restoration crew would also be following up for the drywall replacement and drying/dehumidification work. I would expect a call there when I was the on-call guy any week I had that responsibility and on at least two occasions I was already on site attending a leak when another one was reported. The system in those two buildings is odd as they combine the domestic hot water and the central building heat, each suite has a fan-coil that has domestic water flowing through it, I shudder to picture a major failure in that building during a cold spell.

Some towers that I liked not only had normal heating systems but each suite also had a gas fireplace, I thought that was some good redundancy in the event of something going wrong with the boilers or piping (my first call to those buildings was to pump in 13 barrels of glycol and the same amount of water to replace fluid lost due to some components in the underground parkade bursting, this being about a 24-26 storey tower).

In condo's the maintenance crew is working for the property manager so they have to answer to them That does not always work out for the occupants being well-informed, depending on the management company.

Another condo building that is quite massive had a complex heating system had some geothermal for the building heat and some solar for the domestic hot water pre-heat (it went through water heaters afterwards too for final temp regulation as well as redundancy for overcast days). On this building we were not supposed to mention anything to anyone as there was a lawsuit pending from the condo association to the builder and out employer was part of the original construction even though they had not done the work being sued over.

I would avoid any condo I had not personally inspected, additionally I would only buy if I owned a controlling number of units because some of the condo boards/ board members can be rather tyrannical.

A huge issue in a buildings construction can leave owners with massive condo fees to chip in for the repairs and a devalued property until/if the repairs are even completed. Of course the same goes on a house but the mechanical systems are much more simple.
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Last edited by CaberTosser; 11-22-2017 at 11:30 AM.
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Old 11-22-2017, 11:18 AM
ceadog ceadog is offline
 
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No one really likes any management company and if they do they tend to keep their mouth shut about it.

There's relatively little they can do except make paperwork or some common property repairs annoying. I wouldn't drop the deal over bad reviews - look to what shows up in the minutes (and you should read 24 months worth of them). And if you buy it you should get on the board.
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Old 11-22-2017, 11:34 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SlightlyDistracting View Post
I am considering it as a rental property
You should be talking to the president of the condo association. The association hires and fires management companies. As why they have the current one and what they think of them, how long they have used them, etc.

I owned a condo that I rented out. Bought it originally for my two boys to live in while going to university, then rented it out when they graduated. Never made money at it. In fact I sold it last summer and incurred a pretty substantial loss overall. So do your math.....
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In this case Oki has cut to to the exact heart of the matter!
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Old 11-22-2017, 11:41 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaberTosser View Post

Another condo building that is quite massive had a complex heating system had some geothermal for the building heat and some solar for the domestic hot water pre-heat (it went through water heaters afterwards too for final temp regulation as well as redundancy for overcast days). On this building we were not supposed to mention anything to anyone as there was a lawsuit pending from the condo association to the builder and out employer was part of the original construction even though they had not done the work being sued over.
Does the building name start with a G and happens to be located near a major shopping centre?
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Old 11-22-2017, 11:43 AM
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Originally Posted by Albertadiver View Post
Does the building name start with a G and happens to be located near a major shopping centre?
Yup. Convenient place to shop for Mazda's too.

We were tasked with maintaining the problematic systems, though our employer didn't do the original installation (save for the electrical). To top it off, most of the domestic water isolation valves to each suite were absolutely seized: the ball valve handles would bend and the ball inside wouldn't budge. I'd guess there are over a thousand of those defective valves in that building. To replace these in individual units I would have to isolate a stack of suites from the supply risers coming up from the parkade.
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Last edited by CaberTosser; 11-22-2017 at 11:49 AM.
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Old 11-22-2017, 11:47 AM
SlightlyDistracting SlightlyDistracting is offline
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No. The building does not.
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Old 11-22-2017, 11:48 AM
SlightlyDistracting SlightlyDistracting is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Okotokian View Post
You should be talking to the president of the condo association. The association hires and fires management companies. As why they have the current one and what they think of them, how long they have used them, etc.

I owned a condo that I rented out. Bought it originally for my two boys to live in while going to university, then rented it out when they graduated. Never made money at it. In fact I sold it last summer and incurred a pretty substantial loss overall. So do your math.....
I am almost certain I would not lose a cent.
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Old 11-22-2017, 11:51 AM
SlightlyDistracting SlightlyDistracting is offline
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Its a newer building in a newer neighborhood. I am not asking about buying a condo. Ive done my research.I am asking if anyone had had experience with this management company. Or bad management companies in general.
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Old 11-22-2017, 11:55 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SlightlyDistracting View Post
Its a newer building in a newer neighborhood. I am not asking about buying a condo. Ive done my research.I am asking if anyone had had experience with this management company. Or bad management companies in general.
I'd talk to the condo board members, but with a big grain of salt.

I have found that most residents don't want to be bothered to sit on the board, so those that are on the board are often busybodies, have a bunch of complaints that they want dealt with, or in rare cases are sometimes decent guys that care about their investment. The worst are people that know enough about construction to be dangerous and get the rest of the association all riled up for no reason.

If it is a newer building, ask to see the BAR report that is legally required to be submitted to the government. That should give you a bit of a good sniff test.
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Old 11-22-2017, 11:57 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SlightlyDistracting View Post
Its a newer building in a newer neighborhood. I am not asking about buying a condo. Ive done my research.I am asking if anyone had had experience with this management company. Or bad management companies in general.
Like Oki says, you either have to put in the time and effort to change it (join the condo association) or live with it. I have dealt with some terrible ones, one cost us a special assessment of $53,000.00 from pure incompetence.

I have dealt with quite a few but no experience with Victorian.
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Old 11-22-2017, 12:29 PM
warriorboy10 warriorboy10 is offline
 
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Owned a condo a few years ago, brand new. Always money for the management co. but never any money for repairs, condo owners left holding the bag in most cases.
Totally agree with others never a condo again. Condo owner has no or at best very little control the stupidity. From my experience and obviously many others buy a stand alone house or a duplex at worst. Good luck..
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Old 11-22-2017, 12:53 PM
ryeguy21 ryeguy21 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SlightlyDistracting View Post
Its a newer building in a newer neighborhood. I am not asking about buying a condo. Ive done my research.I am asking if anyone had had experience with this management company. Or bad management companies in general.
If your positive you won't lose money then pull the trigger. Get on the condo board and find a competent management company. Personally i think it's a major red flag for the management company to lose their cool with you but would I let that get in the way of an investment?

Probably not.. just factor in their potential craziness to your roi.

Not sure why others think you can contact the board members as that info isnt readily available to you. Perhaps knock on the neighbors doors to speak to those living there. Existing owners may be able to get you in touch with the board members if you feel the need.
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Old 11-22-2017, 01:56 PM
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Never had good dealings with management company's. But from what I know they can be sidelined pretty well. What I would look at is if you have a condo board and what restricting they place on you. It would be an easy thing for them to say you have to go through the management company. I have seen times where you can't fix things your self. Bed bugs is a one I've heard a few times.
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Old 11-22-2017, 05:27 PM
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My advice is never, ever buy a condo or townhouse. Ever.

If you want to rent it out, buy yourself a house with a basement suite, and manage it yourself. As long as you are at the mercy of any Association, with management...I suspect you will regret it.
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Old 11-22-2017, 05:41 PM
Etownpaul Etownpaul is offline
 
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I own an investment condo in a small building. I lucked out since our core board members are myself (a tradesman) and another lady who is an accountant. She handles the finances, regularly calling out discrepancies in the property management company’s accounting and I look over the quotes for repairs etc. Neither of us live in the building, we just see board membership as protecting our investment.

Most property managers have way too many properties to do a good job managing any of them. A good board will make or break your building. I’d never own a condo without being on the board. It’s a relatively minor commitment, attending 8-9 meetings a year and answering emails once a week.
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Old 11-22-2017, 06:08 PM
SlightlyDistracting SlightlyDistracting is offline
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I only knew of it because a friend lives there and mentioned it to me. I have a few horror stories from him about Victorian. I started doing some research. The consensus is they are absolutely horrible. I thought id try and let them give me their defense but after calling and listening to that witch I no longer will give them the chance. I appreciate everyone's input here. Its a solid place in a nice neighborhood with relatively high demand. But the property management company is giving me a bad taste in my mouth. I think this may not be the investment I am looking for. I was shocked to see their google reviews. Glad I looked.
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Old 11-22-2017, 09:59 PM
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I just rented a place for a good 700$ than it would cost to buy the thing. The guy was renting hoping to not lose his shirt on selling for alot less than he paid.

It has got to be tough out there for landlords. Just to get through the current day and the previous day on kijiji was some 15 or 20 pages of ads. If you dont rent your house in two days your ad will be in mexico it is soo far down the list.

From a tenant perspective it looks like a lousy time to be a landlord
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Old 11-22-2017, 10:18 PM
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Problem with buying a newer condo is that it is your responsibility to build the reserve fund that you may never use.

I wouldn't be concerned at all about the management company. I would be concerned with the financials of the building.
Think of it like buying a share in a business.
What do the books look like?
Who is running the place?
What are the plans for the future?
Any outstanding problems? (See Cabers post above)

Actually, the best investments right now in Condos are a hidden little complex in the S.W. I am in process of selling a few of them to a good sized investor. Returns will be approx $50,000 in the next 2 years. Those numbers are based on a exactly the same situation that happened in Calgary 3 years ago and thats with out the market moving up.

Jamie
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Old 11-22-2017, 10:39 PM
mattthegorby mattthegorby is offline
 
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Definitely, sit on the board to watch your investment.

I was on the board of our condo for 5 years and we went through two management companies. Both were not great, but one was better than the other. As someone else mentioned they take a workload of buildings on that makes it impossible to give enough attention to each building. They also have complicated fee structures and the cheap monthly rate can be the more expensive option with add-on BS.

For these reasons, you need a proactive force keeping these guys accountable --squeaky gear gets the grease. If you have either building staff like a caretaker who cares or an involved board that will hound the management company they can make things happen and watch costs - like rates charged by their contractors. If there is none applying pressure these companies will likely spend your money like it is going outta style.

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