“Melbourne’s Best Body Corporate Management Companies Reviews & Overview” covers the strata management landscape in Victoria from the perspective of a strata industry insider. For over 7 years, we have been actively monitoring and updating our database of every registered strata management company in Victoria.
We update our database with notes on each individual, and with notes on each company – when an individual moves companies, we move them across in our database and all the notes on that individual move across with them.
We speak to Committees, Owners, and industry professionals day in and day out. We follow and reference VCAT cases, and we keep track of which strata managers seem to regularly feature at VCAT. So, let’s take a look at:
- Body Corporate / Strata Management Companies in Victoria
- Top Rated & Best Body Corporate Management Companies – Melbourne & Victoria
- What do the Best Strata Management Companies Have in Common?
- What do We Look for in Qualified Strata Management Companies?
- Time to Change Body Corporate / Strata Management Groups?
Let’s discuss each topic in detail when it comes to Melbourne’s Best Body Corporate Management Companies Reviews & Overview.
Strata Management/Body Corporate Management Companies in Victoria
Best body corporate management companies in Melbourne are managers that outperform and deliver. We have long maintained that owners corporation managers/body corporate managers look after one of your most important assets. Having a strata manager and strata management company that is professional, competent, and trustworthy can make a world of difference for body corporate companies.
Professional strata management extends beyond setting budgets, raising levies, preparing financials, and convening the AGM. These are the basic tasks and rudimentary functions of strata management.
Proficient strata management extends beyond this. Proficient strata management entails fully considering issues at hand, giving Committees the right guidance and advice, and proactively managing and overseeing issues.
Top Rated & Best Body Corporate Management Companies – Melbourne & Victoria
In Victoria, there are:
- Over 116,000 body corporates / owners corporations;
- Over 907,000 strata titled lots; and
- Over 1,300 registered owners corporation managers.
This register of owners corporations in Victoria ranges from:
- individuals (sole traders);
- partnerships;
- real estate agencies;
- the odd accounting firms trying to manage a few owners corporations for some side income;
- a mowing business that ventured into body corporate management;
- small-sized strata management companies;
- medium-sized strata management companies; and right through to:
- perhaps ~20 strata management companies might be considered large.
Body corporate management companies collect sizable levies from all the owners in your building, manage and spend the funds, and hold all your books and records.
When things go wrong or the strata management company (or individual strata manager) is unscrupulous. Things can really become costly, stressful, and detrimental for Committees, owners, and investors alike.
What do the Best Strata Management Companies Have in Common?
Strata Management Consultants Melbourne has formed the view that there are 5 categories that are essential when it comes to best practices:
- Strata management experience and the right qualifications of key staff;
- The people working in the strata management business and an emphasis on service (strata management is after all a services business);
- Sound integrity and the right set of values behind the strata management company;
- Proper systems and process – no point trying to do the accounting of strata buildings in excel or software intended for property management when there are hundreds of owners with different lot liabilities/entitlements; and
- Knowledge earnt through professional working experience and a focus on training and upskilling staff.
What do We Look for in Qualified Strata Management Companies?
We look for only the best Body Corporate Management Companies who share our values of integrity and forward-thinking. Or to put it in another way, we have defined this set of mandatory qualities and attributes:
- Strata Management Experience & Qualifications
- A Focus on People & Service
- Sound Integrity & Values
- Proper Strata Management Systems & Processes
- A Built-up Repository of Knowledge & On-going Training
Time to Change Body Corporate Management Companies/ Strata Management Groups?
What we say to Committees and Owners Corporations is this – your building will still be there in 50 or 70 years’ time. Changing strata management companies shouldn’t be a routine exercise undertaken every few years as it can be time-consuming and sometimes costly.
If you’ve had the same strata management company for a long time and there is a build-up of goodwill, then work with them. Be understanding and give them a chance to address the issues. However, if you’re unhappy with your strata management company and the relationship/trust isn’t there then definitely consider your strata management options.
Committees, after all, volunteer their time to serve on matters of management on behalf of the owners corporations. Committees shouldn’t have to deal with the additional dramas of poor service, bad advice, and a lack of guidance from their strata manager.
Our ethos around changing body corporate management companies is to change once and do it right.
