New Owners Corporation Changed Strata Management Companies and Saved $145,700 p.a. – !!!

Reviewing Strata Management Melbourne Based Companies

In February 2023, Judy – the Chair of a Tier 1 OC in Doncaster – contacted us as her Committee had serious concerns about the quality and the cost of their strata management services provider.

The building was relatively new, only having been completed in the last 3 years. Like all new buildings and new owners corporation – the developer is the owner of the entire building (until the apartments slowly start to settle and transfer to the purchasers).

The developer as the initial owner in the OC has the ability to put in place all the services contracts for the building – including the strata management company’s contract of appointment. Their particular strata management contract was one of those unfriendly 5 year terms with those unfriendly attempted ‘roll-over provisions’ for the 5 OCs:

And furthermore in 10+ years of strata management consulting – we’ve never seen in excess of $150k of base management fees being collected annually in advance…

Bad vs Better/Best Strata Management Companies (Melbourne)

The building’s incumbent strata management company was less than ideal for so many reasons:

• The OC consists of 4 buildings with apartment units which was completed in late 2019.
• As time went on owners were not very satisfied with the service of the strata manager assigned to their building and the Committees started to file all the complaints from unhappy owners.
• The owners and Committee were under the impression that the strata manager was working hard for them but upon further investigation they discovered many things were not getting done, communication was poor, and there were financial matters that didn’t add up.
• The OC had a high level of owners with unpaid levies – close to $200,000 in unpaid levies – not so oddly enough, most of these with some ties to the developer and related entities.
• The owners noted some other issues within the building and a lot of matters could be traced back to the poor performance and resulting frustration with their current strata manager.
• Through our initial processes, we were able to identify to the Committee that the management charges were close to double the industry standard for a building their size.
• The Committee noted that what they want for their new strata manager is to have a clearer and more accurate communication with the owners – updates on any works completed, transparency with OC finances, discuss works and reports during meetings, and paying of invoices on time.

Qualified Strata Management Companies in Victoria

Every single Strata management company we work with is carefully vetted and scrutinised in terms of their:

1. Strata management experience and relevant qualifications
2. Service and service metrics
3. Integrity & values
4. Dedicated strata management software platform, systems, and processes
5. Continuous strata management knowledge and training

Our specialised Owners Corporation / Strata Industry expertise takes the guesswork out of changing management companies. For the past 10 years, we have spent week-in and week-out sitting with Committees to understand their concerns, and also gather intel/feedback on who’s good and who’s not good.

Changing Strata Management Companies (Melbourne)

We met with the Committee to understand their concerns with the incumbent strata manager and discuss what they would expect of their new strata manager.

After compiling a RFT with information and specifications particular to their building, we conducted a tender process. We met again with the Committee and helped them to understand all the new strata management proposals in terms of their offerings, qualities, and costs.

The Committee chose a strata company that was (significantly) less expensive than their incumbent and we assisted with the appointment process.

STRATA MANAGEMENT – COST COMPARISON

*Strata & OC guidance for all Committees: be careful when it comes to strata management contracts and ‘open-ended, blank cheque’ disbursements sections. Some strata management companies charge for every work order, phone call, email, page of paper, printing, postage, envelope, etc.

The vast majority of strata management companies in Melbourne that we work with – charge a fixed, all-inclusive fee for their disbursement costs. And of these strata management companies, most will waive their disbursement fee if lot owners elect to receive OC notices electronically

We helped the Committee to help save all owners in the owners corporation in Doncaster $145,700 per year on their strata management costs – !!!!!

Feedback from the Committee after the New Strata Manager Assumed Management of the OC

Changing Strata Management Companies (Melbourne) for Your Tier 1 OC?

Take the first step in process of changing strata management companies for your property in Doncaster or anywhere in metro Melbourne by speaking to a Strata Management Consultant by emailing us office@strataconsultants.com.au or calling us on 1300-917-848 .

Meet the Strata Consultants Melbourne team – https://strataconsultants.com.au/our-team