Real Estate

8 Things to Consider When Choosing a Strata Manager

Our inside tips on questions to ask your potential Strata Manager.

Good or bad, most people judge an entire strata agency by the working relationship they have with their strata manager.

We have prepared this short list of questions to ask yourself before making the decision to appoint a new Strata agent.

How many buildings does the proposed new Strata Manager already handle?

Your entire strata experience hinges on this one simple question. Most agents handle large portfolios, to the point where they may spend most of their time putting out fires instead of giving you the proactive service you’re looking for.

What is included in the monthly management fee

Most agencies charge a monthly management fee that covers agreed services. Works performed outside of the agreed services are charged as an additional fee. You can negotiate with an agency to have fixed price disbursements to give you a clearer understanding of how much your plan will pay each year.

Ratings

The Stratum Manager who will manage your building must have at least a Certificate 4 in Stratum Title Management. Ideally, this would have been obtained through a Tafe course. It is possible to obtain a Certificate 4 in Strata Management by paying to do a 2-week course. It’s also a good idea to ask how long they’ve been with the agency.

Experience

When approaching a potential new agent, it’s a good question to ask how experienced the strata manager who will actually be managing your building is and, in case things go wrong, how experienced is he/she in attending mediation and court hearings.

Reports

How often are financial reports generated and given by the treasurer alone to the entire committee? Ideally, this will be available on a monthly basis.

Service Level Agreements

Strata management is customer service. Your new agent should be able to provide you with timeframes when your applications will be processed, emails answered, and phone calls returned.

Your money, your ticket

It’s your building and you don’t necessarily want the Strata manager to do everything, so it’s important to clarify how much input you’ll have to approve creditor payments and what level of input the committee will have when the agent is preparing the proposed budget.

terms of agreement

When appointing a new agent, most will try to lock him up for a maximum period of 3 years. If the services do not meet your expectations, you will be locked out for the term of the contract, unless your scheme decides to pay for the remaining term of the contract. It is a better option to sign a one-year contract and see how things go.

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