What price loyalty in an apartment block? Is it a community or is it a business? And can you afford to let relationships rule over dollars and cents?
QUESTION: I’m on the executive committee of a large block that’s gone through some pretty tough times recently. Now our chair, a retired businesswoman, says we don’t need the building manager we’ve got as everything is sorted and they are quite expensive (which is true).
She is very hot on this because she wants to reduce levies as she’s having trouble selling her apartment. She says it’s good business sense to cut back on building management fees when we don’t need them as much. I can see her point but it just seems disloyal to someone who has done the hard yards for us and has, in my opinion, earned their fees many times over. Is this a good idea? – Unconvinced, Elizabeth Bay.
ANSWER: Hang on a minute: your chairwoman is desperate to sell her apartment? Are you kidding? Your building’s being run to suit someone who has no interest in its future.
Your first priority should be to elect a new chair. A simple majority vote at your next EC meeting could and should replace her with someone who’s planning to stick around.
On the question of loyalty, there is a big difference between running a building in a business-like manner and running it like a business. There are aspects such as lifestyle and a sense of community that don’t show up on a spreadsheet.
As for cutting services to cut levies, you get what you pay for. Cut waste, for sure, but good building management is invaluable (just ask someone who lives in a badly managed building).
If you no longer need the current level of service, try to negotiate a reduction with the existing managers rather than looking for cheaper alternatives who don’t know the building or its residents.
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