@tina, you make valid points. Huge kudos to you (and I’ve had a similar trajectory, although my large building is not self-managing, but over the years as a strata committee member, and more lately, secretary, my strata knowledge has expanded in leaps and bounds). Nonetheless, you still make my point to @newyboy. I urged caution when moving to self-management, especially with a largish 8 Unit apartment block.
And @tina you very ably set out the course that @newyboy and fellow owners will need to take. Not many owners want to devote so much effort as you have, and some may not have the ability or time to do so. But @tina’s type of effort is what will be needed it you want to self-manage your building.
I also need to point out that strata managers will take on buildings with only a limited set of management duties contracted to them. The larger, often corporate, strata management conglomerates will insist on their management contract being accepted exactly as presented. But other strata managers certainly will negotiate their management contract individually. Just go shopping!
Note, that you can’t assume an agency with a unique name is an independent strata manager, as big companies are gobbling up smaller agencies, and keeping the original name – you must ask if the agency you are dealing with is independent, who owns them (and if it’s a company not the agents in the office, be careful!), and if they will negotiate a specific set of duties for your building, and then work through the agency agreement and strike out the tasks you want handled by the strata committee and leave those you don’t!