We have selected a new management firm, The Management Trust. You should have received some material from them already and you will be receiving more from them soon. We’ve had a few questions about our selection process, so we wanted to share how we came to a decision.
There were several steps to get to the final selection of The Management Trust. We started with a list of over a dozen qualified firms from the association of property managers. The list was narrowed to seven by eliminating ones that were not in good financial standing or were having other difficulties, etc. We reviewed our prior selection process and asked other HOA leaders about their feedback. Two members of the Board were on point to screen the seven firms. They met with all seven to make their evaluation. One example for not choosing a firm was that they couldn’t take on any new business for several months. The entire Board met with four firms and got it down to three, all of which we felt would do a good job. Each firm had their strengths and weaknesses.
To get to the final selection, references were screened and we all talked with our own HOA contacts who use these firms but were not on their referral list. Our attorney was consulted as he deals with all of the management firms. Of the final three, we decided that a bigger firm (The Management Trust) had the needed management skill set with people who could back each other up. Their structure of having a manager and assistant manager for each HOA seemed like a good strategy. Back up is in place and they have more than one person who can help our homeowners with any issue. They also have strong financial systems which was a key factor for us and were willing to work with us to get a good property manager fit. The other two firms were smaller or newer to our market.
We did look at social media, such as Facebook and Yelp. All of the firms had a limited number of positive and negative reviews. Management Trust has hundreds of accounts throughout the west, exponentially more clients than all other firms. While Management Trust was not the least expensive, we did find them flexible in working on the contract regarding many issues.
We are looking forward to working with Shawnna Carr and Toni Fogh-Andersen at The Management Trust.