Condo management companies

[Eneukman]

I live in a condo in Jomtien.. I'm not impressed with our current management company (Real Management Company) and whilst I want to suggest to the committee that the company should be replaced, I would like to be able to suggest alternative companies. Can I ask those of you who live in a condo in the Pattaya area (hence the reason for posting this here) which management company runs your building?

We did employ QPM before but they were removed by the previous committee so I think there would be some opposition to bringing them back.

Thanks,

Alan

[Brit_Doggie]

Man govt runs mine and yeah i have seen the <deleted> they get away with and new aint new it different crew with big ideas at whose expense yours truly,with a example here a monthly budget is posted as per income expenses and the forking figures are identical as in he a clever accountant no loss or gain lol.

[NormanW]

Optima one of the best!

Run by an English lad.

[Pattaya46]

Hi. Do you really need a condo management company ?

In my condo we stopped a few years back with such companies.

Our manager is now a salaried employee of the condo.

We use a software for accounting and an accountant office for yearly legal appraisal.

The condo has never been managed so well

[KittenKong]

Hi. Do you really need a condo management company ?

In my condo we stopped a few years back with such companies.

Our manager is now a salaried employee of the condo.

We use a software for accounting and an accountant office for yearly legal appraisal.

The condo has never been managed so well

This is certainly a possibility, but it relies on finding a good person to be that manager. The advantage of a management company is that even if the on-site manager is incompetent (or worse) the management company should provide some sort of buffer against problems, and can parachute replacement personnel in if necessary. That buffer also serves to protect the unpaid and unloved committee; without a management company the committee (and the JPM) becomes directly responsible for everything. As a committee member I would need to consider this.

If there is no management company then the committee needs to be very careful about putting checks and balances in place regarding the accounts and expenditure. And not all committees are competent enough to do this, or even want to spend the time on it.

You also need to take account of the legal advice and general specialised knowledge that a (decent) management company can bring. Legal issues are important and if you get the procedures wrong there can be untold hell to pay.

The size of the building is also an important consideration for such a system. I can see it working in a building with a few 10s of units where everyone knows each other and which is largely owner-occupied, but maybe not so well in one with 1000 units, many rented out by absentee landlords with multiple properties.

I also am extremely tempted to employ such a manager in our building (and I go one step further in that I would like it to be a farang) but the trick is finding one and ensuring that it all wont go completely to pot when the committee membership changes. Our building already puts all its cash-flow through specialised condo accounting software, and an external yearly audit is, of course, already obligatory (and I have grave doubts about the value of a standard Thai audit).

[Eneukman]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Optima one of the best!

Run by an English lad.

Thanks for that suggestion. I'll take a closer look at their web site later,

Hi. Do you really need a condo management company ?

In my condo we stopped a few years back with such companies.
Our manager is now a salaried employee of the condo.
We use a software for accounting and an accountant office for yearly legal appraisal.
The condo has never been managed so well

This is certainly a possibility, but it relies on finding a good person to be that manager. The advantage of a management company is that even if the on-site manager is incompetent (or worse) the management company should provide some sort of buffer against problems, and can parachute replacement personnel in if necessary. That buffer also serves to protect the unpaid and unloved committee; without a management company the committee (and the JPM) becomes directly responsible for everything. As a committee member I would need to consider this.

If there is no management company then the committee needs to be very careful about putting checks and balances in place regarding the accounts and expenditure. And not all committees are competent enough to do this, or even want to spend the time on it.

You also need to take account of the legal advice and general specialised knowledge that a (decent) management company can bring. Legal issues are important and if you get the procedures wrong there can be untold hell to pay.

The size of the building is also an important consideration for such a system. I can see it working in a building with a few 10s of units where everyone knows each other and which is largely owner-occupied, but maybe not so well in one with 1000 units, many rented out by absentee landlords with multiple properties.

I also am extremely tempted to employ such a manager in our building (and I go one step further in that I would like it to be a farang) but the trick is finding one and ensuring that it all wont go completely to pot when the committee membership changes. Our building already puts all its cash-flow through specialised condo accounting software, and an external yearly audit is, of course, already obligatory (and I have grave doubts about the value of a standard Thai audit).

I doubt not having a management company would work where I live as we have close to 900 units, many of which are currently rented out illegally on a short term basis. For some unknown reason at the last AGM, co-owners voted to limit the size of the committee to 3, which for a building this size is too small. Fortunately, we do seem to have a committee that is trying to run the building properly.

I too have grave doubts about the standard of a Thai audit especially as some figures presented at one AGM simply didn't add up to the total,shown in the accounts. As our financial and fee years are different, the accrual basis of accounting (a system designed by accountants to ensure that only other accountants can understand it) has to be used. The first year this had to be used some of the figures in the accounts were total garbage. I'm not an accountant but have a financial background with a working knowledge of how accruals should be worked out.

Alan