Although the prime responsibility of the condo corporation is to manage common elements, many condo boards and property managers find themselves caught up in the minutia of owner/occupant demands.
Achieving a more symbiotic approach to property management requires understanding the crucial tie between leading-edge occupant services and proactive maintenance. Leveraging technology is one strategy corporations can use to reduce resident demand and focus on capital projects
Start with improved occupant services
If you can develop an effective process to handle occupant issues, you can streamline requests. The goal is to ensure all occupant requests and complaints are managed as quickly as possible to free-up the property manager’s time. Using technology helps create a management team who gets a boost from self-serve options. With the right tech, the board and/or managers can ensure requests are answered properly and served into your maintenance or complaint process funnel in a timely manner.
Chatbots and virtual robot assistants answer questions and complaints immediately to create a more resident focused management style. When you can provide a quick answer based on common maintenance questions, you reduce the work required by your team. Chatbots prioritize complaints based on urgency, while fielding questions with auto responses. As a result, teams resolve minor issues almost immediately while also settling more urgent requests.
Improve communication with resident portals
Resident portals and condo management software allow boards and managers to improve communication. Portals can be used to field questions as new information is shared, announce condo meetings, submit service requests, accept common element fees, and book amenities and elevators, thus freeing up time to focus on common elements.
Using tech to manage lost keys
Depending on how many units a corporation manages, common issues can bog down maintenance and security teams. A good example is lost keys. Every lost key request takes time to resolve. The resident must be authenticated to ensure they actually live there. The pass key must be retrieved or a card re-coded by someone with authority. If you are still using a master key, then someone has to accompany the resident to their door. However, smart lock systems are operated by a key fob or via a smartphone. This allows property managers to grant access from anywhere via their phones, as well as to any area of the property. By operating a centralized management system, you can authorize access for individual residents by sending them an access code via their smartphone, thereby dedicating time to higher value tasks.
Smart sensors to improve maintenance
Smart sensors can be used in units as well as common areas. For example, sensors maintain comfortable temperatures in common areas, trigger on/off responses to manage garage exhaust fans, and help manage water usage. This reduces utility costs, providing savings to build reserves for capital projects. However, where smart sensors really prove their worth is helping to prevent costly water damage. They can detect leaks and pipe breaks and turn off the water supply. Early leak detection minimizes damage and cost for repairs that can affect multiple units. It also avoids disruption of use in common areas, which can lead to resident complaints.
Proactive maintenance reduces complaints
A proactive approach to maintenance reduces risk for special assessments and ensures funds are available to manage capital projects. Common areas that are in good condition also keep residents happy. But beyond vacuumed carpets and
mould-free pool areas are effective budget allocation and ongoing improvements made in smaller, more manageable increments.
Preventative maintenance ensures small problems don’t become costly, unexpected capital projects. If a garage is more than 20-years old, develop a five-year schedule for condition assessments. This helps to understand what repairs are required via testing which, in turn, allows for incremental repairs with manageable costs. There will also be fewer complaints from residents who find the garage unsafe for their vehicles.
Managers today must also address climate change risks, including flooding and wind damage. Catastrophe modeling creates a strategy to minimize risk for damage caused by severe weather events. As a result, capital project funding is not impacted by unexpected costs to repair weather-related damage.
Smarter overall condo management
The financial and physical health of a condo should be monitored using key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure and track maintenance costs. Data-driven decisions use factual input to improve condo efficiencies and the happiness of the community.
Taking steps to reduce condo fees through savings such as energy audits, government grants for retrofits, and effective reserve fund planning keeps more money in the reserve fund for capital projects. Being underfunded poses long-term financial problems that lead to special assessments. As a bonus, owner complaints will decline in absence of common element fee increases.
Technology creates a solid level of condo resident service to reduce time spent on individual unit management. Property managers and condo boards can focus on prime responsibilities to better manage common elements, plan for capital projects, and take a more proactive approach to property maintenance, reducing costs and creating a sustainable, healthy reserve fund.
Vadim Koyen is the President of CPO Management Inc., a full-service property management company specializing in residential and commercial condominiums in Toronto and the GTA. With over 10 years in the industry, CPO offers a wide spectrum of services from strategic and financial planning to accounting, building maintenance and capital improvement.
