Condo Media - November 2014 - 16

by Gary M. Daddario, Esq.

C A I

R e g i o n a l

N e w s

NEW HAMPSHIRE

To Manage or Not to Manage
A Comparison of Self and Professional Association Management

his month's theme in Condo
Media is management. As such,
the goal of this article is to
provide an analysis of the merits
and costs associated with both selfmanagement and the hiring of professional property management. At the
outset, one must consider the characteristics of the association involved.
Factors like the types of buildings and
grounds, amenities, number of units,
nature of the use of the property, and
the location of the site may all factor
heavily into a decision as to which type
of management is best.
Many consider the obvious "cost"
of professional management to be the
monthly fee paid to the management
entity. For a fair comparison, however, consider that self-management
involves increased time invested by one
or more board members of the association. This time may have financial and
personal cost components.
Another basic issue regarding this
decision is control. While self-management allows board members to retain
more control over the association's operations, it also means that board members must deal with their neighbors on
difficult subjects such as delinquency
in payment of assessments and violations of rules. For associations in which
professional management is a practical
option, a happy medium might be an
agreement designating specific authority to the manager and retaining other
authority to the board. Reasonable
systems of checks and balances also
exist in some management contracts
such that attentive board members
can accurately follow the association's
operations and finances.
In New Hampshire, when dealing
16

Condo Media * November 2014

with unit owner delinquency, there
is a fairly strict procedure with a tight
timeline for perfecting a priority lien in
applicable cases (those involving first

managers may negotiate favorable prices
and terms based on a regular volume of
business that they conduct with a contractor. In such cases, even as an indi-

Factors like the types of buildings, number of units,
amenities, nature of the use of the property, and the
location may all factor heavily into the decision.
mortgages dated Jan. 1, 2011, or more
recently). Sometimes, the existence of a
professional property manager equipped
with the association's lien enforcement
policy can improve the association's
timeliness in taking legal action on
delinquency. This, in turn, can improve
results. New Hampshire law also provides for the termination of services to
delinquent owners. Professional property management may employ such a
remedy without the personal awkwardness associated with being a neighbor.
Further, a professional property manager may have a go-to list of vendors
capable of providing any professional
services needed to accomplish the tasks
associated with termination of services.
As to vendors, generally, the self-managed may enjoy exerting more control
over the vendor selection process. They
may also feel better about having direct
involvement in negotiations on vendor
contracts and/or engaging in direct
supervision of performance. Conversely,
while professional property managers
may have preferred vendors, this may
allow for a quicker process. Further, the
preferred status of a vendor is likely the
result of the property manager having
had positive work experience with the
vendor in the past. Sometimes, property

vidual entity, an association may benefit
from a form of economy of scale.
Another important consideration
is the level of service provided to unit
owners. The self-managed enjoy providing what they perceive as an increased
level of personal service. They also
remain fully informed and fully engaged
as to any issues at the association. On
the other hand, professional property
management typically involves an assigned manager with time designated
specifically to accomplishing the association's goals. In addition, most professional management companies offer the
association some form of emergency oncall service response and admin support.
Ultimately, factors regarding your
association may lead to the determination of whether professional property
management is feasible. If so, it is best
for the board to undertake a selection
process designed to identify the manager offering the proper "fit" for the
association. Finally, an agreement with
appropriate terms should be negotiated and executed in the event that a
property manager is retained. CM
Gary M. Daddario, Esq., is a
partner with the ﬁrm of Winer &
Bennett.

Condo Media - November 2014

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