Condo Media - July 2017 - 32

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

North Point Property Management
Finding Solutions Outside the Box
[by Pamela Schweppe]

Sometimes it's not the what, it's the how.
Especially when it comes to property management.
"There are core services that a property management
firm should offer," says Tim Arel, founder and owner
of North Point Property Management. "It's how you
deliver those services that makes the difference."
A PERSONAL APPROACH
To Arel, it comes down to core values and management philosophy. For one thing, North Point specializes in condominium management. Period. To Arel,
this strict focus on homeowner associations is the
best way to achieve the highest level of quality and
customer satisfaction.
Communication and transparency are critical to
that effort. When Arel founded the company in 2008,
his focus was on leveraging the technology that was
available to the industry to enhance both. As property
management became more standardized, however,
he made a conscious shift in policy. "As technology
has slowed down, we've switched how we operate as a
company," he explains. "We've gone from concentrating on being at the forefront of technology to going to
our core and being customer-focused and -driven."
To the staff of North Point, that means relying less
on electronic communication, such as email, and more
on a personal touch. "Technology is great, and email is
a wonderful invention, but it's impersonal. It doesn't
let you develop relationships," says Arel. "The correct
approach is personal communication." For example,
striving to make sure a team member always answers
the phone.
EVERY CLIENT IS UNIQUE
Another unique aspect of North Point's approach is
that, instead of relying on a one-size-fits-all approach
applied to all properties, "every account is considered
unique and is handled as such," Arel says. "We determine the specific needs requested by each association
and tailor our services to ensure that we are meeting
the demands and expectations of the board."
It's an approach that Carole Hunt, president of the
board of Wayside at Chelmsford Condominiums in
North Chelmsford, Mass., appreciates. The associa-

tion was self-managed for several years before North
Point was brought on board. "The board had to get
used to dealing with a whole new set of people, and
there was a learning curve as North Point got to know
the association," she says. Now, she appreciates the
firm's help in everything from day-to-day operations
to emergencies.
North Point's Leah Borla explains the key is listening
to each board and adapting to their personalities and
communication style. "If you learn how they'd like to
be interacted with and you communicate with them on
that level, I think you get a lot further," she says. "It's a
relationship business. You have to develop a relationship with your boards or it's never going to work."
WHO'S THE BOSS?
North Point's own staffing is organized a little differently, a concept that Arel believes provides better
service. He points out that, traditionally, when a
property-management firm pitches a client, they
meet with someone at a senior level, then are immediately assigned a property manager they might not
even have met until the account is won. "That's crazy,"
Arel says.
Instead of being assigned a single property manager,
with North Point every property is managed by a
team of three: two property managers and a property
specialist, who provides administrative support. "We
all have our strengths and weaknesses," Arel says. "We
try to balance them out with a team approach. Team
members complement each other, so we can provide
an all-encompassing solution."
North Point also limits the number of units in a
manager's portfolio, assigning each manager anywhere from 260 to 750 units. "The last thing an association wants to hear is that their property manager
got burnt out and left," points out North Point's Tom
Burns. Arel adds a smaller portfolio size also enhances
a manager's ability to provide customer service and
planning.
Another advantage of the team approach is that it's
easier for people to bounce ideas off each other and
find potential solutions to issues when everyone's
familiar with the property. In fact, job titles and

Condo Media - July 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - July 2017