CondoBI Canada is creating a virtual condo community consisting of three platforms (social network, benchmarking platform, and tendering platform) dedicated to making the condo services market more transparent and competitive to improve the quality of condo services, prices, and condo owners’ life experiences.
Tell us about yourself?
I am a financial professional with more than 20 years of financial management, management consulting, fraud prevention, and fraud investigation practice.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Let as many people as possible know they are not alone with their problems in condominiums! It saves lives.
What problem does your business solve?
The solution is to save condo owners money, improve condo service quality, and help the best condo service providers to make more money.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
Being a condo owner and condo investor, I had a lot of problems with condo expenses, condo service providers, condo managers, and board directors. I understood that the condo services market was not transparent and not competitive. Property management companies protect their service providers from market competition outrageously. Condo owners were disconnected in one building and did not have the opportunity to get in touch with owners living in other buildings to exchange experiences. There was no comparable price information on condo services and condo fees in different condominiums, and no benchmarks to follow. It inspired me to create a virtual community where condo owners of one building could get in touch with owners of another building to exchange information and experiences. That community includes benchmarks to follow and an open public tendering platform where all service providers have equal access to all condo projects and contracts. All procedures of service providers selection are transparent for every condo director and owner (in the case directors decided).
What is your magic sauce?
It is an innovative resource. The “patent pending”. If condominiums are not using the platforms, service providers have the only chance to get a job – they must be on a property management company’s list of contractors. Such situations drive high risks related to bribes and kickbacks that increase condo fees by 10 to 15 per cent and higher. And processes of procurement that are not properly designed increase the risks even more because there is no control over a list of what needs to be repaired, and unsegregated processes of scop stop evaluation and performance and no job performance control. Based on CondoBI Canada statistics, self-managed condominiums have 20 per cent lower condo fees and a market value nine per cent higher that means condo money might be saved if management is more efficient.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
My vision is a virtual condo community (ecosystem including condo owners, tenants, directors and condo service providers) with fully transparent information on pricing, service provider contacts, references, a pure competitive condo service market and competitive prices, and competitive quality of condo services. All of that must bring condo fees down, improve the quality of services, and improve condo owners’ life experiences.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
A tremendous resistance of condo management companies against an open competitive market. They prefer to keep their lists of contractors. Condo managers control the boards and usually have at least one board member as a guard to keep the situation AS IS when condo directors do not have a choice as to take responsibility for property management companies’ decisions and choices.
How can people get involved?
Email us at info@condo-benchmarking.ca or call 647-977-1440 to improve your condo fee, services, or share your problems to get help through a CONDO OWNER VOICE here: www.condo-social.ca/condo-directors-owners-exchange-with-experiences