Can anyone recommend a good property management company? I have a long list of terrible ones and a very short list of good ones. Need a few more to add to the good list to go see.

Thank you

Penmark realty is the best- i work with mgmt companies so i know many of them, they handle everything, but really speciialize in small boutique builidngs (able to keep the cost down and still receive top-notch service. hope this helps.

thank you. Any others you can suggest. I have two others i am looking at as well. Any to definately stay away from?

Orsid runs good buildings.

orsid is ok, but the best by far is penmark, i can't say enough on how well they handle and service the building, keep costs down, have excellent service always available and are constantly working with buildings and service is always top-notch

would stay away from any small agency, that dosen't represent trophy buildings or similiar buildings as you have-

i would look for a company that has experience with your type of a building, large, small, boutique, high end- it really varies and i need more info on your building how many units? union/non-union doorman non doorman, live-in super? will building need local 11? these are all real important questions remember you are using the mgrs contacts for repairs, service, expertise, handling of personnal, keeping costs down, and keeping service up, etc.

dledven - I met with Penmark and was really impressed. Their upper management is fantastic with an amazing breadth of knowledge. Any thoughts on the company when the owner decides to retire? I got the feeling he really is the backstop of the place.

Does Penmark handle your building?

By the way, building is union, low 200's units, full service, in excellent shape, but needs good management team to handle staff properly, idea on keeping costs down, technology upgrades etc.

dledven - By the way, thank you.

Any comments on Cooper, Greenthal, Gumley Haft, Akam, Rose. I am staying away from Brown Harris, Elliman and ones who use management as a tool for real estate business.

Andrews is awful. Avoid them at all costs.

No problem, Penmark does not handle my building but i work with many managment companies, they are the best, solve all problems and keep costs down. Bernie is excellent but so are all the property managers, i can highly recommend Neil, and Nancy at Penmark.

I work with Gumley, Century and Rose (Rose handles my building, they suck, great at kissing up to MGMT and pretending to do their job). Avoid at all costs, you see its the little things that count, Penmark fixes the problem, they watch over the building and the financials to ensure quality control with no execuses.

Let me know if you go with them, you won't be disappointed.

I am a board president of a Manhattan condo with 170 units, luxury, full service. We use Greenthal and have for about 10 years. They do an excellent job for us but I think that's somewhat due to having a really good person assigned to our building. Your day-to-day person makes all the difference. But we also like Greenthal's size which means they can offer us insight and ideas based upon the experience of other big condo buildings. They're particularly strong on big projects and also doing a turnaround on a building that's not been running to its full potential.

Thank you for all your comments. It has been helpful.

dledven - I agree on Rose. Horrible. Bernie was excellent at Penmark, but what about when he retires? You mentioned Penmark great for smaller buildings. Thoughts on a low 200's unit building like mine? Bernie, because he also owns units in many buildings, i think was key at Penmark. They did things nobody does, like bulk purchase of NG. Got the feeling they run buildings smart. Thought on whom to request as a property manager candidate? I am meeting who they think I should have next week.

NextEra - I found Greenthal good, but very dated in all their processes compared to Penmark and Cooper.

Anyone comment at all on Cooper? I am between Penmark and Cooper and having a bake off with the entire board. I've eliminate everyone else, Gumley is 3rd. Dan was very good there.

Glad you eliminated AKAM. I was on the Board of a building we moved out of. We fired the managing agent and hired AKAM. I was sort of OK with them at the time, but really preferred Cooper Square. AKAM takes very good care of their trophy buildings (eg., Beresford), and gives little or no service (but lots of promises to everyone else. Our agent was worthless--no experience, promise everything, deliver nothing. Could not even enforce a cleaning schedule. Total disaster.

You fired Cooper Square? May I ask the reasons?

mh23- What did Andrews do or not do to earn your wrath?

Sorry, my posting was not at all clear. We had a mgmt company for years and years--let's call them XXX. We fired XXX, and I would have preferred to go with Cooper Square, but we went with AKAM instead. AKAM was a mistake.

cdrvf, the bigger buildings are easier to manage they have more units and can spread the fees through out, when it comes to small boutique buildings (25-75 units),and Penmark keeps the costs down and the building is perfectly kept, always serviced right. That is much harder to do, I can highly recommend Neil Greenberg (his portfolio is booked, but if you request him you should be able to get him) he is my favorite, complete control of all his buildings, common sense managing style, always on call, his buildings are the best kept, he takes pride in it.

Take to consideration fees that managing company charges on rental/sales transactions:

For example:
$400 - proccesing fee (to mgmt company)
$250 - closing documents preparation fee (to mgmt company)
$300 - transfer fee (to condo)
$100 - document re-submission fee (to mgmt company)

one building has
$1000 - move in fees (refundable only when tenant moves out)
Something that comes to play when you want to sublet your unit and have to compete with similar available apartments in other buildings.

elena
(broker)

dledven - Thanks again. I am meeting with Leslie/Bernie/Terry and who they think would work best in our building to manage it this coming week. Will let you know how it goes.

Also meeting with Cooper

my building used to use akam which was horrible
we use siren now which is meh

I've had good dealings with Orsid in the past

keep me posted, you will be very happy, I would also ask to meet with the property manager, this way everyone is on the same page, (if you meet or request Neil Greenberg,you will see he is a straight shooter) and on the ball!

how do you convince a board to change managing agents? who has more power, the board or the managing agent?

our board changed our bldgs management after they failed to fix a variety of problems over the span of about a year

started another thread because have a bad board as well so doubtful they'd do anything useful

so fed up

dled - For the two in my finals, I asked them to bring to the final interiew, the property manager they think would suit us. I'll ask Leslie about Neil.

Do you have any comments at all on Cooper?

cd- I have never worked with them (Cooper), and I don't know which buildings they manage, so I can't comment. Sorry. keep me posted.

Stay away from Brown, Harris, Stevens, they manage my buidling, a disaster.

Elliman is corrupt...they are all about kickbacks...stay away.

I have to ask you guys since you are all involved in or owners of major buildings. My dad
is a super by proffession with 20 years experiance running 500 units and 200 unit buildings with full staff and is a Plumber by trade who can handle all facets of a residential building from managing a staff to running multiple boilers and handling all the Plumbing with no questions ask.

My dad is looking to get a buildng again in NYC, but it so hard to get one these days everything is email, the reason he left his other super after 10 years was because my grandmother died in Europe and he had to leave the country and was gone for almost a year handling certain things, he is now working as a Building manager in Jersey, but really desires to come back to NYC. he has all liceases and is a real asset to any building or property management , but to day with e-mails it is impossible to talk to someone, can anyone reccomend anything or a company to call or if any one of you are looking for a super, anything please e-mail me or respond here. I think I came accross tis web-site by luck ( hopefully)

zenshin416@yahoo.com

Please forgive typo's it is late.

AVOID JORDAN COOPER @ all costs, (Paul Bernsilber). Incompetant,inexperienced agents who are on the take.

Sorry, that was Paul Brensilber @ Jordan Cooper.

Yes. The company Jordan Cooper run by Paul Brensilber is very sleazy because HE'S very sleazy. It's very obvious after spending two minutes with the guy. I feel sorry for people in buildings he manages.

Anyone has dealt with Lawrence properties?

This is generally a pretty schlocky business. Tudor Realty is typical of the low-end, everything-is-an-effort, tons of mistakes type of company from my years of experience with them in my old building. They eventually get it right, but getting there wasn't pretty. And yes, it depending hugely on who was assigned to the building. But don't bank on that too much. This is a business with tons of turnover, low pay, buildings constantly crying about the management fees and the management companies constantly trying to reduce their costs.

My experience thus far with Greenthal is limited, but they have appeared completely competent, knowledgeable and responsive so far in contrast to Tudor.

Who would you recommend for a small coop (76-96 units)on UWS?

Re: which building manager to use for not-so-huge residential bldgs. I'm an architect and have had a good experience so far with using Cooper for all info leading up to a renovation. They seem up front, and to run a tight ship and really know the issues of building infrastructure. Alissen Williams terrific, she's an assistant manager.

cd- who did you end up going with?