Cost Reduction by eliminating the management company

The budget posted on our website shows that we spend over $40,000.00 per year to employ a property management firm. Although I am not certain of exactly what they do, it appears that their main purpose it to coordinate our requirements with other suppliers we contract with such as landscapers, utility companies, website manager, our attorney, etc. There may be an opportunity reduce our spend by that amount, almost 8% of our total budget, if these responsibilities which are primarily making phone calls, were handled by the board. For example, financial matters would be handled by the Treasurer, communications by the Secretary, etc. As a side note, if a property management firm is to be retained, I do not think our current firm is up to par, particularly with their inability to get the waterfall repaired in almost a year. But that's just my opinion.

I would like to present an opposing view regarding Brown and Glenn management company, who manages our subdivision. I think they do an excellent job and are worth every penny we pay them.

First, regarding the water fall at the gate: It may appear that nothing has been done since it hasn't been running for over a year. We have done numerous repairs, but each time one problem is fixed another one comes up. There are two basic issues that we are dealing with. First, the water fall was very poorly designed by the developer. Second, it is very difficult to find people with expertise in repairing large water falls. Neil Brennan has been following this process very closely and he can give explicit details on that issue. This is certainly not the fault of Brown and Glenn as they have spent many, many hours trying to take care of this situation.

I think many people in our community are not aware of the scope of the work that our management does for us. It would be very difficult, if not impossible for us to manage RP with all volunteer resources. The following are just a few examples of the types of things they do:


* Attend monthly HOA Board meetings, and annual meetings.
* Send out 362 bills for HOA dues twice per year.
* Record and deposit dues checks as they come in.
* Send out multiple reminders to those who are late paying dues.
* Prepare legal documentation for liens against those who are delinquent on dues.
* Coordinate lien filings with our attorney.
* Respond to phone calls and emails from property owners regarding dues. There are usually multiple contacts per day to Brown and Glenn during the first month or so after semi-annual bills are sent (especially from those who are delinquent), with continuing contacts at a lower rate throughout the year.
* Prepare and coordinate payment plans for those who are delinquent on dues.
* Prepare documentation sent to the collection agency regarding delinquent HOA dues.
* Provide documentation to closing attorneys for every property sale in RP, regarding current status of HOA dues on the property.
* Verify and pay 60 - 70 invoices per month to vendors providing services to RP.
* Establish and coordinate credit card payment system (in the near future, we will have the option of paying HOA dues by credit card)
* Maintain all accounting records for our HOA.
* Provide monthly financial statements to us.
* Send out several mailings per year (in addition to the HOA dues billing) to the 362 property owners.
* Coordinate repairs, maintenance, and other services, which includes:
- determine appropriate vendors
- solicit bids for work
- prepare contracts for regular maintaince.
- take calls from property owners regarding repairs needed in the common areas.
- schedule work to be done.
- assure that work was done appropriately, sometimes requiring Brown and Glenn to be present here in RP.
* Maintain scheduling records and collect rent for Clubhouse rentals.
* Maintain gate code assignment.
* Provide advice to us regarding issues related to North Carolina HOA laws and regulations.

This is just a partial list of the types of things Brown and Glenn Management Company does for the RPHOA, as well as many other tasks too numerous to list.

I freely admit that I have not been intimately involved in the waterfall repair process, however in business we usually measure performance by results and hold people accountable. If a Waterfall at the main entrance of our community cannot be fixed in a year by our management company I have to seriously question their ability to manage. If the president of the HOA had to try repairing it himself B&G should be embarrassed. Non-performance is often accompanied by excuses. For them to claim that it is difficult to find a company knowledgable about repairing large waterfalls sounds ridiculous. To state that the waterfall was poorly designed seems strange since it worked for the prior 7 years just fine. If I were them, I would be working much harder to prove my capabilities. This is my opinion and maybe I am the only one who feels this way but I get a knot in my stomach every time I enter the community.

I echo the comments in support of the work that Brown and Glenn does for us. Members of the Board are in contact with them on a weekly basis; I speak with either Trey Helms or Mary Norris on average about three times a week on various issues. The experience and insights they bring from their handling of other communities and the issues that arise across the spectrum of HOAs have proven very valuable to Reflection Pointe. The record reviews they undertook in preparing for the suit we brought against the developer were in-depth, accurate, and compelling; without them we would not have had such a firm stand in reaching the settlement and the payoffs we realized. They are a hands-on management company. Just one example: when the gates failed from a lightning strike on July 4th at 9PM, Trey Helms came out that night to see if he could reset the breakers, but the damage was more extensive. Firing Brown and Glenn and having residents take on all the responsibilities and functions they provide would be detrimental to Reflection Pointe. We fired the previous management company because they were unresponsive performed poorly; Browm and Glenn performs as if they live here.

With regard to the waterfall, one design problem is that aluminum cables were used for the feed from the gatehouse to the pump pit instead of more reliable copper lines. Another design problem is that there are no junction boxes between the gate house and the pit, so pulling out the damaged cables and running new cables through the existing conduit is impossible. We could have chosen to run a new, separate line a few months ago at a cost of $6500, but the Board decided to seek other estimates to save funds. Through that process, we found an electrician who had the waterfall pump running by using another cable in the conduit (the neutral) in place of the damaged phase line. But then a second phase line failed, and there are no other cables in the run to use in its place. That electrician recommended we seek an alternate plan that may be less expensive and more reliable, and I meet with the Duke people to discuss an alternative plan on Monday, Sept 12. That meeting took a few weeks to arrange because of Duke’s schedule. Bottom line: the delay in repairing the waterfall is not attributable to Brown and Glenn. Will keep all posted. Neil Brennan

Installation of a separate line to provide power to the watefall pump begins this week at ~ half the cost of the original estimates - saved ~ $3K. Cruiserman