I've lived in three Gittleman managed properties and all have been buildings older than 15 yrs old. Cosmetically, and I believe mechanically, the buildings 'seem' well managed, but I wonder if the large repairs on the buildings are really needed, and I wonder whether the biding process is truly honest. To me, it appears that often the same contractors receive the bids to do all the work; and thereby are the cono owners perhaps paying more for projects then might be necessary. Another concern I have is that usually the maintenance people live onsight, thus the asociation owns those units. I'm not aware of other condo associations across the US that do this, I wonder if cleaning maintenance might not be provided cheaper and equally as well by hiring a commercial cleaning firm that would clean all the Gittleman properties, and thus there would be economy of scale savings. Also, this would also allow the associations to sell the units the maintenance staff live in. On the other hand, mananging high-rise condos is complex,eg: I believe there are only 4-6 insurance companies that insure these types of building; also knowing which HVAC contractor is truly capable of replacing equipment on roof-tops is difficult. Lastly assocication dues are costly, often in the upper $200 - 400 per month.
more