property management companies - local vs. non-local

Hi, our selection of property management companies, where we are located, is pretty limited. I am aware that some property management companies operate long-distance. Originally, when we began looking for a property management company, we figured we had to have someone who was local.

I am now wondering if having someone local is the necessity we thought it was. Since our area is limited on our selection, i am wondering if we could be considering a company who is not local. Hope i am making myself clear here.

What do all of you think? - pro's...con's of local vs non-local - any and all advice will be appreciated!

Even though there may not be too many property management companies in your area, you may want to talk to a few HOAs in your area to see who they use - that can help you narrow down the folks you may want to talk to. If you haven't already done so, start with considering what you want your property manager to do and prioritize the stuff that's most important - that should drive the final decision.

Our property management company is part of a very large corporation (I won’t name them, but many of you would probably recognize the name). They have a local office which I think is very important as far as getting things done on the property. Local folks may also have a better idea as to which contractor is better than the rest (although I would check to be sure there isn’t collusion between the two).

On the other hand, I find this company tends to nickel and dime certain services - it's tempting to go with them because it's more of a one stop shop, but you may get a better deal by subcontracting out the paperwork management Steve mentioned - like him, I agree that should also be handled by people who are familiar with the laws in your state and HOA operations in general. Another problem with a non-local company - they may have so many communities of various sizes, it's possible for the smaller communities to get lost in the shuffle.

Our Management Company's (MC) corp. offices are over an hour away. Our Property Mgr. (PM) lives in our city. But she is onsite full-time and we have a mgr. asst. too. I recall form another post that you presently have a PM onsite only a few hours a week even though you are not a small HOA.

It depends on how often your PM is on the premises and, as Steve points out, whether you need a PM mainly for paperwork? Or do you need one to monitor staff, landscapers say? Or do other tasks that require one to live nearby, follow up on rules violations.

Sheila suggests checking with other local HOAs and I think that's a good idea too.

If you give more details I think Roger may offer more ideas. We also have another knowledgeable PM who visits this site often.