Getting updates from property manager

We have a new property manager and want to ensure he's doing a good job in terms of following up on vendors, making sure proposals are getting obtained in time, doing drive-arounds, etc.

I suppose this is geared mainly towards the board president's, but how do you make sure the property manager is doing a good job without actually doing their job for them?

Yep, that's already being done. I'm very active in driving and walking around the community. I'm asking more along tracking items they are working on for the community/board.

Our property manager provides a management report for the board meetings, and it tells when things have been done or where she's at on other tasks, such as "I contacted so and so on this date and sent an RFP - a response is expected by Y date).

You don't say how new this property manager is, but micromanaging can cause problems - give him or her a little breathing room to start, and some time to get used to the community. Besides, I suspect homeowners will let you know if they have questions or concerns about a vendor's work.

Do you have a full-time PM? Onsite office? Or? How many homes are in your HOA? Many amenities?

Our Bylaws state that it's the president's job to ensure that the PM is following through with board directives. Generally, the present meets once a week with the PM to go over of check list of current directives to the PM to see their progress.

I just listened to the feedback from my fellow membership. They will tell you any "stories" about their experiences with the PM. You can "filter" through that information as it could be a communication gap. Not every complaint is worthy of taking on the role of "hero".

Do not find the need to watch over every PM move. Hired them to do a job. If I find them overstepping that role or not succeeding in any, then I follow up. Calling them every day is a bit annoying. It doesn't show you trust your PM and/or let them do their job. Which they need to do.

There are some issues with PM that can take over an HOA. However, those cases are mostly due to HOA's with boards/members whom don't want to do anything in their HOA. They don't want to take an active role and hence the PM just takes over. If your board is organized and acts like a proper board, then PM is just an extension of the HOA and NOT the HOA...

We have time at each Board meeting for the property manager to respond to all of the items that they are responsible for. I email our rep anytime I have a question that needs an answer and I copy all of the Board members, so they know what is going on. This is not my Board, but we work as a collective group on all issues.

We got a new property manager last year who started out giving a weekly manager's report with all she had done and all open items that week. I was recently told the PM company requires a weekly report. It gets published on our website weekly and also she gives a monthly report in our newsletter.

She stopped doing them for a few months and we really missed them - I don't want to be in the office micro-managing daily and this let's me know what she's been working on. I think it's the minimum to expect from your PM.