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Property Management
updated: Jul 20, 2012, 9:49 AM

Do readers have a recommendation for a good property management company to handle a small condo association in the mid-Santa Barbara city area?

Places People Are Talking About:

Cochrane Property Management	DP Investments	Kennedy Accounting Systems
McFarland Financial	Santa Barbara Luxury Rentals

What People Are Saying:

COMMENT 299711	2012-07-20 10:12 AM
Local, great at what they do. Professional. Gallagher Property Management, LLC 1815 State St, Suite D Santa Barbara, CA 93101 (805) 682-8433
COMMENT 299717	2012-07-20 10:27 AM
Joe Kennedy. I rented through him for years and never had a better landlord/prop mgr.
COMMENT 299721	2012-07-20 10:36 AM
St John and Assoc. Kristen St. John 805-683-1793 I have worked with them for years and they are... The best!
COMMENT 299729P	2012-07-20 10:50 AM
Most of them charge a minimum of around $800 a month for basic needs. ~~~~~ How big is your Association.... how many Units? Are you looking for someone to run your association, or just do projects... (Project Manager). And, make sure you get very familar with the Davis Stirling Act, and get the book too.
COMMENT 299738P	2012-07-20 11:05 AM
Joe Kennedy's company is Kennedy Accounting Systems - I work there and we manage several local condo and PUD projects. Call Joe for a quote: 962-1626 299717 - thanks for your kind words, I forwarded this to Joe.
COMMENT 299740P	2012-07-20 11:07 AM
I have had no personal experience with this company, however, a neighbor who lives in a small condo association locally has spoken very highly of St. John & Associates. Kristin St. John CCAM. 3887 State Street #24. Santa Barbara, CA 93105. 805-683-1793.
COMMENT 299748	2012-07-20 11:15 AM
Beware using property mgt firms for HOA management. Their services can add significantly to the HOA fee and that in turn reduces market value. There is one big property management company in town that is making a KILLING and ruining sales prices in the developments it manages. HOA fees range from $350/mo (basic, no pool, no utils) to $600 (pool and utils and insurance included). Why pay an HOA when you could be using that $$ to pay a mortgage on a single family home?
COMMENT 299765	2012-07-20 11:41 AM
Cochrane Property Management. Local SB Don. Beware of Bartlein. We had to sue them for our Condo complex problems. They were robbing us blind and settled out of court to avoid publicity.
COMMENT 299785	2012-07-20 12:20 PM
Contact McFarland Financial (Google their website) (805) 562-8482 x1 They specialize in accounting for small condo associations and offer association management services as well. Good luck!
COMMENT 299789	2012-07-20 12:38 PM
Not worth it for small condos. Use automatic payments at a business oriented bank for association fees and watch every penny with an in-house volunteer bookkeeper and good annual meetings where each owner demands and gets full disclosure. You are an owner, you have a vested interest in seeing this is well-managed. Small condo associations are proof "democracy" while a good theory, does not work in practice. The city needs to audit every single condo association for fiscal solvency before they keep cramming these high-density schemes and infill projects down our throats as "affordable" housing options. Usually they are socio-economic nightmares. Someone needs to write a book about what can and usually does go wrong with these small group governance operations.
COMMENT 299802	2012-07-20 01:05 PM
McFarland Financial - our HOA switched to them last year and are very happy. But you have to be involved yourself.
COMMENT 299803P	2012-07-20 01:06 PM
Folks who'd like to do further research into a particular company might find the Santa Barbara Superior Court Web site useful. There are indexes -- particularly the Public Civil Index, which goes back decades -- that can be searched online, for free. The court Web site is http://www.sbcourts.org/index.asp
COMMENT 299804	2012-07-20 01:08 PM
I am on the Board of our HOA and have worked with Kennedy and now with St John and Assoc- St John and Assoc is excellent.
COMMENT 299831	2012-07-20 02:25 PM
We tried Goodman for a while - no value added and waste of our condo fee money.
COMMENT 299836	2012-07-20 02:47 PM
Santa Barbara Luxury Rentals.
FANGIRL	2012-07-20 03:35 PM
Another vote for St. John & Associates! Our association has worked with Kristen for years and she is great!
COMMENT 299864	2012-07-20 04:00 PM
Ours went from Bartlein to Goodman...I thought it couldn't get any worse but it did.
D8VANILLA	2012-07-20 05:44 PM
I would have to agree with # 789.... Usually NOT worth it for a small association. You could hire a project manager for big projects, like painting, roofing, termite... things like that. Everything else should be easy and routine. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ***How many Units are in your HOA???? ***And, why do you think you need to hire a management company to run the place????
COMMENT 299901	2012-07-20 05:56 PM
Small is anything under 8-10 units. This of this like a family owning a vacation cottage. You all get together once a year and decide what needs to be done and how to budget it. League of Women's Voters will help you set up your elections and manage them if there are family squabbles. Look to your bylaws and CC&R's for guidance. The better organized and prudent your association working relationship is, the higher your resale value. You did buy into this "family" Make it work on your own. I would never want to buy into a "small" condo association with problems that needed professional management. So, what do you call "small"?
COMMENT 299914P	2012-07-20 07:27 PM
Seems apparent that the OP (original poster) does NOT want to give us any more information. ~~~~~~ The more information we have, the better we can advise you...
COMMENT 299943P	2012-07-20 10:10 PM
Regardless of how we define "small," these are good recommendations. Thanks, Edhatters. (No, I'm not the OP.)
COMMENT 299957	2012-07-21 07:15 AM
EREG 8054531396
8111989	2012-07-21 09:10 AM
I've been with Gallagher for a decade after trying two others. I agree with 299711.
D8VANILLA	2012-07-21 11:07 AM
Even if it's a "small" association, there are still many factors to consider, such as: Is there a pool, gym, common area, common TV access, lounge or meeting room, laundry room, electric vehicle recharge area, garages or car-ports, visitor parking, security guard, gated community with kiosk or without kiosk, garden area, trees, are your reserves funded properly, deferred maintenance, problematic owners or rentors, pets....... get my point.... the list could go on.... ~~~~~~~~ So, AGAIN, the more info we have the better we can advise.
COMMENT 300067	2012-07-21 01:45 PM
What do small condos need to budget and manage? 1. Insurance 2. Gardening 3. Water/garbage 4. Major maintenance - painting, roofs, landscaping, pavings, security 5. Common area electricity and plumbing Each owner should print out and memorize the Calif Civil Code Davis-Sterling Act for common interest developments. Make sure you know what you as an owner is responsible for and what remains the common area concerns of the homeowners association. And understand especially what is exclusive-use common area, which is each individual owners responsibility to manage and repair. Plus your CC&R's and association by-laws need to be followed too. You can avoid 99% of all condo problems with a little preparation and homework.
COMMENT 300302	2012-07-22 03:02 PM
DP Investments. Hands down the best.
GBOB	2012-07-22 03:14 PM
We're in a 40-unit association, and for the past half-dozen years we've had Sandra Foehl managing. She's good, reasonable, and knows her stuff. We've been VERY happy with her. She's also been working for a much larger group that has been going through major renovation and repair of 50+-year-old construction, so she can handle more than just the day-to-day operations. sfoehl@msn.com
COMMENT 300370	2012-07-22 08:33 PM
OP here -- many thanks for these friendly and knowledgeable responses! We are in the 20-25 unit range and have been an association for 40+ years, so we're aware of who we are and what's involved. Though we appreciate the expertise of advisors, we aren't debating about our operating model, only mulling over a management shift. The recommendations and cautions on individuals and outfits you've encountered are what I needed, and thank you all again.
COMMENT 300602	2012-07-23 04:37 PM
Another vote for McFarland Financial/Team HOA. We switched from Bartlein a few years ago and Geoff McFarland has done a great job for us. They actually know how to use technology instead of doing everything the old-fashioned, slow way.