In a condo community, sharing is the source of a lot of frustration and challenges.
Handling condo service requests is an important part of condo management.
Managing Shared Condo Spaces, Facilities, and Amenities
Date Published: Jul 20, 2018
- Booking Approvals
- Visitor Parking
- Key Tracking
- Reporting
- Security
Booking Approvals
In some condominiums, it seems like no one is taking advantage of the amenities. The party room sits barren and the games room goes unplayed. But other times it seems like a handful of tenants are hogging all the shared spaces. When this happens, it’s time to manage booking approval. First come, first serve is a booking policy that works most of the time. But what if the same person keeps getting there first? Condo amenities are paid for by all residents and it’s only fair that they are shared. It’s not just the frequency of bookings that fall into fair sharing of amenities either. Some other aspects that can require tighter booking management include residents:- Not using booked rooms
- Leaving messes
- Consistent noise complaints with booked amenities
Visitor Parking
One of the great challenges of property management is managing condo visitors. Visitors are part of the natural flow of condo life, so every manager needs a system in place to manage their comings and goings. That being said, handling visitor parking is one of the biggest headaches. In most condos, visitor parking is scarce. While during slow during slow times of day the number of visitor spots can seem overkill. But when it gets busy, especially on weekend evenings, there never seems to be enough parking to go around. This lack of parking usually occurs because of people sneaking in additional vehicles, hogging visitor parking, or a lack of parking enforcement. Whatever the cause, it’s important for condos to establish precise rules and policies regarding guest parking. Such policies may outline:- When guest parking is allowed/When is it enforced
- How many visitor parking permits per unit (often monthly limits)
- How long parking permits last
- How to/who will handle exceptions
- What tools enforce visitor parking
Key Tracking
One of the challenges of sharing space is sharing access. Condo keys, for one, are prone to getting lost. A lost key is inconvenient and, in some cases, a security risk. Key tracking is an important task for condo managers. Tenants can easily lose or forget to return keys for amenities and shared spaces. Replacing these keys can be time-consuming and costly. Taking advantage of key tracking software makes it is easy to locate and recover lost keys. Property managers can quickly look up who has what key. As well as who leant it to them, what identification was used to sign it out, and when it was signed out. Notes can be left, and keys can be created, deleted, and updated right from the system.Reporting
Reliable reporting is important for large, shared communities like condominiums. It establishes patterns and informs what regulations and policies are needed. It also improves the day-to-day flow of condo life. One of the biggest challenges of reporting is storing and recovering documents. Over the years, documents pile up - even in smaller condo buildings. This leads to two problems:- Space
- Sorting
Security
The benefit of shared space and amenities is that you get a whole lot more while paying a whole lot less. One of the big tradeoffs is that increasing sharing can mean decreasing security. Part of the role of the condo manager is to minimize this tradeoff. Well organized and intelligent management makes sharing possible and efficient without sacrificing security. Improving security relies on intuitive and reliable:- Communication
- Tracking
- Security Logs
- Registration
- Maintenance
- Incident Reporting
- Authorization
- Training
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