As natives from this area (just west of the wanna-be metropolitan city of Dallas), we are used to the Old West style of doing business - your handshake is your word and you treat your customer or business associate with the same respect as you would your own family... And then Excel Association Management decided to move into town from Plano.
We have lived in a condo managed by this "firm" for several years and they are the absolute worst HOA management company in North Texas from our some 25 years of real estate and HOA experiences.
For example:
In this age of e-commerce, all reputable companies spend the necessary money to market themselves professionally on the web. Simply put - if the website looks like a joke, it IS a joke.
Just look at their website link posted above. All reputable HOA management companies have a slick, professional, user-friendly website. Excel's website appears to be stuck in the 1980's when graphics were just not possible. It's worthless as a homeowner-friendly HOA website.
This should be a big WARNING sign to any prospective HOA Board!
Furthermore, Excel is obviously in it for the money and could care less about homeowners. Of course, Texas laws are in their favor and they use this to milk HOAs for everything they can. Money before service!
Customer service at Excel will eventually make you laugh at how unintelligent they think you are. Documents needed for a buyer to research your HOA are impossible to locate. They drag their feet, they charge huge fees and I have had many conversations filled with truly bad attitude in the attempt to get these documents for my buyers.
When the market was hot the buyers just put up with this bad behavior.in todays market, however, buyers are nervous and a lack of timely information just might be enough for them to bail.
Shouldnt a Management Company do a better job of helping the homeowners sell for (presumably) top dollar? And this leads to the spark for this particular rant. My client wants this unit. The building needs to obtain a special certification (FHA) in order for him to buy it. If the building gets this certification it becomes more desirable and easier to finance.
This kind of logical reasoning just doesn't happen at Excel. If they can't make money from helping you, they won't help you. Screw the HOA and your property values!
Homeowner Associations are completely unaware of how much a Management Company can affect their resale value. Perhaps they chose a Management Company based on price - cheapest monthly management fees prevail.
Buyers and homeowners are more sophisticated now and can smell a scam from across the county. They expect full disclosure in a timely manner or they will pull out and buy somewhere else. Expect better service from your Management Company and refuse to do business with these fraudsters.
Before you purchase, take a look at the HOA budgets and investigate the HOA management company.
I highly recommend you take Excel Association Management off of the list.
0 comments