We are essentially trying to help owners who are in the dark about what’s going on in their community. Charles Mackenzie-Hill local real estate agent and landlord wrote to me some month’s ago as our product (OCM) resonated with him. Mainly, because as in the service industry is forever trying to unravel local information for tenants or owners that they are trying to relocate. This is especially a problem whe it comes to community issues, where the owners are simply lost on what’s happening within their community and where their communities fees are due or spent on. Similarly most owners are also in need of services such as internet connection, SKY TV awnings, etc, some of which are either provided by the community or have certain rules that need to be complied with.
What also intrigued Charles was the multinational backgrounds nature of the development he lives in. There are many issues that people need resolving throughout the year. It is the normal procedure for these issues to be put to a committee to agree or disagree on. This is normally formally aired once a year at the AGM. We believe only once a year is now an outdated way of managing communities and the technology is here that allows us to keep in touch through out the year, making Annual meetings a thing of the past. Why wait 1 year to discuss an issue in 2 hours, when you have the whole year to read, review and express your opinion.
As CEO of Urbytus I have had many people like Charles , who are amazed that communities don’t use these websites and services. OCM is a free web portal that allows all communities to post all information, hold meetings, inform all residents and keep AGMs down the minimum time required. As a company we recognize that Charles, like many other owners would really appreciate a website but as not on the committee boards etc .have no sway with the taking on of a website.
So to help Charles and others, we have decided to provide this much needed service free for groups of owners as well as of communities. Active communities will also have the opportunity to upgrade to the full version for free. But the most important is that communication is key to success if you can create a better community and communication within your urbanization for no cost, while reducing communty fees and saving on all that postage and printing then why should you wait for you president to decide.
OCM has been installed on many communities in Malaga from Nerja to Cadiz, in Marbella, Mijas, Benalmadena. There are already many community administrators who have started using the software to their benefit.
The web portal is easy to use, like facebook and hotmail, however the most important part is that it has been specifically designed for communities of properties and has all the functions and multi level access that is required by a community. Functionalities like Proxy voting, AGMs, Tasks and repairs. Newsletters, registered email and so on …
Although Charles community is now starting to use OCM, there are still many communities which are turning a blind eye to these systems, just like when email and mobile was first entering the market.