Estate manager vs managing agent: what's the difference?
Trustees often ask us whether they need an estate manager if they already have a managing agent. The short answer: they do different jobs, and the gap between them is usually filled by volunteer trustees, unpaid and after hours.
What a managing agent does
A managing agent is a company paid to provide scheme management services to the body corporate. Managing agents must be registered with the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA), and they are appointed by the trustees under a written management agreement. Their work is mostly financial and administrative:
- Levy billing and collection, including arrears and debt collection
- Accounting, budgets and the body corporate's financial records
- Organising the AGM and other general meetings
- Advising trustees on financial management and compliance
Many management agreements also mention maintenance and security, but in practice a managing agent looking after dozens of schemes cannot be on site every week.
What an estate manager does
An estate manager looks after the daily running of the complex. At Cloud Hawk that means:
- An onsite presence, daily if your estate needs it
- Resident queries, move-in and move-out forms, pet and domestic worker registrations
- Logging maintenance and following it up with contractors until it is done
- Overseeing garden, security and maintenance service providers
- Site inspections, notices and newsletters, and reports for trustees
We are not a managing agent. We do not handle levies or the scheme's finances, so we work alongside your managing agent, not against it, and there is no conflict of interest.
And the trustees?
Trustees remain in charge. Under section 8 of the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act, they owe the body corporate a fiduciary duty: to act honestly, in good faith and in the scheme's interests, and to avoid conflicts of interest. Neither a managing agent nor an estate manager takes that responsibility away. What an estate manager does is take the day-to-day workload off their shoulders, so their time goes into decisions rather than chasing contractors.
Do you need both?
Small schemes with very involved trustees sometimes manage without an estate manager. Larger complexes, estates with shared facilities, and schemes with many tenants usually find that daily issues quickly overwhelm volunteers. An estate manager is often the difference between trustees burning out and trustees staying on.
Want to see what an estate manager would cover for your scheme? Request a proposal or WhatsApp us on 076 651 9521.