Beck & Company Real Estate Services — Attraction in Austin

Late in the spring of 2018, as I was finishing my first term on the Board of Directors of Tiffany Condominium’s, I was introduced to our new property manager, Mystre’ Van Horn by Mr. Stan Schreiber. Mr. Schreiber was a former co-owner of Beck and Company which he and Mr. Beck had recently sold to Paul Meisler, President of Pioneer Real Estate Inc. For the last 36 of its 50 years, this property had been maintained by a very conscientious and fiscally conservative board. I was not on the board between May 2018 and May 2019, the first year of the Mystre’ Van Horn’s service as property manager but I did observe the work of the board and property manager. During that first year, the board with initiatives from the property manager, Mystre’ Van Horn and Assistance from Mr. Meisler accomplish the following: Solved a long-standing hot water recirculation problem in building C by employing a new plumbing/engineering firm not previously used by Tiffany. Initiated a comprehensive study of replacement reserves which identified numerous items that had not been included in the previous reserve planning process and revised the replacement cost estimates for all items in the previous reserve budget with the result of identifying almost $200,000 in additional reserve funding needs. Initiated an in-depth study of the most urgent and costly item in the replacement reserve budget, the flat roofs. Invested more of the replacement reserves in higher yield certificates of deposit with the consequent increase in earnings for the Association. Rebid Association insurance under a master policies approach with substantial savings as a result. Employed an engineering consultant to more definitively identified the source of moisture vapor emissions in the building I concrete slab. Employed legal counsel from a firm with great depth in Association property management. Contracted with a Home Repairs Service to perform a wide range of repairs at lower cost and greater efficiency than always using trade focused specialists. Improved communications with owners and tenants with a web-based portal. As a result of these board initiatives under Mystre’ Van Horn’s first year of leadership, the board was well-positioned to serve the Association during my current term on the board, May 2019 – May 2021. Recent accomplishments include: Insurance company resolution of a multiyear conflict over moisture vapor emissions in the slab building I. Installation in 2020 of an energy saving roof coating with a 20-year life at a cost of $173,000 rather than a 2023 replacement of the roof with a 15-year life at a projected cost of $350,000, or about half the likely replacement cost. Achieved total reserve funding of over 85% of full funding need in January 2021 which can be compared to less than 50% when the first reserve study was completed for 2019. This moves the Association from medium to high risk of requiring a special assessment to a low risk based on national standards. Effectively managed risks associated with emergency City of Austin COVID regulations and an unprecedented winter storm. By covering the roof reserve funding deficit through a onetime special assessment, operated without an increase in regular dues for three years. During this term, I have found Mystre’ to be very engaged with and helpful to the Board. She has been responsive to the needs of the Board and...

I currently live at a property managed by Beck & Company. When I left for work two mornings ago I saw that a homeless man was sleeping on the property by the pool, right by my bedroom window. I contacted my landlord, and she left a message about it with the property manager, Lisa Spearman. When I got home from work later that, I looked to see if the issue had been resolved. Instead, I discovered that on the side of the complex where the man was sleeping that morning, piles of trash, clothes, a blanket, and a cooler. The homeless man had clearly been camping out there for a while now, and I do not understand how a property management company who should be routinely walking the property did not notice this. I filed a police report and contacted the property management company to see why nothing had been done. I left my name and number with an after hours operator who said that my property manager would get back in contact with me shortly. A few minutes later I received a call from a blocked number. It was Lisa Spearman calling to scold me for calling the after hours number for a non emergency and said that it wasn't her responsibility. I explained to her that I felt unsafe with the person sleeping outside of my apartment and that I had contacted the police, but wanted to know why the property management company was not addressing the issue themselves, since managing the property is their responsibility. The woman then called me a horrible person and told me not to bother her after hours and hung up the phone. Yesterday morning, I woke up to discover the man sleeping next to my bedroom window again. I called the police and they came out to remove him 45 min later, and when I asked how I could be sure that he wouldn't come back they said there was nothing they could do to keep him off the property because my property manager, Lisa, had failed to renew our property's no trespass warrant. They also said that a few simple fixes on the property, such as the broken fence slats that the homeless man had been coming in through, could help mitigate this issue. So, yet again, when I went back outside to leave for work 20 min later the homeless man was outside my front door again. Lisa's failure to perform even the most basic tasks to maintain the property to keep its residents safe proves that she is incompetent as a property manager and is an extreme liability for Beck & Company. Additionally, Lisa has still yet to fix the fence or address how she treated me on the phone when I first called attention to the issue. If this is any indication of how this company treats their residents, I do NOT suggest living at any of...

Extremely disappointed. The only elevator in the complex broke around moving time, so there have been maintenance people here for a while and a MONTH ago a porta potty was placed in my only assigned parking spot- that I personally PAY for- without my permission. I was never asked, the porta potty just appeared one day while I was gone for a couple hours. I called the company and asked the woman in charge, Lisa Spearman, about the issue. She said she would have them move the porta potty ASAP. Weeks went by and the porta potty was never moved. I started to leave notes and tape them to the porta potty, telling them that this porta potty is in an occupied spot that I personally pay for and I left my number in case they needed to contact me. The notes were THROWN AWAY I was NEVER CONTACTED and the porta potty WAS NEVER REMOVED. My personal, assigned parking spot was now occupied by this porta potty for a month, without my permission, and no compensation or explanation was given. Instead, they ignored and disregarded all of my attempts to contact them. This company is extremely unprofessional and...