Case study

160 Wooster - the immediate impact of switching to Daisy

Published: February 2022 // Examined: November - December 2021
Daisy is the only company that does what a property management company should do - they manage!
Olivier Sarfati, 160 Wooster Board President

Prior to switching to Daisy

Along with the rest of the board, Olivier was frustrated with the level of service offered by the previous management company: email response time was slow; projects remained at a standstill; and the information supplied by the property management company didn’t give him the confidence needed to make important decisions.
Traditional Management companies simply don't care. They have no incentive to save money on vendors or raise the value of the building, as they measure their success purely on the number of buildings signed rather than on improvements within each building.
Although unsatisfied with the management, 160 Wooster wasn’t actively looking for a new company - mainly because the board felt that all property management companies are the same so it would be easier to stick to the current management company, as Olivier put it.

Among the issues faced by 160 Wooster:

After getting 3 high bids from our property management company with no clarification, I decided to do my own research and discovered that I could get vendors to lower their prices by 30%.

Poor project management
Projects lagged and the property management company was  reactive rather than proactively seeking opportunities to improve the building.

Lack of efficient tools
The onsite manager lacked the tools needed to work effectively - resulting in tasks falling between the cracks. There was no efficient software or tracking system in place, while the accounting software couldn’t do simple tasks like show if any of the expenses were out of line.

Non-transparent vendor bidding process
The management company showed a lack of transparency regarding financial planning - especially when it came to vendor bidding and negotiation.

About the building
Built in 2004, 160 Wooster is a chic boutique 8-floor condo in the heart of Manhattan’s SoHo. The uniqueness of the building is in its size coupled with the high quality service expected by unit owners.
Units
15 residential, 2 commercial
Board members
4
Annual budget
$614,000
Onsite team
24/7 Doorman and full-time
Resident Manager
Previous management company
Industry leading NYC property  management company
(+400 buildings / +5000 units)
About Olivier Sarfati
In addition to his role of 160 Wooster Board President since 2016, Olivier Sarfati is also Head of Equities at an investment firm. Tech-savvy, innovative and detail-oriented, Olivier cares deeply about the building. Greatly pleased with the improvements seen at 160 Wooster since partnering with Daisy, Olivier was happy to share his thoughts for this case study.

Transition to Daisy

Once I came across Daisy, it was clear that it was time for a change. The transition was seamless, with constant  progress updates.
Daisy took over 160 Wooster’s management on November 1st, 2020.
30 days before the official transition, an end-to-end analysis was performed:
22 vendors analyzed + 4 contracts renegotiated
42 new tasks identified
to improve the building
18 building systems
assessed and documented
Daily meetings with the resident manage
Onsite team trained on the new operating system
22 vendors analyzed + 4
contracts renegotiated
The Daisy neighbor app
Building system documentation
Building task list
Get started

Daisy’s immediate impact

Our security camera project cost 50% less than the previous quote we received, the water tank repair was 30% cheaper, and our insurance carrier was replaced at a much better price.
During the transition process the Daisy team identified several issues that needed to be resolved in order to get 160 Wooster to a “healthy” status. These issues included - a leaking water tank, security concerns, an inefficient water pump and more. Within the first 4 months Daisy had fixed the water tank, installed security cameras, removed a defunct rooftop antenna, replaced the water pump and cleaned out a decommissioned battery room.
Description
Money saved
*Major projects completed
Response time
Issue resolve time
Resident satisfaction rating
Before Daisy
Not measured
Avg. 1 / year
Avg. 7 hours**
Not measured
Not measured
After Daisy
12% of annual budget
6 in 4 months
Avg. 2:18 mins
Avg. 1:57 hrs
9.6 out of 10
*Major projects - Require a $6,000+ budget and consultations with our experts.
**Average response time - this is an estimate given to us by board members, since the previous managing agent didn’t measure this metric.

What the future holds for 160 Wooster

The initial months with Daisy were about setting a new standard for the building’s operations, and improving the building’s “health”. We then focused on the building’s finances and creating a smart budget to allow for strategic improvement of the building for the coming years. We began a facade restoration project in order to be compliant with Local law 11 (FISP), which will continue into this year. This year, 2022, we are focused on decreasing energy costs, finding additional savings for the building, and offering more services that further elevate resident satisfaction.
What are you waiting for?
Bring Daisy to your building!
Get Started