Executive Managing Agent

Matthew Dean A well‑run Community Scheme is not built on luck — it is built on consistent maintenance, responsible decision‑making, and a management team that refuses to cut corners. If you live at a complex, you will know that maintenance is critical. On a larger scale the building may need...

Taylor Noble The promise, and the peril, of AI-generated information in Community Scheme management. Artificial intelligence has arrived in the sectional title industry, and it is not leaving. Managing Agents are using it to draft correspondence, summarise financial statements and prepare meeting packs in a fraction of the time. Trustees...

Taylor Noble Governance failure may trigger the crisis, but the calibre of the partners appointed determines the outcome. When Community Schemes fall into distress, the conversation often centres around governance failure and rightly so. Poor oversight, weak financial controls, and delayed decision-making can quickly destabilise even well-positioned buildings. But governance...

Benefits Of Appointing an EMA    Junaid Mally (ZDFin)   Is it beneficial to a Scheme to be run by volunteers, after hours and without compensation: A dive into the benefits of appointing an Executive Managing Agent in a Sectional Title Scheme In a previous article published by our office...

Matthew Dean (ZDFin)   While you may have heard about a “Managing Agent” in the property industry and in particular regarding Sectional Title Schemes; more recently you may also have heard of the term “Executive Managing Agent”. One may see the two concepts as being similar or even the same;...

Let's Get Phsycial (6th June 2024 - Johannesburg)   These videos were recorded at the last LET'S GET PHYSICAL event which took place in Johannesburg on the 6th of June 2024. In these videos we hear our Michael Schaefer, the founder of ZDFin, share some of his thoughts about the...

Specialist finance company ZDFin has over 50 years of experience in property and financial management. They offer superior financial products that address a wide range of challenges, and which can be tailor-made to suit one’s Scheme.  To read more about this story, click on the story below: https://everythingproperty.co.za/finance-company-zdfin-adds-value-to-community-schemes/?fbclid=IwAR2hJTyvSPVXu0SkPEMBQpAGmkcf1lgBjITHXO33k0OP2xhgem0XhGJGbpk...

Managing a community scheme is no easy task requiring extensive knowledge of legislation governing community schemes, financial understanding, mediation and organisational skills, and the ability to handle various responsibilities and personalities simultaneously. In this article, we will explore a few examples of how the appointment of an Executive Managing Agent...

Hosted by TVDM Consultants on 11 May 2023. Are you aware of the different financial options available for your scheme?...

The economic crunch in South Africa has put multiple schemes, this being bodies corporates, share-block companies, and homeowners’ associations,  under heightened financial pressure. It is in times like these that it is vital that schemes partner with trusted service providers to assist them to navigate these challenging times. Scheme executives...

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - “Moving into 2023, we continue to look for business growth opportunities and to expand our national footprint.  The opening of a Cape Town office headed up by Amdene Viljoen, will go a long way to meeting the growing demand in the Western Cape, for smart financial...

“We’re incredibly pleased to have had solid growth in 2022 and ended on a stronger note than at the start of the year,” says ZDFin CEO, Michael Schaefer. “Celebrating two years in a new business that has been so impacted by the challenging economy and many of the infrastructural issues...

Key to the ZDFin offering is how we tailor-make solutions to maximise the smooth running of Sectional Title Bodies Corporate, Home Owners’ Associations and Share Block companies. With one or a combination of financial or management products, such as project finance, specialist collections, levy and/or debtor finance or Executive Managing...

If you missed it. A recap of the EMA Matrix discussion from the Pearls of Wisdom Seminar....

According to The South African Institute of Valuers, an Exclusive Use Area (ESA) is: ‘an area of the common property that is set aside for the exclusive use of one owner of a unit in a building. Typical of this would be a garden area, a carport, a storeroom, balcony...

“Tax season, AGM’s and seasonal maintenance are the triad of annual requirements that keep Bodies Corporate and other Community Schemes on track and ‘financially healthy’, year in and year out,” says Michael Schaefer, CEO of specialist finance company ZDFin. “There’s no doubt that the more organised a scheme is, the...

Do we or don’t we ...is a question many sectional title schemes ask themselves when it comes to appointing an Executive Managing Agent (EMA). Brought about with the changes in legislation that came with the ‘new’ Sectional Title Schemes Management Act (no8 of 2016), an EMA is ‘an external individual...

Accountability is an essential part of whether an EMA really works for a scheme. The EMA is required to manage the scheme with the required professional level of skill and care that would be required from Trustees and is Is liable for losses suffered by the scheme, should the EMA...

It’s understandable that it may be difficult for owners to hand over the reins to a third party and often there is a limited understanding of what a difference an EMA could make to the scheme and owners.  Asking questions and getting trustworthy information from professionals in order to gain...

Being a Trustee in a scheme is a time-consuming, often thankless job and requires hours of meetings and engagements, mostly without remuneration. Owners need to realise that administering a scheme from a trustee point of view, is much like running a business and deserves a similar level of care and...

Do we or don’t we ...is a question many sectional title schemes ask themselves when it comes to appointing an Executive Managing Agent (EMA). Michael Schaefer CEO of ZDFin, believes the question you should rather be asking is whether your scheme is being managed with the care and consideration it...

“There was little inspiration to be had from last week’s State of the Nation Address (SONA 2022), especially insofar as it relates to the residential property sector,” says Michael Schaefer CEO of specialist finance company ZDFin. “Perhaps the one positive take-out is the growing acknowledgement of the central role of...

Media Realease July 2021 Is an Executive Managing Agent the right choice for your scheme?  Do we or don’t we ...is a question many sectional title schemes ask themselves when it comes to appointing an Executive Managing Agent (EMA). Michael Schaefer CEO of ZDFin, believes the question you should rather...

‘We’re delighted to announce that ZDFin has been appointed as executive managing agent (EMA) for a 53-unit scheme in Hyde Park, Johannesburg,” says ZDFin CEO Michael Schaefer. “Further to our business strategy, we see a glaring opportunity in the market that is crying out for skilled, dedicated and experienced management...