Richard Pearlstein - Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario

RCM PROFILE — RICHARD PEARLSTEIN
Think Your Way to Success
By Viktor von Buchstab
Enthusiasm may be the first important contribution
Richard Pearlstein brings to the table. Other
abilities include a lean, healthy, trim persona,
which leads to an appreciation of his professional
outlook on business matters. The founder of
Northcan Property Management Inc. shows a track
record of developing lean, healthy, trim practices
in the condominium properties of the management
company. Along the way, the Northcan president
also demonstrates a keen understanding of building
mechanicals, and a grasp of financial implications
reinforced by intense focus on fiscal matters – and
even teaching pertinent ACMO courses.
Like many property managers interviewed in this
series, Richard Pearlstein didn’t set out to study
property management. He studied chemistry and planned to be a research chemist after
university graduation in the 1970s – around the time the first condominium corporations
were being spawned. (He noted, during summer jobs, his peers-to-be – chemists with
Masters degrees and doctorates washing test tubes and performing other menial tasks
considering their training. His view of the future dimmed further on discovering these
highly credentialed scientists earned appallingly modest salaries – adequate for a basic
graduate, but not exciting for anyone with some financial ambitions.)
Having learned at university how to teach himself a lot of arcane lore via reading, he took
a flexible stance in his job searches and, when an opportunity presented itself in a large
complex of rental buildings, he promptly became introduced to the property management
business. But not as a property manager – yet. As superintendent, he learned the
awesome spectrum of mechanical and related topics that is part of a property manager’s
skillset and, in short order, he became maintenance supervisor, assistant property
manager and then property manager. Young Richard Pearlstein’s academic experience
hardly pointed to building management, but he demonstrated an unusual ability to learn
new things – of any complexity. During this era, he found his buildings sold to other
enterprises; he went with the buildings. When the owners changed, a long-time colleague
and mentor told him, “DEL is looking for people.” In the fast-growth setting of the early
’70s, DEL Property Management (Tridel at the time) needed people to run their
buildings. He became intrigued at this “thing” called condominium.
Condominium Management
One day, Ray Cullen, his boss at Tridel, pointed out to Richard how fast the condo
phenomenon was developing and suggested condo management. He had observed how
buildings were constructed and studied Condominium Management at Seneca College
just as the first wave of condos became incorporated in droves. It made sense and, shortly
thereafter, Pearlstein found himself as “Developer Property Manager” for new glamour

sites like Bridlewood (Finch and Warden) and the Skymark complex (at Finch Avenue
and Don Mills Road). By now the ’70s were pretty well along, about 1977/78. As he
grew in skill, experience and import, the fast-maturing condo manager found himself in
the company of various condo management organizations, in a generally mutually
satisfactory career setting. At that time he saw the Association of Condominium
Managers of Ontario formed; condo management education demand was answered by a
fast-growing need for practical courses. ACMO committees formed to guide
development of such courses; and Richard’s scope and experience grew steadily.
His last stint was as an employee at Medhurst-Hogg (from 1982–85). At that time, the
management firm had begun looking for ways of getting out of the condo management
business. Along the way, an increasingly seasoned Richard Pearlstein had been
developing some thoughts on his own about customizing management contracts –
tailoring them to the needs of highly individualized condominium corporations and,
above all, he observed how a number of management firms seemed to have difficulty
making money in that business – and he had ideas on how to fix that, too. In the ensuing
discussions, he inherited the Westwood contracts, which formed a viable core for his own
new management firm, launched as Northcan now 20 years ago, on April 18.
Now his customization ideas started into play. “No two condominiums are alike,” he
finds. From that, he concluded there would be a ready market for management practices
and contracts that recognized such individual idiosyncrasies, and he set out to deliver
such varied types and levels of service as demanded by some of the emerging condo
corporations. Again, his astute accounting focus found a place to inject custom pricing
for custom needs, and he finds a number of these sites are ready to pay for the focused
services they require.
Today, Northcan has some two dozen corporations in its portfolio and, with an expanding
residential construction industry, seems set to continue Pearlstein’s growth into the
future. The Northcan head confirms he’s always on the lookout for new technology and
has a keen interest in the latest computer hardware and programmes. “Communication is
a big part of this business and to remain competitive we must stay on top of advances in
technology.”
Giving Some Back
Throughout this study of Richard Pearlstein’s professional development, we’ve not
discussed his ready embrace of volunteer activities and other extensions to his property
management career. Long before his thoughts turned to forming his own management
company, Richard found he enjoyed interacting with other professionals on various
ACMO boards, notably those charged with member education and other professional
development activities. Here he found it fruitful to share thoughts with kindred souls,
typically committee heads, members, or those developing property management courses,
principles and regulations, including a number of ACMO presidents. Shortly after he
founded his own company, one of these mentors suggested he might want to volunteer to
run for the Board himself and that put him in charge of the education committee for a
term or two.
As noted, the fast-maturing condominium management professional now chose to share
some of his wisdom more formally in course classrooms so we asked him about the
rewards of volunteerism, why he decided to extend the stress of a high-pressure
management career further into spare-time class settings, etc. In a two-part answer, the

Northcan founder explained about the wonders of interacting with the fellow
professionals in such activities where everyone goes that extra mile – conferencing with
ACMO presidents, former presidents, presidents-to-be and the spectrum of highperformance
property management pros who shaped the future of the industry. (Pearlstein
himself was ACMO president in the early ’90s.) He added further views about the more
pragmatic and less altruistic aspects of the volunteer circuit, acknowledging the obvious
and implied value of liaison with industry peers – fellow seminar leaders, fellow
committee members, former and future business associates, as well as those important
contacts that lead to the referrals that help portfolio growth.
“I really enjoyed the camaraderie,” he reflects. “I enjoyed the fellowship of working in
the [ACMO] association, with the right group of people. It’s a great organization and,
really, that’s what drove me. I enjoyed the participation. I enjoyed the volunteerism. I
enjoyed the social interaction.” Pearlstein recognizes there may have been some loss of
the “club-atmosphere” that characterized the condo management industry of the ’80s, but
as the industry matures he emphasizes the ongoing benefits of such professional
associations and interacting with them.
Pearlstein further emphasized the joys of teaching – helping form and guide the minds of
both young and mature students entering the field, and enjoying the satisfaction of
helping pave the path of those future careers. He himself was drawn into this area “by my
own criticism” somewhat unexpectedly, back in 1984, when he finally got down to
writing his own RCM exam. After the exam, the Education Chairman, Bob St. George,
asked what he thought of the tests themselves, and Richard politely suggested some of
the questions were found wanting – perhaps needing rewording, or even refocusing on
more pertinent aspects. To his credit, the instructor took the feedback seriously and told
Richard, “Thank you for volunteering. You’re on the RCM committee!” And Richard
took his new chores just as seriously, amending and extending the test questions for this
course and other property management-related learning.
Peers + Mentors
Richard agrees such a receptive mindset was also conducive to involving him in the test
refinement process, and he found such an open invitation suggested his feedback would
be appreciated – as distinct from some teachers who ask for students’ “opinion” on a
subject, when all they want is parrot-style feedback devoid of originality. Pearlstein
recognized a sincere invitation to participate in the refining of the RCM tests and set to
work in the volunteer context with such open minds. “That drove me,” he recalls. “If I
felt I really wanted to make a contribution, and ran up against an obstructionist ego,
obviously I would have backed off.” He’s maintained a good business relationship with
his former directors and others he met in the academic circuit ever since.
We can see from Richard Pearlstein’s perspective, he puts a high premium on
condominium managers’ ability to comprehend the complexities of the property
management existence, and that all-important skill (or gift) the ability to think. When we
ask Richard how he got so good at the condo management role, he credits his father with
sensitizing him to this latter point, giving him one, important, monosyllabic piece of
advice, “Think!” way back in the beginnings of his son’s management career. And
Richard took the advice to heart, thinking about the niceties of managing other people’s
real-estate investments; and he takes the thinking ideology a step further in his
enthusiastic support of activities that train other managers to become more proficient at

their work. “I learned some additional teaching skills at Humber College,” he elaborates,
since he recognizes it’s not just a matter of telling junior managers to “think,” but to
share with them techniques and experiences to help them manage better, and in a more
pertinent way about the daily details of optimizing the performance of the real estate
under their management.
That’s how he himself developed his management skills – under the tutorial wing of a
seasoned industry pro – in this case, one André Pillish (then a senior manager at DEL).
“He was instrumental in my becoming a condominium property manager,” Richard
remembers. “There’s a guy who was really hands-on. In my formative years, he showed
me how to write management reports, how to be proactive, how to stay on top of things.
He kept me on my toes, so I would always be on top!”
Talking with Richard Pearlstein, it becomes strongly apparent he holds a deep respect for
his fellow property management professionals; and this is one of the attractions that
changed his own view of property management from a job to a career. Going back to his
more humble beginnings, when he transitioned from superintendent and maintenance
supervisor into his first, true property management position, he muses how he was
“grossly overworked and underpaid.” To some extent, he feels this is the nature of the
business, as it is composed of higher-than-normal percentages of individual managers
who display exceptional performance in their daily activities; and it may be that this is
part of the charm, or charisma, of condo management: the people you rub shoulders with
– the people who think, and with whom he enjoys interacting. “The problem with this
industry, this job, is that talented people are rarely recognized or highly valued. The
people I know in this industry are extremely talented in so many, many ways. They have
computer skills; they have technical skills; they have writing skills; they have
organizational skills, they have people skills. All of those skills are available, and all of
those skills are there....are they truly appreciated? Condominium management attracts
talent.”
*
Viktor von Buchstab is a freelance writer based in Toronto.
* Condominium Manager Magazine – Spring 2005