average management fees - apartments ?

You're taking me a bit too literally - obviously most houses don't have lifts but they do usually have gardens which require maintenance, hallways and landing require lighting and cleaning (certainly on a smaller scale to an apartment block corridor but still).
 
I think apartment management fees are crazy, i pay 1900 for Dublin 8 city location, i dont see the differenace between renting in the city v in the suburbs....i called my management company to complain about this, as rents are coming down, tenants are moving out of their countrys, price of living is coming down, job loses, salary cuts but the management companies can still charge these crazy prices.....IS there no one that we can complain to and ask for help....???
 
When it comes to apartment living, the only person you can rely on is yourself. The first thing you need to do is educate yourself as much as possible. Find out who your management compare any, who your managing agent is, get a copy of the budget for this year and your accounts for last year. If the agent/company are being awkward, the latter is available from the CRO website. Once you can see where your money is going, you're in a better place to decide if it's being well spent.

The next thing you should do is read [broken link removed], find some like-minded owners and set up a Residents Association. Make as much noise as possible, get involved as much as possible and, if it hasn't already happened, try to get the developer to go away and hand control of the company to the owners.
 
Serty said:
I think apartment management fees are crazy, i pay 1900 for Dublin 8 city location, i dont see the differenace between renting in the city v in the suburbs....i called my management company to complain about this, as rents are coming down, tenants are moving out of their countrys, price of living is coming down, job loses, salary cuts but the management companies can still charge these crazy prices.....IS there no one that we can complain to and ask for help....???
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Do you not get it? If you own an apartment then YOU are a part-owner of the management company!

The fees are based on the management company's budget, which is agreed to by the members of the management company.

Instead of complaining, why not attend the AGM of the management company and offer to see if you can get cheaper quotes for some of the main costs of running the management company. I know that insurance is the main cost for my management company, and it has increased over the years.
 
2 bed, dublin 1: €2,600. I win....

Just got a statement today, no accounts recieved ever, no notice of agm, heating billing still not ion place (i'm there a year).... I'll be requesting all of that before i pay a cent.
 
Good grief finny - you are part of the managing company - you are only shooting yourself in the foot by not paying. Get involved not angry.
 
Based on my search on the internet for a property, i'm keen in purchasing a 3 bed either in arena or tallaght cross. So is there anybody knows how much management fee for Arena and Tallaght cross?
 
hi i have a two bed in tallaght cross and the mgt fees are €2024.00 for this year, god knows what they will increase to in 2010
 
Those fees sound high - do you have lifts or gates? I'm in D15 and paying about €1200 for a 3 bed but no lifts or gates.

Fees are not static and are prone to increase or decrease depending on the financial situation in the development and repairs etc. required.
 
yeah it seems a lot but there are 4 lifts and a privately managed carpark which will obviously up the costs
 
purpeller said:
The point is that the owner does get something for these fees. They get: building insurance, common area maintenance and lighting, lifts, landscaping, general building maintenance, etc.

If you own a house, you pay for all these things (where needed) as a matter of course, why should it be different for apartment owners?
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The maintainence on a house is far less than on an apartment. My fees went up from 1300 to 1800 last year just because they were painting the windows ???? I could have bought a tin of ronseal for a tenner and done it myself for far less. The sooner the government regulate management companies the better, they're a complete rip off !!
 
Teknon said:
The maintainence on a house is far less than on an apartment. My fees went up from 1300 to 1800 last year just because they were painting the windows ???? I could have bought a tin of ronseal for a tenner and done it myself for far less. The sooner the government regulate management companies the better, they're a complete rip off !!
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Have you actually any idea of the cost of painting? We've been quoted €60k to paint 8 blocks that are half brick!!

Management companies are not a rip off. They are the legal entity made up of all owners in the development and the company owns the common areas of the development. Management agents are hired by management companies to administer the day to day running of the development. Most people get annoyed with the agents and blame the company without even realising they are part of the company, and what their rights and responsibilities of owning in a managed development.
 
Ever get that deja vu feeling shesells? I feel like a broken record sometimes when it comes to managing company/management agent!
 
Just wondering...if the maintenance fees are being increased should an official letter be sent out by the agent to inform owners...?? The first I heard of an increase was when I came home today to find an invoice for the coming year...fee has gone from €2,136 up to €2,432???

Also, there's a big difference on what you pay depending on how many bedrooms there are...the square footage doesn't come into it at all, e.g:

2 bed (847 sq foot) - €1,687.25
2 bed (945 sq foot) - €1,687.25
3 bed (1035 sq foot)- €2,431.99

Is this the norm? I think it's quite unfair as I'm in a 3 bed and the fee is so much higher than the 2 beds!
 
The invoice is your notice of the fees for that year. Fees do go up, and sending a letter to tell people they will be getting an invoice only adds to expenses which all add to costs.

As for the share of fees, depends on your leases, some specify a % of the total budget for the development, these tend to be the ones based on no of bedrooms. Calculating on size of floorspace would be too complicated.

In our development the two 4 bed houses pay more than double 1 bed apartment fees. But that's what the owners signed up to in their leases so there's nothing than can be done to change that.
 
D15, own door 2 bed apartment - no lifts or gates - approx E1,200.
Dubshelly - The lease I signed on purchase of my apartment gave detailed info of the apartment rules (re satellite dishes, noise, washing on balconies etc) and also gave a breakdown on how fees are calculated. In my case it is based on square footage. There was a mathematical equation based on no of properties of each sq footage paying a % of the total fees in any given year. Everyone's leasehold agreement should detail this & should have been given a copy to keep. Purchasers would read this before signing (I hope) and thus would go into what is the apartment-owning experience with your eyes open. Down the line you then have the opportunities along with your fellow shareholders to elect directors and change management agents if you so choose. This year we expect our fees to go down slightly due to a renegotiation of agents fees and insurance, but not too much as we need to maintain our existing sinking fund.
 
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