Apartment Living

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10amwalker

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Living in apartment for 1 year, owner occupier but very disillusioned with investors not paying their service charges. How do they expect the cleaning, gardening, lobby lighting, lifts to be paid if they do not pay their service charges. Someone suggested naming and shaming them when it comes to the AGM. Has anyone experience of how to make these people pay ?

What about privacy laws ?

I am setting up this thread as I feel that people new to apartment living have a lot of questions that could be answered by people who have learnt the hard way.

Topics could include, how to have someone evicted.

What to look out for in choosing a managing agent

Security- CCTV or employ a firm on the ground

Car parking

House Rules

AGM- What to ask about

Sinking Fund

This is only the tip of the iceberg :confused:
 
I have a friend who works as a caretaker in a large apartment and office complex. The issues involved are myriad, from illegal dumping (unauthorised use of wheelie bins by non-residents) to criminal activity. I think the key to any apartment complex is a concientious caretaker or manager, someone who's there on a daily basis, knows who's who and what's what. Zero tolerance is important when dealing with serious matters like nuisance noise, vandalism/ damage to property etc. CCTV is a very useful tool in detecting crime and monitoring unusual behaviour but it must be recorded, high quality and be capable of being reviewed easily. Also never "assume" that people (residents or visitors) know what is acceptable behaviour- the complex I'm familiar with is heavily signposted with signs for everything.
 
I won't ask my friend how much he's getting paid but I'd imagine the going rate is about €32- 38K per annum, gross.
 
I also live in a block of apartments, in Cork, and after having lived all my life before coming to Ireland in a huge block in Madrid, I can see a big difference.
In Spain all the blocks are like little goverments, with a President that it's elected in a yearly basis (someone can volunteer, or do it in a rotational basis, or if more than one candidate via voting). He and his goverment (vicepresident and vocals) are responsible for everything to do with the running of the building. In my parents for example, there is a caretaker, who is there during "business hours", keeping the place clean, distributing the post, if something breaks down, he then contacts relevant person to sort it out, takes the bins out everynight, etc etc. Every apartment pays a monthly fee, which covers his salary, and builts a fund in case something happens and needs to be repair. There is also an accountant involve who takes care of the financial side of it. Most of the blocks would have central heating, and if the boiler breaks, it's something really expensive to repair, so better be ready, and as the building old enough at this stage, there is always something that needs repairing. I don't remember the exact fee, but I think in my parents block they pay around €120 a month, direct debit to the accountants account. There is a couple of flats rented out, and it depends on the agreement, either the owner or who rents the flat will have to paid for this. They have montly or quarterly meetings, where they explain the accounts to everybody interested, and discuss if anything needs to be done, when to do it, how much it will cost, etc etc, so everybody (who is interested) can get involved...Of course there is always fights!!
 
10amwalker said:
Living in apartment for 1 year, owner occupier but very disillusioned with investors not paying their service charges. How do they expect the cleaning, gardening, lobby lighting, lifts to be paid if they do not pay their service charges. Someone suggested naming and shaming them when it comes to the AGM. Has anyone experience of how to make these people pay ?
Click to expand...
For what it's worth, our management company (for a c. 140 unit townhouse development) annual report always lists the addresses of units in arrears as a matter of course. It does not mention names or addresses of householders who do not live in the estate though. It is up to the management company or the management agent on their behalf to chase up arrears as appropriate including charging interest/costs and, if necessary, sending solicitors' letters or instituting legal proceedings. In most or all cases the management company lease legally binds the householders (resident or otherwise) to pay the management charges. Note also that when it comes to reselling a property the fact that there may be management fee arrears on it could jeopardise the sale until the liabilities (and any interest/costs/penalties) are discharged.
I am setting up this thread as I feel that people new to apartment living have a lot of questions that could be answered by people who have learnt the hard way.
Click to expand...
Not just apartment developments - a large and growing (as far as I know) number of housing developments are managed privately in a similar way. Note that there are many threads dealing with management companies/agents already which contain some useful info relating to the topics that you mention. Perhaps somebody could volunteer to collate a list of these and maybe the useful information could be consolidated into a single thread, FAQ or list of useful topic links?
 
Clubman,
do you know whether you can include the owners names and apartment number and amount owed in a letter to only the owners of the management company.
Or can you only put the number of the apartment and the amount owed.
We have a guy who owns 18 apartments and they are all rented out but he owes the management company for service charges for 2004 and 2005.

Never mind 2006.....Difficult...the legal route takes a long time..
 
On another note does anyone know if 765 square feet is big or small for a 2 bed apartment.
 
I think its 'moderate'. I'm buying a 2-bed of 635 sqft which i think is small, but i'm happy to compromise for a central location. Had previously viewed 2-beds of 550-600ish sq ft that i'd be happy to live in. And have seen adverts for 2-beds of less than 500sqft. I think the layout can play a big part in how big a place feels or how easy it is to live in, though.
 
foxylady - we are in a two bed two bathroom apt at 800 sq ft and as apts go, it is considered a 'nice' size.
 
I bought a 2-bed which is 735sq/ft previously owned a 2-bed of similar size & more than adequte for one person ... reasonably comfortable for two.
 
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