apartment vs house - mgmt fees issue

F

fk1

Guest
Hi,

I was wondering what people thought of the management fees being charged in new apartment blocks. Most of them are 1,000 plus, can anyone justify why they are so high? I assume bin charges are included in this which may make up a sizable portion of it. Looking at buying for first time, but saving 15 k on purchase price of an apartment compared to house price doesn't really appeal if the mgmt company can just lump up prices year after year.

So what charges are specific to a house that aren't to an apartment?

Thanks.
 
Two of the biggest charges in our management fee (apartment) were


(a) refuse
(b) the agent's fee :mad:

There is also stuff like lift maintanenace, various insurances and utility costs for the common areas.

Ideally I would have preferred a house (for reasons not limited to the management fee, but that's life). By the time we go to sell in the next 5 years, we will have paid roughly €7,500 in managment fees (about 2.25% of the purchase price of the apartment).
 
The other big charge is for insurance - on the overall structure and public liability.

Houses in general are much cheaper to insure. Plus there are more insurance providers to choose from. Block policy providers are very limited as far as I know.

mf
 
Hi

I've listed below a breakdown of yearly service charges for the apartment complex I'm in. I pay 1144 and have a 2 bed apt (approx 100/120 apts/duplexes in complex). It might help give you an idea on where the cash goes.

Bank Charges - 125
Insurance (block policy & public liability) - 19020
Common Area Cleaning - 7800
Refuse Collection - 15400
Electricity - 9500
Ground Maintenance - 14187
Repairs & Maintenance - 4500
Refuse Preparation/Janitor - 3246
Window Cleaning (bi annual) - 1350
Audit & Secretarial Fees - 1530
Fire alarm Maintenance - 800
Vermin Control Contract - 250
Meetings/Correspondence/Post & Stationary - 100
Management & Administration - 15700
Sinking Fund - 8000

Total per year is 101508
 
I think you underestimate how much you pay to maintain a house. You may not have trouble with your roof, hall stairs and landing , outside doors and walls, gates and drainage every year but it all adds up over the years. Consider house insurance to be say 300 which is included in the apt plus general maintainance of gardens I'd say 700 to 800 per annum is a bargain. Do you have security gates outside your house ? A lot of apartments have these so they cost a few bob too. That said its easier to decide to put off painting the house for a while given your circumstances rather than having to pony up the fee every year.
 
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