What is average cost of management fees and are there often other fees requested for exceptional maintenance?

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As it can sometimes be hard to get information on management fees, on properties (especially apartments), just wondering if people would be willing to share their charges for their fees. It might give everyone an insight, into whether their intended purchase, has a high or average fee.

I have heard of cases, where despite a high fee, some management companies can occasionally come along and request a further sum, if the complex requires extra work. Does this happen quite a lot or only very occasionally?
 
Hi,
I live in an apartment in a small complex made of 6 apartment and 6 townhouses, we pay 1750€/year. Not sure how it compares.
There is a very small sinking fund for emergency (broken gate, etc), and we vote during the AGM on extra majo expenses (repainting, new bin shed, etc)
 
€1740. Small sinking fund for major expenses. However, would struggle to cover these. Small development where fixed costs are high. Management agents, auditors, and, insurance costs take nearly half the income. Generally well maintained though some owners would consider never enough is done. While I am currently keeping it for personal reasons, I am often worried about the long-term maintenance/issues.
 
Not my details, but those of a friend.
31 property complex, houses and apartments. 1100 euro per year (increase proposed for discussion at next AGM).
Amount collected barely covers bills (lighting, bins, insurance), there is no sinking fund and nothing for maintenance. Management agent has had to ask for advance or extra payments from time to time to pay the bin bills.
Many properties are rented, and there are some non-paying owners which puts pressure on those who do live there and pay their way.
 
Small complex of 22 apartments and annual fee is €1,600 however there is no lift or electric gates only a central fire alarm which requires routine maintenance.


@Fibo49 @Premos @gipimann Not having a decent sinking fund can be perilous in developments that are old or have lifts, gates, basements, underground car parks etc etc The amount of hassle in dealing with emergency levies is intolerable for everyone but particularly for volunteer directors.

The price of getting any building works/repairs has shot up so a 'straightforward' roof or chimney repair can often not proceed until levied funds are collected and thats simply asking for trouble.

Another way of looking at sinking funds is that its a 'pay-for-use' charge on common items such as roofs, plumbing, electrics, carpets, lights, landscaping, tarmac, lifts etc etc. By way of example, if an apartment owner pays very little to the sinking fund over e.g. 20 years and then sells the apartment, they have gotten almost free use of building infrastructure for 20 years -- if the new owner of the apartment is hit with an emergency levy of hundreds or thousands then this is deeply unfair since the previous owner had the use but not the bill.

I believe all developments should be charging minimum of €200 per unit and more if the complex is small or has expensive items such as lift etc

€200 x 30 apartments is only €6,000, you wouldn't get it painted for that !
 
I fully agree with all of your post. However when fees are reviewed each year, it is a struggle to get anywhere. Some seem to consider that nothing will ever happen... We are the one who fight to get increases imposed and maintain the costs under control. Luckily, we have no gates, lifts... As I said, some owners would consider that the services are never enough but at the same time that everything always costs too much.
 
I probably preaching to the choir all right !

I was a director of an omc a few years ago and resigned because other directors were annually objecting to charging a decent sinking fund amount, I gave it a few years beating the drum and then had it noted in the minutes my reason for not continuing as a director. I've since sold the apartment and am glad to be out of it.
 
Ours is 500 a year for ground-floor apartments. There is a slightly higher value for Duplexes, maybe 550 and I think the houses are around 400 a year, based on Co Meath.,
 
lambdas said:
Ours is 500 a year for ground-floor apartments. There is a slightly higher value for Duplexes, maybe 550 and I think the houses are around 400 a year, based on Co Meath.,
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This seems incredibly cheap for a management fee for apartments? Does this include insurance, bin collection, lift maintenance, gardening, cleaning of common areas etc? Houses and duplexes may not have access to common areas within apartment blocks and also may have their own insurance so their management fee could be lower. I live in a ground floor apartment and the management fee for two beds in my complex is €1,500 rising to just under €1,600 this year. We have a sinking fund of €80,000 approximately. I am a Director of the OMC and this fee is the most cost effective we can achieve to keep the estate looking well and having best quality services.
 
Threadser said:
I live in a ground floor apartment and the management fee for two beds in my complex is €1,500 rising to just under €1,600 this year. We have a sinking fund of €80,000 approximately.
How many apartments are in your complex?
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There are 150 units about 15 houses and rest are apartments and penthouses. The houses pay a much lower fee because they don't have the shared services of the common areas such as cleaning, lift maintenance etc to pay for.
 
Thank you. I just wanted to have an idea of what the sinking fund per unit was, to see if our one was in the norm.
 
Threadser said:
This seems incredibly cheap for a management fee for apartments? Does this include insurance, bin collection, lift maintenance, gardening, cleaning of common areas etc? Houses and duplexes may not have access to common areas within apartment blocks and also may have their own insurance so their management fee could be lower. I live in a ground floor apartment and the management fee for two beds in my complex is €1,500 rising to just under €1,600 this year. We have a sinking fund of €80,000 approximately. I am a Director of the OMC and this fee is the most cost effective we can achieve to keep the estate looking well and having best quality services.
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This includes insurance. We do not have lifts, we have stairs and everyone pays for their own bins. The price includes the maintenance of the common area including cleaning, power washing, lawn maintenance etc. It also includes the painting on the common sheds we each have.

The management company are trying to increase the fees as they say they are not getting enough for looking after the complex. The duplex tiles on the stairs need to be replaced but that is something that has to be worked out in terms of who pays what as only the duplexes are affected. In 2005, we started at 250 euro each. Now it is double that !!!
 
lambdas said:
The management company are trying to increase the fees as they say they are not getting enough for looking after the complex.
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Who are the Directors of the Management Company? Hopefully they are owners of properties in the complex. How many units in the development? Have you ever attended an AGM and familiarised yourself with the budget, sinking fund provision etc? Is the fire safety up to standard? I presume the Directors have appointed an agent to run the estate. I would think owners need to examine the annual accounts carefully and make an honest assesment as to whether fees need to be increased. Inflation alone in the last year or two has been large increases in the cost of most services. Definitely take time to have a closer look here.
 
Small complex of 31 units and a creche. The fees have been increasing in recent years (increasing costs and also recovering an agreed stay on any increases during Covid lockdowns). No gates, no lifts, bins are individual. Aside from the creche it is a mix of 2-bed apartments and 3-bed duplexes. Last year fee was €780 pa. Fees this year €800 pa. Sinking fund is in place, currently €33k. An additional charge was agreed at the last AGM to build a targeted fund over three years to pay for a specific maintenance requirement in addition to using some of the sinking fund.
 
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I am astonished by some of the maintenance charges, do they include insurance? Have the insurance costs been reviewed to take account of the current building costs? Our insurance alone would now be up to 280/300 per unit.
 
Premos said:
I am astonished by some of the maintenance charge
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I am also astonished by how low some of these maintenance charges are. Insurance is a big cost and yes I would wonder have up to date valuations on the buildings been done? Also has fire safety been updated to current requirements? I understand that not having a lift or electronic gates can save money. Is there a managing agent in place?
 
Our insurance costs have certainly gone up. They are not the only component that went up, for example, we increased our sinking fund provision and maintenance costs have gone up, etc, but as insurance was such a significant cost in the budget anyway it is a significant part of the increase in fees.
 
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