Condo Association Management Blog

Do yu have anything that stands out aout your community ? Golf course, tennis, dog park, walk to shops? Everyone is having a bad time right now.We are on a golf course and have 2 units out of 15 up for sale. Not one realtor has thought to market to those who come to Charleston for golf. They put the sign up and that is it. We need to find the people who want an expensive 2nd home for golf. Find a niche for your community and market, market it. We self manage our units, it is not easy but we do hire out landscapers, pond people. Each townhome does their own work - which is not good. But that is the way the good old boys set it up and I am stuck with it. It seems very few people can agree on what to do. You have those homeowners like myself who does preventive maintenance and those who "duck tape" . Stay with your management company. Good luck

First of all a 10 unit does not give much in the way of condo dues. My next question is why so high in the condo dues. Do you have a pool and other things to maintain that cause you to charge so high in the condo dues,and WHO set it this hgih?. This could be one of the reasons your condo does not sell.People see high condo doues and it scares them off. Un less your condos are high priced (over $200,00) I would like to know. I need more info to your 10 unit association. Next do not go self managed if you can help it. You need to sit down with the mangement comoany and go over your finances to see what they are charging you. If you are having maintence done with them, they charge a very high fee, try getting your own contractors to do handyman stuff. This you can do and also find out what contractors they use for grass and snow removal. You can also get your own. Do you have a president and sec/tres on your board? If you do they can sit down an establish this.  
 
But please stay with the management service for all the rest of the financial records. Please let me know where your condo is located.

Thanks for your responses!  
 
 
 
The condo fees are our biggest challenge. The units are in suburban Boston and are worth $400k+ The units are on a cul-de-sac which is not plowed by the city. Last year we spent $8000 on snow-plowing. That alone adds $66 per month per unit. Landscaping is a similar cost. We have a lot of grass for such a small development, which looks nice but also means that a high cost is spread among a small number of units. Maintenance, insurance and managment company fees take up much of the rest.  
 
We're considering loosening some of the condo rules on things like pets and use of common areas to attract people who want a house but not all the headaches that go with it.