Buying an apartment - property management?

batista

Guys,

Thinking of buying a 2 bed apartment. Been renting now for a number of years and think its time to jump into the market. Its somewhere id like to live for a few years and possibly look to have an investment in the future perhaps. Thats my plan anyway. Have looked at mortgages and areas and that seems ok

But what i dont know anything about is property management. How much does it normally cost, and what do they do? Do they limit liability if you are renting the place out? And do they get tenants in if you are looking to rent it?

Also - what sort of ball park figures am i looking at for property management on a 2 bed costing roughly €125,000 so that i dont go into any meetings with my pants around my ankles so to speak

ProudDUB

Not really sure what you are asking about... apartment management companies or property management companies.

If you own an apt, you'll pay a monthly fee to the management company who maintain the common areas of the property and enforce the rules of the development. They do this on behalf of the owners of the apts. They/it would be appointed by the mgt association which is made up of the owners of the apts. The link below explains what they do in more detail.

http://www.consumerproperty.ie/your-issues/property-management-companies.html

What that fee is varies hugely from town to town and city to city. A lot depends on how big the property is, and what there actually is on site that needs to be maintained on a daily basis. For example, the management fees in a building with a lift, lots of corridors and hallways, lots of expensive landscaping and a security guard/concierge would have much higher fees than a more simple development.

A few months ago, there was a thread here where people weighed in with where they lived and what they paid in mgt fees. Do a search for it and you should be able to find it.

The management company play no role in finding you tenants if you want to rent the apt out. That is up to you to do yourself, or you can hire an estate agent to do it for you. They will charge you a finders fee per tenant. For that they will take care of showing the apt to potential renters, checking them out, drawing up the lease & inspecting the apt when they move out.

They will also manage the property for you if you don't want to deal with it. That means they collect the rent & forward it to you, they will deal with any maintenance emergencies, broken appliances pipes etc. They will deal with any queries/problems/issues that that the tenant may have so that you don't have to. They will do that for a % of the rent. I have seen rates as low as 7% and as high as 15% quoted. They sometimes call themselves property management companies, but all they are are glorified estate agents. Hope that helps.

muppet01

Hi, you will have no say initially in who your property management company is, its appointed by the board of directors/resident assoc.
If you do buy, contact these asap and integrate with them if you can, its your only way to have an input.Its usually around 1100(average) in the greater dublin area and covers common areas/public lighting/lift maintenence and a sinking fund to cover future works to the building.It should also cover block insurance therefore allowing you to insure yourself only for theft and damage (non structural)

Lantus

my advice is firstly to buy a house. The market is loooow and there are an abundance of properties out there within your budget subject to your specific area.

Nearly all apartments (and some houses) in an estate come with a management fee. The charge is highly variable and dependant on the services provided. Lifts, fire alarms, bins, car parks, electronic gates etc are not cheap to maintain and look after. You could expect anyhting between 400 at the low end to 2000 at the higher end on a recuring annual basis.

Check to see who runs the management company, the builder still (not good) or the residents. Is there an agent who carries out all the work? (more expensive)

If possible talk to existing residents about the fee and area and their experience with the OMC.

athtrasna

ProudDUB wrote: »

If you own an apt, you'll pay a monthly fee to the management company who maintain the common areas of the property and enforce the rules of the development. They do this on behalf of the owners of the apts. They/it would be appointed by the mgt association which is made up of the owners of the apts. The link below explains what they do in more detail.

http://www.consumerproperty.ie/your-issues/property-management-companies.html

The fee is an annual fee, some developments have payment plans in place but I know of plenty where it's once per year and within 2 weeks of invoice.

On the terminology - the management company is the legal entity comprising all owners in a development, you become a member on purchase. The MC own all common areas - gardens, car parks, foundations, roofs and external walls & structures of blocks.

In the vast majority of developments the management company retains a management agent to manage the day to day running of the development - invoicing of fees, hire of contractors, accounts, enforcement of development rules etc.