Property Manager

The duties and cost of a property manager will depend on what the Association wants him/her to do. Our property manager (we have 156 townhomes) collects the assessments, pays the bills, assists the Board in preparing the budget, supervises maintenance contractors, sends out CCR violations and more.

That said, remember the HOA board is ultimately responsible for the property manager - it supervises him or her and so must still meet to decide what will be done - the property manager carries out those decisions and instructions.

Normally, I'd say a 20 unit HOA probably doesn't need a formal property manager, but if no one else is willing to help you, I would suggest that you consider everything you do, which tasks require more day to day activity and then talk to a few property management companies to see what they can do and how much it would cost. Ask for references from other HOAs (preferably those around your size) and check them.

Get at least three proposals and then call a meeting of the homeowners (or send a letter if no one shows up) and tell them what the issues are - certain tasks need to be done, you're the only one doing it and since you can't do everything yourself, a property manager should be hired and this is how much it'll cost per homeowner. Yes, the fees will have to go up to pay for the property manager, so if they don't want to pay, someone has to step up and volunteer to help. Good luck!

The above advice is good advice. However, there is still another option which may actually put a fire under some butts to make a board... You may have the option to disband the HOA altogether as long as you turn it over to a Property Manager. It is in our CC&R's what would happen if we disbanded and how that is handled.

However, here is the catch to this...It means ALL of you LOSE the right to vote, have a say, or modify/enforce any rules. It is all controlled by the management company. Who can regulate how much you pay them. Basically becoming controlled by a third party without say.

So if you mention this to a few people, they may want to form a board and act like a true HOA. When people find out what they are neglecting and what happens when they put the power in someone else's hands... They come singing a tune to your door...

No. Receivership is when the court dictates it. Turning over by the owners to a paid Property manager is Property Management. Our rules stated if we disbanded we had to turn over to a Property Manager. That is why some wanted to disband the HOA and hire me as the property manager. That way I could get paid for running the place. Which is another factor to consider that your dues going to the manager is paying their salary and insurance.

Well, I'm not surprised at the off-site owners. As you know, apathy is the number one problem homeowner associations face, mostly because most homeowners buy their home because "the association" will take care of certain things so they won't have to. They figure as long as the work's being done, they can go on about their business. And as you also know, this is the point where problems start.

What may really move people to act is money - if you want someone else to do certain things, fine, but you need to understand there will be a price for that. The cost for those services can and will go up every year, so as long as a homeowner's ok with that, carry on. Otherwise, there's no point in yelling about "assessments being too high" - you always get what you pay for, one way or another

Fla Statute 720 has some information about receiverships. If NOBODY is willing to step up to the plate then either you need to go into a receivership or you need to see if you can dissolve the Association. A property manager can do things for a Board but they can not BE the Board.

I am familiar with the East Orlando area and the costs for a property manager to handle a condo association runs slightly higher than managing an HOA, depending on the responsibilities. You're probably looking at anywhere from $350-$500 per month, possibly a little more. Honestly, in an association as small as yours it is not unusual to have owners who don't want to do anything. The bigger the association the more people want to get involved. I say, shop around and see what you can find.

I'm not violating anything. I work for an HOA Management company full time as an accountant and I have my own business. I like coming on here to help. I've been coming to this site for years, I just never registered. Big deal about my signature. At least people know that I have a background in financial management for HOAs. I have seen many questions on here about it and at least I can offer my expertise. I don't expect to draw any business from this. Thanks for being so nice to a newcomer.

Jan

Is that a threat or a promise? I quake as I read it..........LOL

I would think another thing this site has prided itself on is treating others with respect. You don't know me and you are making assumptions as to why I'm here. Go pick on someone else and take your smug attitude with you.

I wouldn't dare mention the names of anyone or any HOA on here. And as far as the original poster, I have no clue who he is or what condo he is talking about and I'm not about to wastes hours and hours on end to find out.

I still didn't appreciate being called out in such a rude way by what's his face and with such arrogance. I guess I was just raised to be a bit more polite with others. A simple, "Your signature violates the rules" would have been good enough.

Hello,

Property manager receive rent on owner's behalf, find suitable tenants, handle maintenance, deal with disputes, and sort any issues at the end of a tenancy. In essence, the property manager becomes the landlord’s agent who looks after their investment.

Lincoln,

Welcome to the forum.

It's best not to reactivate old threads as laws change.
This means that what may have been good advice in 2012 is bad advice in 2017

Tim