Business Model for small Condo Association

Hi All,

I am the president of a small condo association - we have just 5 units in one building. We have a mix of owners - 2 year round, 2 seasonal, and one is rented out by the year. Our two year-round owners are selling. This forces us to examine our method of 'property management'. We have always gotten by with owners taking responsiblity for maintenance and repair. We do some smaller jobs - weeding, changing lightbulbs, batteries, etc. For larger jobs or repairs, someone takes on the job of hiring, getting quotes, supervising, ordering supplies, scheduling maintenance, trash removal, snow removal, inspections, etc. This is all voluntary, and as you can imagine, the year round owners have shouldered more of the burden. Even before the two units went on the market, we felt that this 'mananagement model' was not sustainable, and now its more apparent then ever.

We interviewed a Property Management company - but we cannot afford them - they charge a monthly fee and bill hourly for everything else. Maybe that particular company was not right for us..

What we really need is 'someone' that will manage the day-to-day needs of the property, and do all the things mentioned above. We do not need administrative help, rent collection, running meetings, or those types of things.

So my question is - what do other small condo associations do? With only 5 units, our budget is not huge. We have no idea how present or 'involved' the two new owners will be. We just really want to have a safe and well-maintained property....

THank you!

I happen to be, at this point, seasonal - not retired yet, and the Pres. of the Association. I do what I can online, phone etc. My concern was that today, we have people willing to do all this work. But who knows in the future - we could have owners that do not want to get involved - or all year-round renters with long-distance owners, then what? We thought of a handy-person type arrangement, but how to find someone reliable, knowledgeable, fair - and how to pay, schedule,contract,etc? emergencies? We have been searching for someone like that too. And interested what other small-budget small-associations do...

Exactly.