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MichaelT21 (Arkansas)
Posts: 462
Posted:
The reserve study firm has done a crummy job for us. I don't like how they lay out their report (it's really confusing), they have the wrong quantities of reserve items in our study, the wrong estimated lives for things. It's a poorly written document that does not present itself as an accurate picture of our reserve items or the funding status of our reserve fund. I have to present it tonight and frankly the document is so poorly written it's embarassing.

I can spend a ton next year with the reserve study company and have them fix their document to my exacting standards. Or I can simply write my own reserve study. It's not rocket science. I can get it done more accurately and have it paint a proper picture.

I believe our state laws make reference to a reserve study professional. I'm thinking that probably a DIY reserve study wouldn't pack muster with the state or our homoewners, even if accurate.

Thoughts?
KellyM3 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2,239
Posted:
Michael,

I can agree that experienced HOA directors, even they've been in office for few Reserve Fund projects, can give better insight than a one-off visit from an engineer.

That said, I think you should try to bridge the two needs and create a professional reserve study that accepts experienced feedback. If you're that person, it's you. If you're new to the board, it's likely not you due to time on the "job."
AugustinD
Posts: 1,027
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By MichaelT21 on 11/03/2022 9:13 AM
The reserve study firm has done a crummy job for us. I don't like how they lay out their report (it's really confusing), they have the wrong quantities of reserve items in our study, the wrong estimated lives for things.
-- How old is this reserve company? Are they national or local?

-- Contact the company for a sit-down to review what changes you want and see if they will put their stamp of approval on the "expertise" you claim to have for each of these changes vs. the expertise they have.

-- What you think is poor writing may be the authors using the language of the industry.

-- I might also have some concerns about what any given reserve study did. However, and assuming the company's PE-licensed civil engineer is agreeable to any changes the board requested, I would never trust an individual director's reserve study over the reserve study produced by a well-established reserve company.

-- I think having the wrong whatever in the reserve study is often going to be the fault of the board. After all, the HOA pays for the reserve study. The HOA Board had darned well better read and question a draft of the study before the final version is issued.
TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059
Posted:
Michael,

See the following thread on this forum:

Subject: Reserve Studies/Funds 101

Please do not reactivate the thread with comments (normal issues with old threads)
Since it is an old thread, there are some broken links.
Some of the broken links were corrected later in the thread. Some were not.
Some links lead to different content then was initially there.

Near the end of the thread there are some good links, including informational videos (no, not made by me).

A good example on how to do a reserve study is:

State of California, Department of Real Estate RESERVE STUDY GUIDELINES for Homeowner Association Budgets

AugustinD,

I did reference the RCWs and the requirement to hire a reserve study professional in my first post. I wrote it in a subtle way but it is there.

To answer yours and Kerry's question about why I don't read RCWs. In Washington State, we have three (I think) different acts that govern HOAs/COAs. The first is the old HOA act which applies to HOAs incorporated prior to 2018. The second is WUCIOA, which applies to HOAs incorporated since 2018/2019. And then there is the Condo Act which governs condiminums. Here's the rub - certain parts of each act override other portions of other acts. Attorneys who have followed the progression of the law know exactly which RCW applies to which type of community in which situation. I do not.

Thus, I do not know if the RCW that you cited applies to our HOA. I have an e-mail out to the property manager on that subject. I simply do not know.
I agree with your concerns. I would:

-- make a full list of all the obvious and indisputable errors.

-- Present the list to the board.

-- These mistakes on the easy issues may very well imply larger mistakes on bigger issues. Like the spreadsheets themselves. At an open meeting where you present the list of mistakes, I would indicate I had no faith in the reserve company.

-- Ask for the board's approval to ask for a refund. Because you are having to give too much time to correct obvious mistakes that the company was paid not to make.

-- Interview and hire another reserve company. Explain the problems you had in the past.

-- If the company will not issue a refund, require a sit-down at no additional charge where you go through each page and each line item and ask for this or that correction.

Else because you cannot figure out which Washington statute sections apply (which is pretty damn easy), then I think your completing the reserve study is not appropriate and may very well be in violation of the law.

Do you need help parsing the statutes? Because this by far is the more important question at this time IMO.

I was the main point of contact with our reserves specialist, who works for national firm, for about 7 years until my retirement from the board last year. Every year he, I, and the treasurer or the entire board would adjust some of his estimates. We have about 100 components in 3 reserve accounts. He was willing if the Board agreed and if the adjustments were correct. I was able to prove every modification that was needed. He did not charge our HOA extra for email exchanges with me nor for an "extra" meeting with the board if needed.

Here's just one example: Our HOA is responsible for maintaining & repairing the sidewalks on two side of our sq. block condo buildings. The RS estimated the cost to resurface at a huge amount. But I did little research & found the City would pay half.

I'm certain you can have a virtual meeting with your analyst or specialist at no cost to your HOA. This is where you point out the missing 4th well, and the incorrect count of some components. Was his most recent study based on an onsite visit? You can show him photos to bolster your claims. Email him today with your requested adjustments.

First, MichaelT, it does seem your reserves guy is a "professional?" Is he designated as a professional reserves analyst (PRA) or as a Reserves Specialist? These both are credentialed professionals who have met pretty rigorous qualifications in terms of experience. There is, by the way no requirement that either be a P.E (Prof.Eng.) or any other kind of engineer. If a national firm, though, why doesn't it have a RS in a large city near you?

Given WA requirements, I urge you to have your RS adjust his study to reflect reality vs. trying to do your own. You really don't have many components except for the wells and their parts, so it shouldn't be difficult for the RS at all.

-- How old is this reserve company? Are they national or local?

-- Contact the company for a sit-down to review what changes you want and see if they will put their stamp of approval on the "expertise" you claim to have for each of these changes vs. the expertise they have.

-- What you think is poor writing may be the authors using the language of the industry.

-- I might also have some concerns about what any given reserve study did. However, and assuming the company's PE-licensed civil engineer is agreeable to any changes the board requested, I would never trust an individual director's reserve study over the reserve study produced by a well-established reserve company.

-- I think having the wrong whatever in the reserve study is often going to be the fault of the board. After all, the HOA pays for the reserve study. The HOA Board had darned well better read and question a draft of the study before the final version is issued.

THIS!!! THIS!!! THIS!!!

Our recent Reserve Study company was very open to questions, suggestions, and changes to our Reserve Study within their, if any, obligated parameters. We didn't sign of on it or pay the remaining balance until agreed upon.

The very 1st RS we had done 9 years ago was thrown in a corner to collect dust by the board at the time. The board paid for it, never looked at, and admittedly didn't even know what it represented.

Don't be that board.


I saw the same with a certain condo association where I owned a unit. From 2007 (when Declarant turnover occurred) to 2017, the board not only ignored the study. The Board also regularly pilloried the most recent one as not reflecting the outstanding maintenance that the COA's manager made sure was performed. The board/manager even attached a note to the front of the reserve study saying this. Obviously neither the board nor manager questioned anything specific in the study -- not remaining useful life nor estimated expenses. Last I heard is that percent funded remains below 30%. The parking lot pavement is completely 'gatored. The roofs are due for replacement within a few years.

For the archives, the problems I have with having a director or manager perform the reserve study, especially for a condo association:

-- A significant part of a reserve study is laying out a schedule of reserve contributions and assessment increases as needed to raise the percent funded figure to a reasonable value that will preclude special assessments. It's one thing to estimate useful remaining life and cost of replacement and plug and chug these numbers into a spreadsheet. It's entirely another to come up with a schedule of contributing to reserves and raising the assessment to keep the COA safe. The latter requires judgment based in specific, reserve study experience.

-- The director or manager will likely be the only one who understands what is in it. Meaning there is virtually zero check on the work she or he does. There is much to be said to have multiple pairs of eyes looking at a reserve study, especially eyes that are experienced.

-- I am sure those rare HOAs/COAs that have their reserve study done by a director or the manager have been comfortable for some years now assuming a certain, relatively low inflation rate. However, what inflation rate is appropriate for the future? What that number should be requires some training and discussion.

-- The older the building, IMO the more experience is needed to estimate useful lives and incorporate a cushion for unpredictability of failure.

-- Federal loan programs now have stricter requirements for a HOAs/COAs' reserve funding. Do these programs require that a COA's reserve study be completed by a professional?

-- To me, for condominiums, fiduciary duty demands that professionals be used.

-- I agree with CathyA3's comment about directors and managers climbing on ladders, crawling into dark spaces, et cetera. Don't do it.

For a HOA (and not a COA) with very little infrastructure, it's more likely (though far from certain) that I could get behind a director or manager performing the study. For HOAs with little infrastructure who feel comfortable doing their own in-house study, I recommend people consider buying a DIY kit that is available from some reserve companies for a few hundred dollars.

Posted By KerryL1 on 11/03/2022 11:50 AM
I was the main point of contact with our reserves specialist, who works for national firm, for about 7 years until my retirement from the board last year. Every year he, I, and the treasurer or the entire board would adjust some of his estimates. We have about 100 components in 3 reserve accounts. He was willing if the Board agreed and if the adjustments were correct. I was able to prove every modification that was needed. He did not charge our HOA extra for email exchanges with me nor for an "extra" meeting with the board if needed.

Here's just one example: Our HOA is responsible for maintaining & repairing the sidewalks on two side of our sq. block condo buildings. The RS estimated the cost to resurface at a huge amount. But I did little research & found the City would pay half.

I'm certain you can have a virtual meeting with your analyst or specialist at no cost to your HOA. This is where you point out the missing 4th well, and the incorrect count of some components. Was his most recent study based on an onsite visit? You can show him photos to bolster your claims. Email him today with your requested adjustments.

First, MichaelT, it does seem your reserves guy is a "professional?" Is he designated as a professional reserves analyst (PRA) or as a Reserves Specialist? These both are credentialed professionals who have met pretty rigorous qualifications in terms of experience. There is, by the way no requirement that either be a P.E (Prof.Eng.) or any other kind of engineer. If a national firm, though, why doesn't it have a RS in a large city near you?

Given WA requirements, I urge you to have your RS adjust his study to reflect reality vs. trying to do your own. You really don't have many components except for the wells and their parts, so it shouldn't be difficult for the RS at all.



We have not done our initial reserve study yet, but what you described is how I would envision it. I think we will need to have a LOT of discussions with the company that conducts the study, because there are likely to be a number of issues like you described. Our current pool furniture is extravagant - it as it ages out we might decide to replace it with less costly items. We have 25 pieces of very expensive gym equipment, but it is mainly unused, so we could easily get by with 15 or 20, so I assume the reserve study could be based on 15 or 20 instead of 25. I can come up with several of these off the top of my head.

It seems to me that it would never be as simple as writing a check to a compa y and getting back a number.

Posted By DavidG45 on 11/04/2022 4:48 AM
Posted By KerryL1 on 11/03/2022 11:50 AM
I was the main point of contact with our reserves specialist, who works for national firm, for about 7 years until my retirement from the board last year. Every year he, I, and the treasurer or the entire board would adjust some of his estimates. We have about 100 components in 3 reserve accounts. He was willing if the Board agreed and if the adjustments were correct. I was able to prove every modification that was needed. He did not charge our HOA extra for email exchanges with me nor for an "extra" meeting with the board if needed.

Here's just one example: Our HOA is responsible for maintaining & repairing the sidewalks on two side of our sq. block condo buildings. The RS estimated the cost to resurface at a huge amount. But I did little research & found the City would pay half.

I'm certain you can have a virtual meeting with your analyst or specialist at no cost to your HOA. This is where you point out the missing 4th well, and the incorrect count of some components. Was his most recent study based on an onsite visit? You can show him photos to bolster your claims. Email him today with your requested adjustments.

First, MichaelT, it does seem your reserves guy is a "professional?" Is he designated as a professional reserves analyst (PRA) or as a Reserves Specialist? These both are credentialed professionals who have met pretty rigorous qualifications in terms of experience. There is, by the way no requirement that either be a P.E (Prof.Eng.) or any other kind of engineer. If a national firm, though, why doesn't it have a RS in a large city near you?

Given WA requirements, I urge you to have your RS adjust his study to reflect reality vs. trying to do your own. You really don't have many components except for the wells and their parts, so it shouldn't be difficult for the RS at all.



We have not done our initial reserve study yet, but what you described is how I would envision it. I think we will need to have a LOT of discussions with the company that conducts the study, because there are likely to be a number of issues like you described. Our current pool furniture is extravagant - it as it ages out we might decide to replace it with less costly items. We have 25 pieces of very expensive gym equipment, but it is mainly unused, so we could easily get by with 15 or 20, so I assume the reserve study could be based on 15 or 20 instead of 25. I can come up with several of these off the top of my head.

It seems to me that it would never be as simple as writing a check to a compa y and getting back a number.


The reserve study should be based on a 1:1 replacement of what you have there. i.e., extravagant pool furniture with extravagant pool furniture, 25 pieces of gym equipment with 25 pieces of gym equipment, etc.
Posted By KerryL1 on 11/04/2022 10:03 AM
Do you have a reserve study that your developer may have done as might have been required to submit to your state, David?

When you do have your study done, if the board agrees you can request the RS to remove certain items from the study if you will never replace them. The gym equipment will be itemized in a good full study because different equipment has different prices and different useful lives. The RS will write that the board will never replace x, y, z, etc. so they are removed from the study per the Board's request.

In the case of the pool furniture, if it's really sturdy, perhaps it needs a long useful life. If it is strapped, slung, or has cushions, you want a separate reserve entry for the replacement of those. Our original Brown-Jordon aluminum poolside furniture is 21years old, stays poolside 24/7. and will easily last another 5 years with occasional touch-up paint. We just reslung it for the third time, though.

But as our RS pointed out about a different component --sometimes items "ugly out" before they wear out, i.e., they become "aesthetically obsolete" and the board will want to replace them.


All good points. When we begin our reserves study I expect to be on here asking a lot of questions! As for the developer, he did not conduct a reserve study. The community was started in 2016, but the amenities were not completed until early 2021. We did not start a reserves fund until this 2022 budget year, and it seemed to be a random number our PMC pulled out of thin air.