About how much should a transition study cost?

Two smallish clubhouses, two pools, basketball court, pickle ball court, a lot of pool and patio furniture, two gyms with a bunch of equipment, About 40 acres of common area; primarily meadows.

One of the more popular engineering companies provided us with a quote, and some of the finance committee felt it was awfully low considering this is the document that we will need to use as a starting point for a rather uncooperative developer next year during transition. I wanted to check to see what others have paid or consider to be a reasonable amount.

Yes, sounds like a reserve study to me, too. But, if this is some sort of typical study, why an engineering company? There seem to be few engineering g comments to your HOA.

For a reserve study, didn't DE or a state Real Estate agency, or some other entity require a list of all of your physical components in order to give final "approval" to your project so your developer could market the dwellings? CA does, including sf or lineal feet of all common area components, e.g., roofs & roads, amount of energy different mechanical/electrical items use based on hp, wattage, etc.

Do you mind sharing the quote with us?

Of course this is not a reserve study. DavidG45 has spoken of this transition study in the past on a few occasions. It is a type of insurance for a relatively new HOA, to help make sure the Declarant does everything it promised to the corporation and to the town that approved the corporation.

In my opinion the cost of a transition study will vary widely depending on the HOA's complexity and extent of the common areas and amenities.

I recommend obtaining three bids.

This is predominantly SFH. It’s about 40 acres of common area along with the amenities that currently belong to the developer but will soon be turned over to us. Only people who have gone through a transition are likely to have a feel for a reasonable fee.

"Reasonable" is subjective, and you don't live in those other communities anyway. Get three bids as ElleN suggested, and Google the subject to see what steps are involved. If the board doesn't have a transition committee, make a suggestion and volunteer for it. TThere ay be a need for several committees to concentrate on certain areas.

Better yet, if this developer has done other communities in you area, you might want to visit a few and get in touch with its board. There may be people on it who were around at the time of their transition and can tell 6ou how things went and what they would do differently. That could help you evaluate the transition study bids better than only focusing on the cost

You still didn’t define “reasonable” and you said some of the committee members thought the bid was too low. Comparing the prices side by side, that may be correct, but did THEY define “reasonable” or expand on what they meant? Did you even ask them? Some folks would start by looking at what each company proposed to do – could it be this bid was low because most of your common area is undeveloped (the meadows?)

While we’re at it, what do YOU mean by:

Two “smallish” clubhouses – what’s “smallish?”
“A lot” of pool and patio equipment – how many chairs, lounges, etc.? what are they made up (replacing wicker furniture may be more expensive than equipment made of plastic)
Two gyms with “a bunch of equipment” – what kind and how much?

To quote ElleN again “the cost of a transition study will vary widely, depending on the HOA’s complexity and extent of the common areas and amenities”, so if cost is going to be one of your considerations (and it should be), maybe you should start by looking at communities in your area that are similar to yours in size (and you don’t say how many homes are in play either). That may be more useful than getting a number from one person in New Jersey, Texas, Florida, or somewhere other than Delaware (assuming that is your state) because the cost of living in each of those areas is different. But go ahead and do you, and I hope it works out.