FL HOA - Property Manager Fees - Is there an average or rule of thumb rate

I see a problem, lots of luck. A manager to be brief does a lot more than the books: takes care of daily task, contracts, communication between board and committees and homeowners, gathers info, and more importantly get things done as well is available during business hours whatever they are to be approached by homeowners by phone or in person. A small HOA may be able to start things on their own but volunteers are just that giving their time to a point, but without a contract and paying someone to do a job your never sure that it will get done or more importantly get done right.

Good Luck

First, your question about fees. Nationally, and in Florida, the norm is a perunit/per month fee, usually with a base minimum. That's almost always true for condos, For HOA's, you will see a flat monthly charge a little more often. As to the range in fees, that can be deceiving, especially in Florida. You have a number of companies down there that lowball the management fee as part of a package where they also get the maintenance contracts, so if you hear of an association with an exceptionally low fee, this is often the reason. The only way to really get a handle on the fees is to put together a really good RFP, and then ask the responders to explain the fees and how they break down. If they make sense, fine. If they can't explain them, then they're probably guessing and you'll want to stay away from them. You can ask neighboring associations, but this will always be comparing apples to oranges, because no two associations are alike.

As for the President, the board is ultimately responsible for everything that goes on in the association so there is nothing illegal, or even inherently wrong with the President geting actively involved. It all depends on the personality and the circumstances. In Florida, you get a lot of retirees who make their association a second career, and it depends on the individual whether it ends up being dictatorial or helpful. The balance of the board and the owners are the check on this. Unfortunately, too many boards are all too willing to abandon their responsibilities to someone who seems to be handling everything for them. This includes management, which will often defer to the President, in order to keep the contract, and because their workload is reduced if he handles the details they are supposed to.

As for the potential problems, you may be surprised to discover that he's probably as qualified to do the things he's doing as most managers. For the most part, managers are generalists, they know a little bit about a lot of things, but aren't specialists in everything that goes on in an association. That's why they often recommend retaining specialists for advice on particularly difficult issues or projects. Rarely will you find a manager trained as a civil engineer, the pay isn't good enough. So it sounds like the President is skipping that step that a manager would normally take, looking for help when things are complicated.

This sounds like its going the way of a dictatorship and you need to talk to the board about reining it in. They, or the owners at the next election, are really the only ones who can, with the exception of a really strong manager who could face the President down, without worrying about the contract and in all liklihood, only the owner of the company would, or could, take that risk.

Yes, their is some potential liability to the association if the President screws up a project royally. But you're in Florida, where associations continually take that risk to save a few bucks. Go back through any of the major Florida newspapers online editions and you'll find many stories of board's that screwed their association over to pinch that penny. Of course you'll also find whole associations that voted not to fund their reserves and are paying thousands in special assessments.

(By the way, in Florida, they're called Community Association Managers - CAM's - to differentiate themselves from the people who manage rental and commercial property - property managers. And they need to be licensed by the state as CAM's)

I attended an annual meeting about a month ago of a 350 unit condo. The President, who was similar to yours in his involvement, was stepping down after six years. The 300+ people in attendance gave him a 5 minute standing ovation, because he had done one hell of a job, with tact, and a knowledge of how to work with people, including the contractors. The management company was off in the corner crying, because they knew that now they would have to work for their money. You don't sound that lucky.

The key will be a good RFP and a strong management company that does what it contracts to do. Why don't you offer to help find the replacement?

Liz, if you want to reign in what you percieve as an out of control President why not have the Board establish procedures. But please do not squelch any Board member's efforts when they are willing to spend their time and effort to help achieve the Board's goals. As a CAM I welcome any participation by any Board member when doing my job.

Glen, RFP = request for proposal, Thanks for your funny interpretations

Hello,

Fees paid to a property management company or real estate broker to manage the operations of the property. They should be charged as a percentage of total gross income that’s collected. Gross income can include pet fees, storage income fees, application fees, and late fees, to name a few. Some property management companies try to include security deposits as a percentage of income.

Security deposits should put deposited in an escrow account and never included in calculating management fees. These deposits are technically the tenant’s money, and once the tenant vacates the property in satisfactory shape, the money has to be returned. How do you know what to pay for managing a property? The rule of thumb is: 1-20 units = 10% of gross income. 20 to 50 units =8 to 10% of income.