# Average cost of Management Company Fees/Service Charge for apartments:



## monkeyboy (10 Aug 2007)

I want to get a feel for the average costs out there:

Ill start ball rolling if anyone else is interested in seeing this:

Beds: 2
Location: Dublin North
Total units: 200
Fee last year: ~1900

very curious to see nationally and around Dublin how others fair using the above simple criteria.

thanks
MB


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## ciara_gmail (10 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

Beds: 2
Location: Kildare North
Total Units: 44
Fee last year: 1000


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## redo (10 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*



monkeyboy said:


> I want to get a feel for the average costs out there:
> 
> Ill start ball rolling if anyone else is interested in seeing this:
> 
> ...


Jeese, 1900 is alot.  I don't pay it, but would not like to be hit with this every year.


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## ClubMan (10 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

Anything useful among ?


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## tiger (10 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

There's a long running thread on this on the boards.ie accomodation & property forum.


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## moondance (10 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

Beds: 1
Location: Leitrim / Roscommon
Total Units: 24
Fee last year: 900


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## GarBow (11 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

Louth
2 Bed
56 Units
600eu

Low Fee but they do next to nothing for it.

Account is in arears with 50% of the properties with people simply refusing to pay.


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## MortgageBrkr (11 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

3 Bed
North Dublin
Total units over 200
Fee 2,800


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## fluffy47 (11 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

3bed apt (but same price for all apartments)
Dublin8
Total units-16
Fee:1450


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## ClubMan (13 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

I would have thought that the services or level of service provided in different managed apartment (and townhouse or mixed) developments may differ and the larger ones may have economies of scale that smaller ones do not? As such I wonder how meaningful it is to compare the management fee in the absence of much other more detailed info?


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## MrMan (13 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

Blocks with elevators tend to carry higher fees, and if there is high levels of non-payment, mismanagement etc, the charges seem to rocket in a very short space of time. there is also the problem at management AGM's where owners tend not to attend and fees are generally agreed upon at this meeting. It really is essential for all to attend and have the breakdown of expenditure explained in full and to maybe look for alternative uses of your finance. Also worth taking a look at what the management company is taking out as against the level of service being provided, that fee of €2,800 seems massive by any standards.


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## ClubMan (13 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*



MrMan said:


> there is also the problem at management AGM's where owners tend not to attend and fees are generally agreed upon at this meeting.


We live in a (non gated) privately managed estate of about 140 townhouses and the annual fees have never been agreed at the _AGM _(which takes place mid year) but rather by the board of directors having outlined the budget for the forthcoming year (usually year end with fees invoiced at the start of the year). I guess it hasn't been a contentious issue to date because the fees have always been around the €200-€300 p.a. mark. We don't have the same common area issues that an apartment development might have and most of the cost would be public liability insurance (no block insurance), maintenance/repairs (including gardening) and agents fees.


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## MrMan (13 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

Most of my info has come from dealing with mainly let blocks so it probably wouldn't affect predominantly owner occupied blocks as much anyways. one instance where a block of 24 apts held its AGM with a new management company on board and only 4 owners/landlords attended and all agreed to hike up the fee by an extra €600 per annum!. I guess it's a double edged sword, the entire area needs to be kept pristine in order to provide a nice living atmosphere and also to protect each units asset value.


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## ClubMan (13 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

Out of 142 properties in our place about 40 are said to be rented out. We had out _AGM _last week and precisely 11 people plus the management agent turned up which has been pretty standard for the past few years.


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## moondance (13 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

The apartment I'm buying is in a block of 24 apartments. The mgmt fee is 900 pa as I stated above. This is because there is a lift and common garden areas, etc. But my apartment has a direct entrance from the outside of the building and is on the ground floor so I don't think it's fair that I should have to cover costs of maintaining lifts and corridors that I don't use. The fee is calculated based on how many bedrooms so a person living on third floor using lift every day in same size apt as me pays same fee. Does anyone agree or disagree that this is not fair?


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## ClubMan (13 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*



moondance said:


> But my apartment has a direct entrance from the outside of the building and is on the ground floor so I don't think it's fair that I should have to cover costs of maintaining lifts and corridors that I don't use.


We have a similar problem - houses with no garden spaces in front who pay the same fee as others who do and who benefit from the basic gardening services provided. This has been raised at a few _AGMs _but it was decided to keep the fee standard for all units and people just seem to have accepted this.


> The fee is calculated based on how many bedrooms so a person living on third floor using lift every day in same size apt as me pays same fee. Does anyone agree or disagree that this is not fair?


 Do you never use the lifts at all (e.g. to access common areas such as roof gardens?). If you think it's unfair then you should voice your complaints at a general meeting and, if necessary, propose and get support for a motion suggesting that the fee be tailored to each dwelling type based on the services that they actually tend to use/benefit from.


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## moondance (13 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*



ClubMan said:


> Do you never use the lifts at all (e.g. to access common areas such as roof gardens?). If you think it's unfair then you should voice your complaints at a general meeting and, if necessary, propose and get support for a motion suggesting that the fee be tailored to each dwelling type based on the services that they actually tend to use/benefit from.



No, there's no roof gardens or anything like that so I would never be using the lifts or corridors. I'm still at contract signing stage and it's just something my solicitor said she'd bring up so I'll see what happens!


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## ClubMan (13 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

I see - now is a good time to raise your concerns/objections. But if you do buy and initially pay the full fee then (most likely) you can still, as a member of the management company, make your views known on the matter at general meetings. Bear in mind that others may countract by saying that since you are in a ground floor apartment your insurance risk may be higher so maybe you should pay higher insurance charges. Ultimately it is often the case that having a standard fee, or different fees based on the number of bedrooms or whatever, but no other exemptions is the most practical option.


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## Bob the slob (13 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

Tallaght, Dublin 24
200 units
€1000 p.a.


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## monkeyboy (13 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

Hey Club Man any chance that this thread can be tidied up and kept just as a  survey info only on the Mgt fees?

The problem with the Boards one is that too has turned into a discussion on individual fees and scnarios and not as intended a survey and refernece for what is an important topic to many.

cheers
MB


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## Gemstone (13 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

apt:2 BED
46 units
Dublin west
€1000
no lifts.

I did my own survey of this several years ago whilst acting as a director of a management company and found that   presence/ absence of lifts made a difference to the service charges.


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## KalEl (13 Aug 2007)

*Re: Average cost of managing agents fees Apartments:*

The title of this thread is misleading...they are not "managing agents fees". The agent charges the management company (i.e. the residents) a fee to administer the management company. Ours works out at about 7.5% of the fees collected. Our service charge/contribution to the management company is just under €2000.


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## CCOVICH (13 Aug 2007)

Title of the thread has been amended.


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