Administrator costs

Hi all,

This may be one of those questions which may be very difficult to answer, but here goes.

What is the expected cost of an administrator to look after about 120 apartments with about half being empty as the builder went bust.

Damatt

As a secondary question I'd like to add. Should the administrator charge the developer for unsold units?

In September 2008 we had an EGM & on the Agenda was an item for changing Administrators.

The existing Administrators conducted the meeting & when we got to this item on the agenda, they put forward a very lengthy case for them remaining in place. They didn't stand a chance because they were a useless bunch of incompetents.

The vote was taken & it was agreed that we would sack them. Once the vote was taken, they were asked to leave the meeting, which they did reluctantly. We then voted on which of 3 options we would move forward with. In reality, it was only one company that was in the running & they were waiting outside the meeting room.

Once they were voted in, they joined the meeting & conducted the proceedings from there onwards.

The developers are responsible for the community fees on any unsold properties. In the current economic climate, it is a struggle to get the developers to make these payments on a monthly basis but if they don't pay, the balance has to be cleared once each individual property is sold.

Noreen

Hi Damatt

I researched this topic a few months back  - see link below

http://www.eyeonspain.com/forums/posts-long-10070.aspx

I got replies of between EUR3 to EUR15 per property per month. My reaserch led me to believe those on developer controlled communities were being fleeced and maintenace contracts were being passed back to developer owned or associated businesses etc

What you need to do is decide what it is you want the administrator to do, how the community will run, how often you envisage meetings other than AGM/EGM etc ie monthly or quarterly management meetings etc. Must the administrtaor be able to communicate in English etc?

A well established community runs well and the administrator has very little to do and most owners pay on time by direct debit and all maintenance contracts are in place etc  But if you have a problem community, many properties not paying, big debates over services and so on then the role of the administrator may well increase as he is in constant discussion with all parties and contractors etc. There are good and bad administrators and if you have a problem community you really do need a good administrator.

I have a house in Spain on a community of 56 houses and we pay the administrtor EUR3,600 a year. A fee in the range of EUR6,000 to EUR8,000 is reasonable on most developments.

You need to also watch the developer does not dump staff on the community during the period he controls the community. I don't believe communities should employ staff. Also it's quite easy to re-negotiate all service contracts. Reduce the gardening cost by half and you won't notice the difference! There is also a big variation in lift contracts.

You also need to prepare your budget based on realistic income and make sure you can survive on that - that may mean cutting your cloth to fit - but that is what must be done unless you intend doubling the quota on those paying. Only spend what you are actually recieving each month!!!!