Reader Mail: Condo Management
Good property management companies in Hoboken hard to find?
One thing that is almost as constant in Hoboken as parking issues, flooding and nutty politics – is the ongoing quagmire involving property management companies who maintain condo buildings.
Seems that that there is always someone having trouble!
Hoboken411 reader Brian asks the age old question:
“I’m a Hoboken resident and a few condo owners in my building are having major issues with a local Realtor/Developer/Management company. Can anyone recommend a reputable, honest and competent company?”
Need help finding good Hoboken Property Management Co.
2/4/2008:
After posting the terrible story about how one resident is getting bludgeoned after the La Scala fire, another 411 reader Jason wanted to know what people’s experiences were with condo management companies.
Anyone have a company they’re very pleased with?
Hoboken Condo Management Companies: Any suggestions?
6/28/2007:
A few days ago, a reader sent this email in requesting some tips from other Hoboken411 readers regarding who they use as their condo management company/association.
They’ve since found a solution, but if you’d like to add your 2 cents in, and to help people who might be looking for some advice in the future, please feel free!
“Hi Hoboken411,
I read your site practically everyday and have found it very useful and entertaining each time. I was wondering if you could reach out to your readers and obtain some info for me. I recently moved into a condo building and we are looking to find a replacement for our current management company who runs our association. The building (a total of 12 units) converted to condos three years ago and we are looking for someone who is experienced and on the ball as our current person has been slacking. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!”
115 Responses to ** Reader Mail: Condo Management **
June 1st, 2012 |
I have to agree with Snip119, self management is the way to go, especially for a small building. If your condo association is on 2-6 units you don’t need property management. The only bills that have to be paid are insurance, PSE&G, taxes, water, sewerage, possibly an exterminator and cleaning service. You also have to submit the annual $25 for your condo association to NJ.
Each unit can take their own trash and recycleables to the street. Snow removal is a case-by-case arrangment depending on the building layout. You will save LOTS of money annually with self management, keeping your condo fees low and making your condo more easily resalable. Repairs are also more easily managed on-site and you have a vested interest to find the best, cheapest contractor.
My condo association recently became self managed. I have to tell you I am finding all sorts of errors and unpaid bills from the prior management company. These problems were completely hidden without all of the documentation. Unless you do a complete annual audit of all condo association paperwork, you have no way of knowing what is going on.
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June 1st, 2012 |
I’m the president of 30 units condo building in hoboken. Our association has gone through three property management Cos in the past 10 years. All of which are mention in previous posts. Recently a friend of mine recommended Hudson Property Management, so far they been great compared to our past experiences. I recommend them.
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June 1st, 2012 |
Total Property Concepts Management Company. At the end of the day, they seem to get the job done.
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June 1st, 2012 |
You must have a lot of time on your hands and sound a bit on the cheap. Good luck trying to do a professionals job as an amature.
In response to 4th ward guy who said:
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June 1st, 2012 |
4th Ward Guy you are so right about no way to know what is going on. In the building next to me a woman with some mental problems dumps her garbage on other people’s properties. Because she’s got some mental issues, she also moves garbage around, so there’s always a problem with garbage on 14th street. When she first moved in, she was dumping on our property, and I worked with sanitation to get it straightened out. At the time, their building was managed by Quill (now out of business). Numerous warning letters went to Quill to no avail – they were never passed on to anyone in the building, and certainly not to her. They ended up getting a series of fines, culminating with 4 $500 tickets in one week. Quill simply paid the fines, leaving all their regular bills unpaid, then went out of business right around the same time. i found out from someone living in the building they never knew about the warnings, never knew Quill paid the fines from the association money instead of assessing her directly, and they had to do a special assessment of all the owners to pay the unpaid back bills (like PSE&G). Had they been self-managed, they would have been aware of what was going on and assessed the one problem owner. Even if a building opts for a management company, someone on the board must routinely track the money.
In response to 4th ward guy who said:
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June 2nd, 2012 |
i may be an “amateur” but it’s really pretty simple. if you can pay your own bills, then managing the condo association is equally simple. i understand that may be a bit much for you. it takes about 15 mins per month to pay the bills and 30 mins quarterly to complete the financial statements. annual taxes are a 1 page form.
and “yes” i am cheap. i like being able to reduce our condo fee from $325 per month to $250 per month with self management. i see no reason to waste money while maintaining a better quality of service. i make sure the bills get paid while our property management company did not.
can you supply 1 valid reason why a property management company is better? if so, please do.
In response to paco who said:
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June 2nd, 2012 |
Guess I’m a “cheap amateur” too! Got news for you paco, nowadays in this miserable economy, cheap is good! Keep all the expenses down and the condo maintenance fee low. All the “professionals” know is how to charge big fees for minimal work that anyone with the right computer software can do themselves. Do you really think a pro is paying your bills and generating the statements? I bet its a secretary using Quickbooks software.
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June 5th, 2012 |
The one valid reason I can supply why professional property management is better is that you don’t have to do all the work yourselves. I am the condo association president of a newer 8 unit building in Hoboken. I’m told they tried to self-manage prior to my moving in and it was a disaster, so they quickly hired a company. With all the tech they put into these newer buildings like ours, they’re complicated and it seems there’s always something going wrong. You have a million different vendors to deal with for things like the elevator, theft and fire monitoring, etc. Additionally, there didn’t seem to be any takers for being in charge of taking out the garbage each night (several pails full). Our maintenance is under $300/mo even with professional property management.
I think the size of a building and its age has a lot to do with whether it’s best to use property management or not. A 4 unit walkup condo built in 1912 isn’t going to have the same management needs as a 30 unit elevator building built in 2000 with all the bells and whistles. Our management company deals with a lot of stuff we don’t want to be bothered with day to day. That makes it a better option for us than self-management, and worth every penny. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong for others to self-manage. To each his own.
In response to 4th ward guy who said:
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June 5th, 2012 |
Hello and I give you credit for trying however with a company such as Total Property they have all the right connections(legally) from roofing to plumbing and have many supporting cast 24×7. I would think that over the long term, going with professionals is the way to go espcially when you get know the know about the Hoboken bureaucratic bs you will eventually will have to contend with.
In response to 4th ward guy who said:
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June 7th, 2012 |
I have been using a small firm, Rose Capital, LLP….they seem to be pretty good so far….
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June 7th, 2012 |
I agree with 4th ward guy that self-management is the way to go. We are a small condo association established about one year ago. So far the bill payment has been straightforward and we are able to keep the dues low.
The only confusion now is on the tax filing to federal government and NJ state. Does anyone know what tax form we need to file to NJ state? Do we need to file any annual report to NJ state? What is the $25 annual to NJ? Do you mind sharing when and where we need to file the $25?
Thanks a bunch!
In response to 4th ward guy who said:
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June 7th, 2012 |
Livewell, the $25 fee is for the annual report to NJ state. They will send you a form with instructions on how to file online when your annual filing is due. If you were established about a year ago, you should be receiving the form from the state very soon.
In response to livewell who said:
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June 8th, 2012 |
self-management is the way to go,all these companys charge fee’s
for every little thing
In response to Snip119 who said:
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June 9th, 2012 |
You are not kidding about charging for every little thing. Last year we had an estimate from a company that was trying to get our business. One of the guys reading it realized in tiny fine print on the very last page of the proposal was a clause that even if WE went out on our own, and hired our own contractors to do any work in the building, they have the right, as the managing company, to add 15% to the total bill. And then they couldn’t give us a straight answer when I asked, is the “total bill” the amount before or after any sales tax on the job. (They finally admitted it was after, which is totally ridiculous.)
As noted in earlier posts though, not every building or group of owners is right for self-management. Each building is unique. Just remember a managing company is in business for only one reason – to make a profit for themselves. You are paying for their profit.
In response to adamview2 who said:
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June 9th, 2012 |
wait till you start to look at invoices for light bulb change,cardboard folding,trash bags marked up , these companies are nut. We had 4 companies in the past 9 years in the end we manage it and do a fine job with a saving of $1200 a year, we are a 5 unit building and it work for us .
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