04-26-2021, 07:52 AM
(04-23-2021, 06:20 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:(04-23-2021, 03:08 PM)mastermind Wrote: I had a co-op job once helping do these reserve fund studies. They're quite in depth. We would go to condominiums and look at every common element, calculate quantities, estimate the age and replacement date and cost of each, project ahead 30 years and then figure out what the reserve fund contributions need to be to pay for it all.
Most were buildings from the 70's or 80's still on their original roof, windows, and parking lot, and these three items were almost always in really bad shape. The recommended increase in reserve fund contributions in order to pay for them was usually quite steep. I imagine it would not be fun to be on a condo board and be the recipient of one of those reports.
I mean, I don't know what the history on those buildings are, but hasn't it always been the case that those replacements were known and planned for? Certainly costs have increased beyond the planned increases, but they shouldn't be totally out of line.
I think they're probably way out of line because condo boards are not necessarily run by people who have any experiencing managing/maintaining a building. There are a lot of condos out there run by people who's careers and expertise's are in a completely different field.
It's probably easy to see a few hundred grand sitting in an account and think there's lots, especially when the building is new / newer. And if you're not in touch with what construction costs, or if you've never had something like your windows quoted, or are still thinking your roof replacement might cost 'the same as last time', you're in for a big surprise. Suddenly a few hundred grand is a drop in the bucket.