Park Mgt Fees for 2007 just got them!

anniec

Folks

Just to let you know I have received an invoice for 2007 and its 327 until Nov 07 for 2bed townhouse (6 euro more than last year!
A:)

Sparks115

Annie you are lucky...Because I live in a 3 Bed House I have to pay 516euros !!! Its crazy and whats worse 372.00euro of that is for service charge.

So I ask myself why are the 3 beds paying more for services charges?
1 Do I use the street lamps more.- no Because I dont walk around at night!!
2 Do I drive on the road more than anyone else - no cause I work from home
3 Do I play on the green - no cause I am a lazy sod
4 There are 2 adults and one baby in my house so I am penalised to pay more because I could potenially have more people in my house...what a crock of S#@t!!

I dont remember when I signed buying my property that I was more than glad to be a victim of a kniving Property management company to bleed me dry cause I bought a 3 bed!!!

Can someone please tell me why this is so?? I am livid and need to know if other 3 bed people in the Park and Grove feel the same or are even aware they are paying higher fees. I know we both have the same property management company.:mad:

cuddydale

Hi Inch,

I have just closed on a 3 bed in the park and our management fee was 490e. How can they charge you more?

What did you pay in your first year?

Eoin

Inch, while I don't agree with staggered rates for different house types, 516euros is probably one of the lowest rates you will see - even taking into account the lack of refuse collection. My previous apartment was 1200 for the year, a colleague of mine Clontarf - 3000 a year.

Before threads have to be sent into the wilderness, can I ask everyone NOT to use any emotive terms regarding the management companies; there has been enough hassle on this forum because of comments here. And please - no more "what happened to freedom of speech" comments. Edit - that isn't aimed at you Inch, by the way.

wingding

Eoin_S, it's a completely different story for apartments as they have to maintain indoor lobbies, lighting, lifts etc. Apartments will always be alot more expensive. I'm over in Seabourne and from what I remember it was over 1000 for a 1 bed.

Also, the first thing that pops to mind for difference between price depending on the number of beds is the bin charges. Surely a 3 bed will have more bin charges than a 1 bed?:o After that I don't know, I'm not an expert on service charges, but all mgmt companies have always staggered it. It's just the way it is!

loyatemu

there are no bin charges - we look after our own refuse collection individually.

Inch - I agree, 3 beds should not have to pay more than 2 beds for the service charge element (for the block insurance, fair enough). Is this definitely the case? I got the bill yesterday, but didn't study it in any detail, other than comparing it with last year's (its gone up about €20)

Marcais, or any other committee member: Are there any plans to ask the council to take the estate in charge? Is this even a possibility? - Dick Roche himself has criticised the use of management companies for non-apartment schemes - as far as I'm concerned, the council should be cutting the grass and maintaining the roads. If its good enough for the other estates in Greystones its good enough for me.

frugal

Hi there.

Similarly just received a bill for 516 Euro, for what exactly, I’m not so sure … and I suspect any amount of phone calls won’t leave me any clearer :rolleyes:

Found it somewhat ironic that alongside the bill was a piece of junk mail from our minister of environment describing how one of his many accomplishments this year was to pass legislation ensuring that estates would be taken in hand more efficiently.:rolleyes:

Anyway I do have two questions for you folks, which maybe one of you could help me out with -

What’s with the integrated insurance charge specified in the overall management fee? I’m in a 3 bed house - I didn’t think I got insurance as part of the fee?

And I seem to remember some people posting that the management fees had dropped since last year, which would make sense, as the total number of properties contributing would obviously go up, anyone from the park notice that, I certainly didn’t. :mad:

dubsgirl

Am I right in presuming if you closed summer last year and paid your fee, that you won't billed again until the summer?

loyatemu

the insurance is block insurance for the buildings - as a consequence you only have to insure your contents. I have no problem with this, or with paying for the bus service. But roads, footpaths, cutting the grass etc - the council does this elsewhere.

the total number of properties has gone up, but I'm sure the cost of landscaping, the bus and the management company's fee have all also gone up. I'll have to compare the statement from last year with the new one tonight...

Tanith

Wait for it then, I got a bill last night for a 3 bed duplex and although I had a huge credit from last year as we moved in in October and my bill for 07 is relateively small, the full amount is €652!! They said that last year we paid €613 so up €40!! And the 4 bed duplex's will pay more, does seem like they are charging for extra bedrooms which is not fair - I'm in the Park and pay separately for refuse!

frugal

loyatemu wrote:

the insurance is block insurance for the buildings - as a consequence you only have to insure your contents. I have no problem with this, or with paying for the bus service. But roads, footpaths, cutting the grass etc - the council does this elsewhere.

Thanks for that info, likewise no problem paying (specially as i get the benefit of the bus every day) - so long as i understand what I’m paying for Still I reckon we'd all benifit if the estate was taken over by the council - although the chances of that happening is nil I understand.

llocc

All just so you are aware. We live in a 3 bed duplex in the park and got our fee last night but it looked a little high (€860) so the missus rang the company to inquire why this was the case. After they had checked it they said that they had in fact charged us the incorrect amount, by about €250 and they would rectify the problem.

MuffinsDa

I have to disagree with those saying it is not fair for 3 and 4 beds to be charged extra. Whilst it's not perfect, the number of bedrooms in a house is almost the only way of estimating the number of people living in the house and also the footprint of the house on the estate. For example a three bedroom house is a lot more likely to have more people using the bus than a two bedroom house. And it takes more space to landscaping-per-capita requirement is slightly higher for them. I appreciate that there are cases when there's only 2 or 3 people living in a big house but unfortunately there's no other way of estimation and I therefore this is the fairest. It is a bit like saying well, why do I have to pay extra road tax for a 2 litre car if I'm only doing 5000 miles a year and someone in a 1.2 litre car pays almost half no matter how much (s)he uses the car. Well, the answer is the size is easiest and fairest way of indication... If I'm not happy with it, I have the option of trading down to a 1.2 litre car!!!
So I don't think the complaints about tiered management fees are justified. It's a choice you have made and you can't expect others to pay for that!

matti

I got my fees and they are €357 for a 2 bed townhouse in the Grove until Nov 07. Does anyone know why they are more in the Grove than the Park? I would have thought that the prices would be close to the same for similar type houses in the different parks?

anniec

Just had a thought

We seem to be paying their bank fees postage fees etc I would have thought this would have been included in their costs.

If they drop them to me I would hand deliver them into each of the houses to save us all costs plus I asked for information on their block insurance and I got a copy of their info etc from Cula it seems that they pay block insurance on a monthly basis does this mean they are sitting on funds earning interest? I will be raising this issue at the agm plus the planting of trees in Dec seems extremely odd!
:mad:
Does anyone pay their mgt fee by direct debit?? saves me crying writing the cheque!

The Yipper

Tanith wrote:

Wait for it then, I got a bill last night for a 3 bed duplex and although I had a huge credit from last year as we moved in in October and my bill for 07 is relateively small, the full amount is €652!! They said that last year we paid €613 so up €40!! And the 4 bed duplex's will pay more, does seem like they are charging for extra bedrooms which is not fair - I'm in the Park and pay separately for refuse!

Just to add my 2 cents worth......Fees for a 3 bed duplex in the Court are in excess of 1100 for the year...this includes refuse collection.
Entirely justified?.....
I can't understand why there is more than one Management company anyway. Surely it'd work out cheaper for residents if someone like Wyse were to take control of the entire estate.
Just a question about the Sinking Fund....is this money sitting in an account earning interest?...and if so, how come this is not reflected as a credit on our statements?
Anyone know where and when the AGM for the Court is taking place?

avantarklu

Whether or not the Mgt Co has a deposit account would be a decision for the Company Management (i.e. the directors). Assuming your Mgt Co does have a deposit account then it is highly likely that any surplus funds would be held on deposit. Any interest earned would be reflected in your annual accounts, and would reduce actual running costs. But here's the kicker; (in the case of the Woods, anyway) each year we are billed based on a "budgeted" expenditure. Each year the "actual" expenditure has come in significantly below. As a result, we, the residents, have been overhcarged.
In simple terms, it is the equivalent to the ESB sending out estimated bills everytime without adjusting for an actual reading.
One more thing, although the Mgt Co. may have a balance in it's "sinking fund", it may not be represented entirely by cash in the bank - an element of it could be in the form of uncollected fees from residents.

LMC

I just rang the court mgt co, they dont know when the nxt AGM is?? They are waiting on the accounts!! I know it was March last year. They also said the fees have not gone up this year. They have sent out half yearly bills, next one due in June.

Liam81

hi, i have another complicating question around these dreaded mngmnt fees!!! we live in a 3 bed semi in the grove. during the summer i saw the lovely men employed by the management company cutting all of my neighbour's grass and taking care of their shrubbery etc...i was surprised to see that when he got as far as my house, he just turned away and walked back to his van. i phoned cuala to queery this only to be told that the semi detached management fees do not include garden maintenence. when i asked what exactly i was paying my management fees for i was told they were for the communal lighting, the general upkeep of the common areas and also that they included my building insurance. however it is alot cheaper to get insurance myself and i just find it absolutly ridiculous that we should have to pay them prices for "general upkeep" when it should be the coucil that provides that. does anyone else seem to be in the same situation??

anniec

avantarklu wrote:

Whether or not the Mgt Co has a deposit account would be a decision for the Company Management (i.e. the directors). Assuming your Mgt Co does have a deposit account then it is highly likely that any surplus funds would be held on deposit. Any interest earned would be reflected in your annual accounts, and would reduce actual running costs. But here's the kicker; (in the case of the Woods, anyway) each year we are billed based on a "budgeted" expenditure. Each year the "actual" expenditure has come in significantly below. As a result, we, the residents, have been overhcarged.
In simple terms, it is the equivalent to the ESB sending out estimated bills everytime without adjusting for an actual reading.
One more thing, although the Mgt Co. may have a balance in it's "sinking fund", it may not be represented entirely by cash in the bank - an element of it could be in the form of uncollected fees from residents.

They should be earning interest on their current account! Unfortunately I work in the Bank!

Sparks115

Liam81 wrote:

hi, i have another complicating question around these dreaded mngmnt fees!!! we live in a 3 bed semi in the grove. during the summer i saw the lovely men employed by the management company cutting all of my neighbour's grass and taking care of their shrubbery etc...i was surprised to see that when he got as far as my house, he just turned away and walked back to his van. i phoned cuala to queery this only to be told that the semi detached management fees do not include garden maintenence. when i asked what exactly i was paying my management fees for i was told they were for the communal lighting, the general upkeep of the common areas and also that they included my building insurance. however it is alot cheaper to get insurance myself and i just find it absolutly ridiculous that we should have to pay them prices for "general upkeep" when it should be the coucil that provides that. does anyone else seem to be in the same situation??

I didnt know that and I live in a 3 bed semi too!!! I am going to call them on Monday as I am sick of them at this stage. So the 3 beds are paying way more and getting far less!!! fantastic fair system!!! NOT!!!!:mad:

Liam81

hi inch, let me know how you get on with them

anniec

Just to let you all know I rang Mgt Co and you can pay by direct debit(monthly) which helps!