Management charges - Duplex/Own door apartments

Mazzy Star

Hi guys,

I had been looking at apartments but think charges of 3k per annum are eye bleeding. If one lived there for 40 years that would be well over a 100k, you would put an extension onto a house for that.

What would charges be like for a Duplex or an own door apartment? Would it include bins etc?

It's so frustrating most places don't have the charges listed on Daft.

Atlantic Dawn

Includes bins, rebuild insurance and general maintenance of common areas. Probably safe to say that every 10 years the price of it will jump 20%+

Doesn't include property tax which is another sting.

Caranica

Not every development includes bin fees. I have a duplex and bins are included, my sister had one and they had their own bins. It varies from development to development.

Depending on how the budget was originally apportioned you may also end up paying for services you don't receive. Here fees are apportioned based on unit size instead of unit types so a 2 bed house pays the same as a 2 bed apartment behind a shared entrance though the apartment gets more services. We tried to change it but to do so would need 100% agreement and nobody would agree to pay more.

Other developments break it down per service received. There really is no standard situation when it comes to management fees. The variation from development to development means there's no point in hazarding a guess. Most ads I've seen do list current fees though.

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058241603/management-charges-duplex-own-door-apartments

When we had an own door apartment, the MC fee was €790. That includes block insurance and bins.

The fees jump considerably if you have a basement and lifts.

dubrov

I guess duplexes don't really have any internal common areas/lifts etc. so management fees should be cheaper.

Generally duplexes are in larger estates that include housing and fees may include

1) Bins

2) Block insurance

3) Maintenance and insurance of external common areas (gardening, mowing the lawn). This assumes the council hasn't taken it in charge.

4) Management agent fees

Fees may vary depending on location but something around the 7-900 level would be standard for all of the above

Once you start adding in internal areas, car parks and lifts, you could more than double the above.

However, some developments have let the management agents go wild and charge extortionate fees.

I wouldn't expect to buy an apartment, get on the management committee and change things.

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118924883#Comment_118924883

Read my post, should be cheaper but aren't always. I pay for lighting, cleaning and fire alarms for common areas in shared entrance blocks even though I don't benefit from any of them due to the structure of the management company. Bins aren't always included either.

The OP would need to see what the selling agent can give them in terms of budget, they can also download the most recently uploaded accounts from the cro website for a small fee.

Mazzy Star

Thanks lads. I would say 75% of places on Daft currently don't have the charges up. € 700 to € 900 per annum I could live with.

ittakestwo

I just bought an own door apartment and the service charge is €770 which includes bins and building insurance and up keep of the grounds. There is no lifts or electric gates which keeps costs down. I think most small houses are paying in or around this for building insurance and bins so dont think I am losing on the service charge.

I really would have preferred a small house/cottage but they were going considerably more in the same area so i started to consider ground floor own door apartments as they can feel more like a small bungliw/cottage. Funny my two things i wanted in the development was to have an own door and no electric gates. Not to keep service charge down but so the place would feel more like a small house.

JimmyVik

Over the last 4 or 5 years I was looking at a lot of apartments to buy.

I found the management charges to vary wildly. Before I abandoned the idea of buying though I had decided that I would pay no more than €900 for a service fee. Some places were charging €3 - 4k for a service fee on a 2 bed apartment. And some were a much more reasonable €750 or thereabouts.

Dont get caught paying over the odds for management fees unless you have a pool and a concierge :)

Del2005

To get cheap management charges you need to avoid complexes with lifts, underground car parks, electric gates and pools. You need to be sure if you are buying a place with it's own front door it's not part of a larger complex that could have lifts that could jack up your charges.

Mine for a 2 bed with own front door and no bins is about €600, place is always well maintained and there's been a fair bit of remedial work done over the last few years.